What does St. Patrick’s Day bring to mind? Many would say shamrocks and parades, or a pinch for forgetting to wear green. For us Irish folks it’s a celebration of our heritage. But the deeper meaning is that Saint Patrick really lived. He was a Roman, not an Irishman, and ...

When I interview people for their opinions about presidential election this year and read the news about Covid-19 daily for my job, I notice that people often argue the same things from different points of view. And we often try to convince other people to agree with our views, either ...

The Kodak Instamatic Camera was the newest way to snap a memory in 1963. The production of 50 million of these “24 Hour Cameras” between 1963 and 1970 meant that images on film came to life in a one-day process. Gone were the days where every photograph was developed in ...

Wars have been fought since the beginning of time, their first recordings in the bible. In America, many patriots have been willing to put their lives on the line for what they have believed in their hearts. Some of those brave souls were still boys or girls not yet of ...

If you have ever thumbed through a vintage magazine, with its colorful, full-page ads, you have seen the illusion of perfection. Adds for everything from a glamorous brand of cigarettes to a shiny new family sedan grace the pages, making the reader long for that perfect item.  In 1950, Inglis ...

Most of the parents in the neighborhood where I grew up were disciplinarians. Children were expected to be in their own yard by the time the streetlights came on in the evening. Chores varied by household, but all of us kids had them. Some pulled weeds and helped mow their ...

In early American schoolrooms the art of beautiful penmanship was more important than learning the proper spelling of words, but lessons in good moral character were of the most value. Students began by drawing straight lines over and over before moving on to the letters of the alphabet, and finally ...

Praising God in trial and tribulation is difficult, even for the grateful heart. Pain has a way of putting itself in the way of counting one’s blessings and remembering God’s former works. Yet it’s praise that raises us—spirit, soul, and body, above the fray, as the door opens for God ...

Remember the stories of how our parents or grandparents trudged through snow drifts, or thunderstorms, or beating sun,  uphill, to get to school each morning?  In some ways, attending school today is much easier that in times past. Many schools today are air-conditioned, dress codes tend to be less restrictive,  ...

When our father passed away, my sister and I went to choose a monument to be placed in our family plot. When the drawing was put in front of us, we knew that Dad had begun the designing of his own gravestone long before his death as our eyes fell ...