I started working with “the elderly” while still in high school. Beginning as a candy striper volunteer in a local nursing home, I also volunteered at a nursing home up the hill from my college while working on my degree in Social Work…

My husband and I did this on purpose. We were not forced into it for reasons of physical infirmity or financial difficulties. Instead, we were drawn to it by the sheer force of the potential advantages we saw. Chief among those was the ability…

Well, here we are in the early days of slushy, mushy March. We are crawling toward spring, but it’s slow. The holidays are behind us, winter has lost its charm, the tax deadline looms, and summer vacations are still months away. It’s no wonder that many…

What Baby Boomer doesn’t know at least the refrain from Nat King Cole’s rendition of “Get Your Kicks on Rt. 66”? Rt 66. The “Mother Road.” Neon signs, motels, offbeat and over-sized roadside attractions…

Sometimes, experiencing a “little miracle” through the eyes of a child can restore hope and renew our faith in the goodness of life as well. I recently had such an experience with two of my granddaughters…

A family legacy trip is any trip you take with your grandchildren that shares and builds a sense of family history with them. Ideally, it’s a skip-gen variety where it is just you and them! Apart from the fun you will have, studies have shown that children…

Many people assume travel is something you must forego if you are the full-time caregiver for another person. Not so! With a little creativity and willingness to reach out, not only can you take an occasional trip – you must…

Everyone in Michigan knows the first Gretchen, our governor Gretchen Whitmer. Love her or hate her, I don’t envy anyone in any kind of leadership role who has had to deal with all the challenges and ever-changing landscape of this pandemic…

Socially distancing for physical health can have the opposite effect on our mental health. We are social beings, created to connect meaningfully with other human beings. When we lose that, we lose part of ourselves…

This past summer I had a marvelous trip to Prince Edward Island, Canada, planned with my 12-year-old granddaughter – which COVID totally torpedoed, of course. As I worked my way through Plans B, C, and D, all the time…