Columns

A year ago today I woke up being someone’s wife and went to bed a widow. My life changed forever that day. And, I guess it’s been changing ever since. I honestly never contemplated being a widow. I don’t think many of us do. We don’t live life as though we are all potentially on…

Jill Pertler “Slices of Life” Earlier this year I wrote about forgiveness. Forgiveness gets a lot of brain time in forgiveness circles. Many believe that before we can move forward, we need to forgive. That wasn’t the topic of my previous column. I didn’t write about our need to forgive others. Quite the opposite. In…

Jill Pertler “Slices of Life” Weeks ago, I started out contemplating a list of seven words that led me to some universal life truths. I wrote about two – kindness and compassion. I had three more columns written and in the hopper when one of life’s universal truths happened. My computer crashed and all my…

Soon, Daylight Saving Time will give us an extra hour of daylight to our day. I was thinking on an ordinary day what can I accomplish in an hour? It turns out I can do a lot if I have a time limit of an hour: make my bed, empty the dishwasher, do a load…

I just returned yesterday from our annual Women’s Wellness Weekend. This has been a tradition for more than 18 years. It started with a woman’s retreat at the Audubon Society Retreat Center in Sandstone. That was nice, but then we decided we could organize a retreat ourselves and customize it to our liking. This year…

Jill Pertler “Slices of Life” Several weeks ago, I started writing about a series of seven words that I thought would help each of us on our paths forward, whatever direction that might be. Seven words that, when embraced, could help us all in times of joy as well as times of trouble. Seven words…

Jill Pertler “Slices of Life” “If you don’t have time for things that matter, stop doing things that don’t.” Courtney Carver. This column is dedicated to busy, and those of us who might describe ourselves as such. We’ve all been there. Most of us are probably there right now. As far as busy goes, those…

By Sandy Holthaus I read this story the other day from my Facebook friend Tom Palen. He is an excellent writer who lives on the North Shore in Silver Bay. You should check out his posts every Wednesday for his invaluable insights. I am sharing Burnt Chili with you with his permission. My mom LaVonne…

Jill Pertler “Slices of Life” We make instant judgments about so many things, dozens, even hundreds of times each day – what we approve of and like but, more often, what we disapprove of and dislike. These can be time-honored judgments – things we’ve lived with for years, if not a lifetime. I’m not sure…

Jean Matua “From the Heart” While some groups use the memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. targets to incite hatred and division – particularly against any and all immigrants – I suggest we remember what happened immediately afterward. In the minutes, hours, and days following the attacks, Americans pulled together as…