“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.  It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written.” 1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No […]

Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.  It was Christmas Eve […]

“When you learn your lessons, the pain goes away. When we have passed the tests we are sent to Earth to learn, we are allowed to graduate. We are allowed to shed our body, which imprisons our souls…” ~ Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Melanie Hack Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend Read an excerpt […]

Ever have those ho-hum days where you just don’t feel 100% so you start thinking about the past and you have no energy…you just don’t feel upbeat and you’re not really sure why you feel “down”! I was having a day like that until one of my brothers (thanks Ken) sent me an email with […]

Dear Ann: I am flat broke from overspending at Christmas time. But I need to go shopping again soon because I am completely out of self-respect. I’ve said things I wish I could take back and I am not feeling too good about myself. I also want to exchange a carton of self-righteousness for an […]

‘Twas the night before Christmas and out on the ranch The pond was froze over and so was the branch. The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule. The kids were all home on vacation from school, And happier young folks you never did see- Just all sprawled around a-watchin’ TV. Then suddenly, some […]

There are many occurrences in our day-to-day lives that go unnoticed, but there is one that will remain clear in my mind for the rest of my life, and I would love to share it with you, as a Christmas story. Throughout much of 1996 and 1997 I was forced to watch helplessly as Parkinson’s […]

Hesitating, the first snowflakes fell. It was one day before Christmas. There was this small house in front of a big forest, which was breathing quietness. Just every now and then, two rabbits disturbed the peace and quietness. They seemed to be searching for something between the dead leaves. Inside, a man stared through the […]

Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. Bobby didn’t wear boots; he didn’t like them and anyway he didn’t own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard […]

It was getting near Christmas and I had delayed putting up a Christmas tree because this had been the first Christmas without our son. He had passed on to be with the Lord a few months before due to having leukemia. During his illness we would talk and he always told me he did not […]