My niece Gretchen is about to give birth to her first child. During her pregnancy, her husband Tony has been reading to their unborn baby. Currently, he’s working his way through Don Quixote.

In my family, this is considered …

When I first began making regular trips to London, I discovered that mid-November was a perfect travel time. It was a quiet time for my business and it was a quiet time for the travel industry so all sorts of …

Several years ago, Marlo Thomas compiled over 100 personal stories in a book called The Right Words at the Right Time.  People both famous and less well known shared stories about a moment when words changed their lives.

Many …

Janesville, Minnesota, the small town where I grew up, had a population of about 1200 when I was living there. It also had 4 grocery stores, 2 hardware stores, 2 dry goods stores, a bakery, 4 restaurants, 4 gas stations, …

A few weeks before Christmas, a friend was recounting her frustrating experience at the post office. “Not only were the clerks cranky,” she said. “The line was full of people who obviously don’t come to the post office very often.  …

Normally a day that includes spending time at LAX would not be cause to celebrate. Today is different, however. Nancy’s coming home.

Nancy is my expat sister. Younger than me by two years, she’s spent her entire adult life living …

Comedian Paula Poundstone once said, “My father always told me I needed something to fall back on. But I knew if I listened, I’d fall back.”

I thought of that this morning when I read Connie Hozvicka’s blog post about …

When  speaker Jerry Gilles told his audience of would-be writers that they should buy one hardcover book every week to support the industry they were part of, there was an audible gasp in the room.

What Gilles was suggesting wasn’t …

While waiting for my flight back from Denver on Sunday morning, I engaged in one of my favorite airport activities—people watching. As I noticed my fellow travelers move around the airport restaurant, I thought to myself, “Every one of them …

If you’ve met me or seen my picture, you may have noticed that I am blessed with hair that’s straight as a ruler. Unfortunately, when I was a little girl, Toni home permanents came up with a solution—Tonette for children.…