Finished Joan Didion's Blue Nights this weekend, and as crazy as she seems right now, and you wonder who wouldn't be after losing a husband and daughter in close proximity, her book has some real insights into how death and illness can change your life…
Here, to me, is a no-brainer conclusion to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study: Workers with access to paid sick leave are 28 percent less likely overall to suffer nonfatal work-related injuries than workers without access to paid sick leave, according to a…
In long-ago story-telling, the speaker often used inclusion, repetition, to bracket the essential point, marking the beginning and the end of an important story. And so, I write: Many years ago we received a call, a baby born in Latin America. Our adoption agency told…
My brother-in-law is visiting for a few days and he brought with him this visit some letters written in 1963 from his father (and my husband's father). In an Oct. 29, 1963 letter their father wrote about his airplane trip from Sioux City, Iowa to…
For a Sunday package of stories on Spokane Catholic schools, I contributed a historic timeline and came across many details I didn't have room for, including how much the sisters who ran the schools were paid. In 1975, sisters were paid $270 a month in…
In journalism world, a controversy is being discussed stemming from a tweet sent by James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal. Referring to the three boyfriends who saved their girlfriends' lives by taking bullets for them in the Aurora theater, Taranto said: "I hope the…
A story in the August edition of US Catholic kept me reading – and gasping - to the end. The divorce rate for the general population has remained somewhat steady over the last 20 years, but for people over the age of 50, it has…
In our office today we were talking about the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado. Among seven colleagues, there were two people who knew somebody, who knew somebody, who was killed in that theatre. In this moment, I feel that the human family is more connected than…
When Jack McPeck first contacted EndNotes, it was through our gmail email address and he sounded a bit angry in the email. I forget why. But we emailed over the months and he softened and finally, we were able to meet and I ran this…
The horrific tragedy at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. put one thing in perspective. The nastiness and silliness of negative campaign ads make no sense in this world where people are killed in random acts of senseles violence. So Mitt Romney and President Obama…
As we move through the maze of healthcare – diagnoses and care - the challenges seem to increase, especially as we age. When I had cancer eight years ago, one woman said to me, “I eat broccoli so I will never get cancer.” My internal…
One of the things I actually look forward to each week is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. It bascially lists some of the scary stuff going on in the greater world. Just so we know. And sometimes, good…
This not so great photo (taken with my cellphone) is of a unique bar of soap given to guests in the Hotel Bellevue. It comes with a hole in the middle and this explainer: "This innovative waste reducing soap has been designed to eliminate the…
I gave up most self-help books a few years ago, realizing that most answers are likely within and I was getting tired of the deeper life questions, to be honest. I was hoping to be more "superfluous" as my sister mistakenly heard me explain. I…
My sister CarolLynn says celebrity deaths tend to go in threes. And we lost three oldies but goodies in recent weeks so maybe her theory has some merit. You have to be of a certain age -- mine and older -- to remember these three…
July 15th is our family day. The day we met our son. He is 18-years-old now and I really would go back and live those years again. He is an amazing human being, a wise soul with a compassionate heart and an intuitive way of…
I thought I was in the minority. But seems my fellow swimmers get annoyed, too, at folks who misbehave in the lanes and laps of life. Swimming offers some of us more than a bit of exercise: it is an activity that evokes creative thinking…
In our EndNotes column two weeks ago, Cathy answered this question: "Does anyone really know when the human spirit or soul departs from its physical body?" Her answer generated the most feedback yet here at EndNotes. We heard from a lot of aetheists who wondered…
I love this guest columnist’s thoughts from today’s New York Times. Education in America is at a crisis point. Some places get it right, while others simply warehouse kids until they reach 18-years-old. And some people – like this writer - survive the system, and…
My friend Kathleen entered a new world 11 weeks ago when her husband had a stroke that he is recovering well from. But Kathleen, a retired nurse in her 60s, has learned so much she didn't know about the caregiving role. Here are some things…
One of my "beats" at work now is tracking aging baby boomers. Sunday, I wrote a story about how boomers will be shedding a lot of "stuff" in the next decade as they downsize their homes. As was the case with my recent Sunday story…
I have often written about my friend, Mary, who died a week before she turned 91. Becky’s story today about Act 2, a learning center for people 50+, reminds me of Mary’s wisdom for a full, long life: keep curious, keep learning. Mary bought a…
I was a huge "Dallas" fan when the series ran throughout the 1980s. Last night I tuned in to the reprise of it. Linda Gray, the actor who played J.R.'s wife, is back in the "sequel" series. I always liked her, but it was disheartening…
In our newsroom, we call it the Spokane Vortex. It occurs when someone from the Inland Northwest is involved with a national or international news event. Or someone is related to someone in Spokane in coincidences beyond explanation. Recently, I discovered some Spokane Vortex in…
Today we celebrate our freedom as a nation. We remember all the men and women who offered their service, some their lives, for our country. While our nation honors our freedom today, we remember all the heroes who keep us free, and it is the…
Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with writer Catherine Johnston of Olympia, Wash., discuss here issues facing aging boomers, seniors and those experiencing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.
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