There are those moments in life that alter someone’s forever, though they gently ease onto the scene without effort or invitation. These sort of moments can make their introduction as either negative ...

I grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest back in the eighties. My parents sent us to private, Catholic school, my brothers and I had part-time jobs by the time we had our driver’s license, and I felt b ...

“But everyone else gets to sleepover at Mara’s house, why can’t I? I hate that you don’t trust me, you want to ruin my life as I start high school!”  BAM! The door slams and you are left standing in t ...

A recent Facebook story became a viral sensation when a young bride named Tara Foley secretly flew to her dying grandmother with an unaltered wedding dress in tow. In on the scheme was Red Door Photog ...

…People are always asking me ‘What do you want people to say about you a hundred years from now?’…I want them to say, ‘Dang, don’t she still look good for her age’?’ ”—Dolly Parton One of the casualti ...

About 18 months ago my husband left the Corporate America rat race to open a travel franchise in Flower Mound. Since that time he and I have been able to go on a couple of cruises but it wasn’t until ...

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. —Thomas Aquinas Several years ago, a friend had some property that held years’ worth of treasures in an old shed prior to the pur ...

I’m calling this the summer of “in between.” My daughter is in between middle school and high school, this is the summer in between my son taking Drivers Ed at Vista Ridge Driving School and my daught ...

There is no unhappiness like the misery of sighting land (and work) again after a cheerful, careless voyage.—Mark Twain When engineer Robert Fulton changed the world with his invention of the commerci ...

I have always felt dads underestimate their importance in kid’s lives. I grew up in the Midwest, in a very traditional, upper-middle-class family.  My dad was the breadwinner and my mom stayed at home ...

Sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor I thought to myself, “Why does it take a crisis for me to pick up the phone and make an appointment?”  This is common practice among the moms I know, I ...

Too often, especially over the past decade, we have seen or heard about young people turning to violence, bullying, and self-harm behavior. According to the website stopbullying.gov, the following per ...

It was February of 1960 when the phone call that would change the American beauty industry for decades was answered at Margaret Vinci Coiffures salon. Modern Beauty Shop magazine asked to speak to own ...

It was the 1 a.m. phone call that nobody wants. Mama cell. From a dead sleep to my greeting of what’s wrong, the reason for the call was the most bizarre thing we could have ever imagined. My sister’s ...

Tom’s dad recently passed away.  Skip was in his early eighties, he’d been ill for awhile, however I don’t know if anyone can really prepare for a parent’s death. My in-laws live in Wisconsin; it just ...

In a day and age when grandiose kids-themed birthday parties and gender reveals are now bordering on P.T. Barnum level, the overlooked online birthday greeting seems to be diminishing in moxie for bei ...

It has been a year since I first introduced you to the book The Turquoise Table by Austin author Kristin Schell.  In a nutshell, this book is the story of a woman who had a desire to slow down, connec ...

On October 16, 2005 Vice Admiral Thad Allen entered the door of Mother’s Restaurant in New Orleans’ central business district and walked through the cafeteria-style line without a single customer in f ...

I think most of us would agree when we are in the midst of raising kids that life can get pretty busy and tiring.  Whether we are in the phase of beginning our family and sleep deprivation taxes us, o ...