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Mother/daughter relationship proves hard in life and death

Columns

Dear Annie: I’m writing to ask your opinion about whether I should include my estranged daughter in my will. She accused me of something very vile that never happened and spread it throughout the family. She also broke her younger sister’s heart for another reason. I have a grandson I’m not allowed to see, and communication with my daughter is nonexistent. I have moved 1,000 miles away to avoid the drama. Since I’m no longer welcome in her life, should I even consider her when I die? -- Devastated in Alabama Dear Devastated: Wills are a bookend to human life and can include ...

No longer welcome and less free

Letters

To the editor: Reading what Speaker Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, said this morning about this year’s National Defense Authorization Act made me cringe…and wonder what is happening to our country. I believe we should be diligent in the battle against drugs; but, I don’t think that means becoming a ‘police state’.  Control should be done, civilly, at our borders and ports of entry… not by invading, or threatening to invade other countries. Prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the Defense Department keeps intelligent, innovative, exceptional ...

Enjoying my oyster stew

Columns

Food is many things: flavors, textures, smells, an excuse to use your fingers to clean a bowl that was used to mix chocolate cake batter. But food is also memory. It’s a time machine, resurrecting recollections that had shriveled like an orange peel on a scorching summer sidewalk. Oyster stew does the trick for me. Every Christmastime, my parents would whip up a big kettle of oyster stew. I was the only one among my seven siblings who would sip some stew with our parents. Which was just dandy; more for me. When December’s deep cold arrives something deep within me stirs, ...

Thinking about food

Columns

My wife Pam says that I think about food a lot. Once I get this column started, I plan to eat a pumpkin muffin that is out in the kitchen. I’m looking forward to that. At various times in my life, I’ve been chunky to a tad overweight. You don’t get to be that way without thinking about food. There are some cookies in the cupboard in case that muffin isn’t enough. Speaking of thinking about food, we are midway between the two big dinners of the year: Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was thinking about those. Of course. You could rank Easter dinner up there. But I’d put it ...

Caught between daughter and granddaughter

Columns

Dear Annie: My daughter, 31, left home at 19 to attend university. Within weeks, she began dating a boy she’d met through the school’s Facebook group. Coming from our cultural background, we weren’t comfortable with relationships outside marriage, but after two years, she moved in with him, mostly on her terms. They lived together for six years, bought a house, got a dog, eventually married and, two and a half years later, had my precious granddaughter. My daughter has always dominated her marriage. Everything has to be on her terms. She’s intelligent, determined and ...

Support the Ivy House

Letters

To the editor: “What can I do?” is a common response to the increasing violence we have seen in both our state and nation recently. Like many, I have been reflecting and praying on how to be a positive force for change. As a famous quote suggests, the only way to save the world is one person at a time.  Thankfully, we live in a community that is built on caring for our neighbors.  As a board member of Ivy House, I’d like to share how this organization cares for others. Ivy House’s mission statement is, “Sharing God’s love with families by providing a safe and caring ...