When friends learn that my mom was raised Amish, deciding to leave the church and her family when she was 17, I usually get a few strange looks. People want to know more about the conservative Old Order Amish Mennonite Church and why they shun electricity and modern technology. They usually have questions too about... Continue Reading →
Giving til it hurts
Where can I sign up for the study? I promise to be generous. Let me explain. Psychologists released a study last summer where they gave 200 people from around the globe $10,000 to use as they wish with no stipulations other than reporting how they spent the money. The participants were drawn from three low-income... Continue Reading →
Like a thief in the night
I was so close to the door. I was just twelve feet away. A couple more steps and I would be free. I would be out the door with the prize in my pocket. I could taste the chocolate on my lips. When no one was looking, I had placed two Hershey's bars in my... Continue Reading →
A tricky question
I could barely hear my ten-year old niece's voice over the phone line. You could tell she was reading from a handout her teacher had sent home, but the question she posed was clear as day. My niece was learning about the sacrament of marriage for her religious education class. She needed to talk with... Continue Reading →
The lights are on, but nobody’s home
In the dark night, you could barely see more than twenty or thirty yards in front of you. Oh, it gets better. When a car or truck came along with their bright lights, it would light up the night, but would temporarily blind you, so you still couldn't see anything and had to be careful... Continue Reading →
A turbo-charged punch buggy
Classic movies, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Mary Poppins celebrate their 50th and 60th anniversaries respectively later this year. Several other hits, including Godfather II and Blazing Saddles celebrate big anniversaries too. You'll find all four on many lists of the greatest movies ever created, they're classics, some of the best filmmaking you'll... Continue Reading →
A tribute to strong women
My mother sat late one night at the kitchen table with just one dim light on and counted out her wages for the week. Everyone else was asleep, but I had gotten up to go to the bathroom. Before I went back to bed, I noticed that she kept looking at the cash in her... Continue Reading →
Cool under pressure
I had a classmate in college, who was a great friend and I would've done anything for, but he bugged the hell out of me. Oh, he didn't really annoy me, but he showed me how we were two very different people. If I had a test coming up, I would study and stress over... Continue Reading →
Hollywood lied
When I was a kid, I was certain that quicksand would be the death of me. I’ve written in the past about how I was convinced that I would step into a deep pond of quicksand and not be able to get out. You couldn't blame me for feeling that way. Quicksand seemed to show... Continue Reading →

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