“Wouldn’t you just know it,” muttered my husband, Randy.

We had already been driving for a couple of hours in a pickup truck that we had borrowed from a friend, and now it was completely dark.

“What’s wrong?” I asked sleepily. I had dozed off only a few minutes ago.

“It’s starting to rain,” Randy replied, as he reached over to turn on the windshield wipers.

Rain? In a few seconds, I came fully awake. If it was raining, that meant Mom and Dad’s furniture was getting wet.

So far, it had been my worst Thanksgiving ever. Dad had passed away a month ago. My mother had died seven years earlier. When I was a kid, we always celebrated Thanksgiving at home. All four of my grandparents had died before I was born, and to me, Thanksgivi The Thanksgiving Blessing Recipe

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Ghost Stories

by LeAnn R. Ralph

When I started teaching English at Northwestern Military and Naval Academy near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, nobody warned me about the ghosts.

Northwestern — a beautiful, old granite building — was a boarding school. A hundred boys lived there, ranging in age from seventh grade through twelfth, although the building could have accommodated maybe twice as many. The school had been in existence for about a century. The hallway leading to the gymnasium was lined with photographs of all the graduating classes

The entrance to the school featured two wrought iron gates and a long driveway that wound through the extensive grounds. Trees, flowers and shrubs added to the park-like atmosphere.

Northwestern was both a military and a naval academy, a Ghost Stories Recipe

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New Year’s Resolution — Why Not Resolve To Take Back Your Life?

by Melissa J. A. Carey

It’s time once again for the dreaded New Year’s Resolutions. Most of us make them; few of us keep them for more than a few months. New Year’s resolutions range anywhere from loosing weight to being more organized to finishing your education and the list goes on. But, have you ever thought about resolving to get your life back? “What does this mean?” you ask.

Getting your life back means taking control of your life—Making deliberate choices about how you spend your time, so that you can have a balanced lifestyle. If you often feel stressed or hurried, this may be a good sign that you need some help with managing your lifestyle. A balanced lifestyle means having the time to choose doing the things you enjoy, rather than the things that you New Year’s Resolution — Why Not Resolve To Take Back Your Life? Recipe

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Home For The Holidays: Visiting Aging Parents

by Linda LaPointe

Joanne returned home after not seeing her parents for about 6 months. She found her dad is not doing nearly as well as he has been leading her to believe. Their weekly conversations were centered on talking about Joanne’s mom who had been ailing. Her dad had kept up the façade that he was taking great care of her and all was well.

She found out differently. The house was a mess and had not been cleaned well in some time and needed quite a bit of maintenance as things were starting to fall apart. Bottles of pills were outdated indicating they hadn’t been taking them as prescribed. The refrigerator was almost empty of nourishing food. She felt guilty, why hadn’t she seen it before, seen it coming, read between the lines?

But the truth is Home For The Holidays: Visiting Aging Parents Recipe

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