The Blog

Can you ever stop being a mother? Is there a time in life when you say, “You’re all grown up, you don’t need me any more”? No, I’m finding out. Our son will be officially retired from the navy as of May  1. He arrived here Saturday evening from Japan and we are treasuring his company. Both my husband and …

Self-esteem: where does it come from? The first primary source of self-esteem is your family. Parents contribute mightily to a child’s sense of self and worth. They can continue to have an impact throughout your life. However, we all know women who had terrible parents, yet turned into decent adults anyway. Other people affect our self-esteem, too, such as teachers, …

As a young woman in college, I was required to take speech class which I put off until my senior year. The first day, we sat in a circle and went around, with each student saying his or her name. Panic overtook me, and when it was my turn, I was in tears. And now? I’m an educator and speaker …

I had the pleasure of meeting with Trinity Presbyterian Church’s women on their retreat two weeks ago. They invited me to lead a session on “Women’s Wisdom” on Friday evening. There was a lot of interaction. One of the questions I asked was: What have you learned over the years that you’d like to share with a younger woman? What …

“I gave up complaining for Lent. It’s really hard!” I overheard a woman say a couple days ago. Then I started listening to other people, too, and heard all kinds of complaints about: their boss, spouse, kids, Democrats/Republicans, the President, the mayor, their weight, etc. Then I listened for “solutions-oriented” comments. Few to none. I decided to take the challenge …

I invite you and other readers to contribute what you know or have learned, or perhaps ask a question, describing a specific situation and requesting suggestions on how you might handle it. My hope is that this proves to be a lively, rich conversation and source of solid, life-based information for all of us. You can add to the conversation, …