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  Even when you’re struggling and sadness grips you, joy is all around if you know where to look. Maybe it’s a first huge snow with branches dripping with white icicles, an upcoming visit and slumber party with your grandchildren, a good job performance review and maybe a raise, the recent remembrance of the joy of lighting the Hanukkah candles or decorating a Christmas tree, something as minor as a compliment from a stranger about a cute hat or purse, or finally getting to see a long-awaited TV show such as The Crown or a movie touted for months like Maestro. Possibilities...

With so much divisiveness in our world, fueled by different media, including social platforms, it’s easier than ever to hate. We hear people on the news and even in person, loudly saying, “I hate this person” or “I hate that group because they have such ridiculous ideas.” We may seem so smug and self-assured about our views but where’s the wiggle room for some discussion and a possibility for a different feeling? We’ve come to realize that hatred is a very strong word and an emotional suck. According to one definition, it represents intense dislike and ill will. Even when...

  What are two of your wishes and hopes for 2024, one that is possible and the other more aspirational? All might agree that 2023 has been a year of challenges. We’ve been hammered by the economic climate and climate change, gun violence, soaring student debt, precarious gig employment, skyrocketing home prices, Covid-19 and RSV, two major wars, a dysfunctional Congress and so much more. Albeit these concerns seem overwhelming, we have endured many horrors of the past and recalibrated our lives. Yet, there is hope and we wish for better times. Fortuitously, human beings are resilient. A piece in...

  Ready to step away? Defer to the younger generation? Did you hear yourself saying this too many times while hosting and preparing Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or for upcoming Christmas or a New Year’s feast, “I’m too old for this?” If you said it more than once, you probably really meant it and are. You listened to your mumblings and paid attention to your physical aches and pains. We heartily suggest a twist on an old aphorism: “If it’s broke, fix it!” Can you relate?                                           Let’s get real. It’s harder to bend and get down on the floor whether to play with...

We’re out of practice in entertaining, so we’re trying to relearn how to be gracious, feed people, converse (keep organ recitals to a minimum), make our homes look festive and spotless and have fun after years of hibernating and silence!  We say start small. Rather than throwing a big, fancy dinner party, which would be an ordeal and so expensive today, try a series of more modest gatherings with just a few folks where we offer enough food to friends. We are talking about a few small bite-sized appetizers or amuse-bouche, but not a full-course dinner that becomes labor intensive...