Opinion

When my kids were little, they often came to me with “what-ifs.” What if the school bus starts to fly? What if we ate dessert first? What if God never invented rabbits? Or ice cream? Or trees? Or bikes? Or the rain? What if my hair turned into spaghetti noodles? What if all the grass…

Even as we await answers to many questions about the shooting this past weekend in Pennsylvania, there are already several things becoming clear. If we ignore them and continue on as if everything is hunky-dory, then we can be sure that such events will only escalate. As a society, we have allowed ourselves to be…

Our search for meaning is nearly as old as time. I’ve been round and round and round again (and again) with widowhood. To say I overthink it is the understatement of all understatements. It seems like something this big and this life-changing should have meaning. Big meaning. I can’t imagine going through what this has…

My granddaughter likes to watch a certain movie – over and over again. In it, the protagonist belts out a message in song: “Let it go.” There’s lots to be learned from Elsa. We should all be better at -simply letting it go. Letting things go. Letting the past go.  Forgive. Forget. Like it never…

When my kids were babies, I took lots of photos – always hoping to get the one perfect shot. This was during the prehistoric, pre-digital age, when cameras required film, and film required developing. You couldn’t take a million pictures and preview them on your screen. You had to send them away and pay to…

Talking with Brenda Carlson last week on the one-year anniversary of her new shop in Watkins reminded me of how vital our local shops are. Vital to our economy (providing goods and services, employing local residents, and paying local taxes to provide the many services upon which we all rely). It takes more than a…

This column idea started innocently enough. Dating after 50. How much could there be to write about such a narrow topic? Turns out that might be a facetious question. The original column spurred a part two, and now, here, a part three. I’m not promising this is the last, because I guess dating after 50…

I attended the funeral of a good friend this morning. A friend I wasn’t quite ready to let go of, and yet at age 89 he did go. Ron Graham of Watkins has played a large yet quiet role in the Tri-County News. One day, about 20 years ago, he showed up at our office…

I recently wrote a column about dating after a certain age – 50 to be exact. At the start, I planned on a brief column. How much could there be to write about such a dismal subject? Turns out I was wrong. There are myriad factors to dating – at any age, but especially after…

No one plans to date after 50, but you never know the details life will hand you: divorce, death of a spouse, boredom, aloneness – it all leads to one thing. You find yourself being half of a couple in a couples world. Such a conundrum. You were once half the age of 50 and…