During tough times, my parents sing a song. It's sweet -- two real voices, not quite in tune, but full of energy. Whenever I complained, they’d break into song: You’ve got to accentuate the positive Eliminate the negative Latch on to the affirmative And don’t mess with Mr. In-Between! Listening, I often thought it’s old fashioned mumbo jumbo. It’s parent talk. Finally, I listened to Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters sing the whole song. The lyrics surprised me: You've got to spread joy up to

“I never thought I would have to ask for food.” The young mother said as a box was placed in her car. In the last three weeks over 500,000 Illinois residents have filed for unemployment. We have never seen such a sudden, dramatic increase in the need for food in our region. There are now growing lines at area food pantries. Numbers of those seeking help has tripled. For 70% of them this is their first visit to a food pantry. This is occurring when food banks are receiving fewer donations from

“You’ll be gone by spring,” said the same voice that drove me to retire. I was afraid this might be true, that I’d be dead by the time the weather warmed. Recent estate planning put death on my mind. I’ve heard enough about the frailty of old age, that it’d be all right by me to leave here with my faculties intact. You’ll be gone by spring. I couldn’t tell Bruce. Then came the snotty nose, my appetite gone, and sleep rising. While my pneumonia wasn’t COVID-19, I needed breathing treatments four

They say that too much screen time is bad for your emotional health. Well, almost overnight, the average amount of screen time for everyone went up dramatically when the country went on a face-to-face lockdown and dropped into a virtual reality world. Interruptions in social activities and fear of the unknown also affect emotional health. Hours of intense screen time in ergonomically incorrect chairs and less time being active affect physical health. Business and social events demand screen time

Have you noticed how people passing no longer ask, “How are you?” Instead they gaze at the ground and measure off 6 feet to assure compliance with corona-lockdown. We don’t comment about the weather: If it’s overcast, it deepens our dark mood. If it’s sunny, we regret that we can’t safely recreate outdoors. The ubiquitous TV used to allay boredom is now boring, and reality TV shows are nowhere CLOSE to our current reality. We’re all in this together…and alone. My usual response to serious stress

I recently listened to an episode of the podcast This American Life entitled “The Show of Delights”. The uplifting stories were like a breath of fresh air. This brings me to the question: what brings you delight? For me it’s reading, family time, a great cup of coffee. For my three-year-old son, it’s going to Target, the park, saying funny words (like "blubber"), or climbing anywhere he can. Kids do stuff because it’s fun. I think as adults we oftentimes neglect to build fun into our day.

It is always important to use words precisely, but never more than now. One hears terms such as social distance, self-isolation, just plain isolation, communication, and loneliness. It is imperative to use such terms precisely. Yes, we must maintain social distance for now. Some of us must self-quarantine. But still there must be communication. Public officials must communicate with us. Businesses must communicate. Absolutely, we must continue to communicate with each other. Note that there are

I open my mailbox with a cleaning wipe. I wipe down the mail and then smother my hands with sanitizer. Welcome to my new normal — being abnormal … during this pandemic. My county has only a few positive cases of COVID-19. But experts say numbers are deceiving and I should not feel safe. It’s most likely here … surrounding me. Some say this virus monster is invisible. But I see it on TV every minute of every day. In headlines and in wife’s voice when she talks to our sons living in other states.

I have a beer bottle cap in the pocket of my spring coat that I worry with my thumb and forefinger. I’m not sure how long the bottle cap has been there. I find it with my fingers, and then I forget about it again. When I walk the black dog Shady on the limerock Peace Trail my hands go to my pockets. I never see the bottle cap because it doesn’t leave my pocket, but I know what it looks like because I worry it so often these days. I can feel the serrated ridges of the cap, and I rub and rub my

In a few short weeks COVID-19 has come to grip the nation. Practically overnight we are uncomfortably settling into economic uncertainty, self-quarantining, online education, and accepting social distancing. All the while, unfortunately, the leadership coming out of Washington is often contradictory, confused, and uncertain. It seems as though the most important message on the mind of the White House is how great of a job Mr. Trump is doing -- a dubious, self-righteous, point-missing affront to