Mothers and daughters are closest when daughters become mothers.~Author Unknown First, I must prepare. At the farmer’s market, I select what seem to me the best tomatoes — red and plump and promising. Next, I look over the peppers, choosing eight sweet red ones and a dozen hot red ones. Their shiny skins feel smooth to the touch. Finally, I buy onions, their flavor wrapped loosely in thin brow...

Life doesn’t come with a manual; it comes with a mother.~Author Unknown When a teacher called with her concerns about my daughter’s pallor and lack of energy, her comments failed to set off alarm bells. Like her two older siblings, Jill didn’t always eat right or get enough rest. When she came home from school, I asked, “Have you been feeling okay? Your teacher thinks you need to see a doctor....

Dogs are miracles with paws.~Attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy The clouds were as murky and gray as my thoughts. Brooding about life and deeply preoccupied, I collected some things and pointed my car toward the ocean. I trusted the beach to make everything clearer for me, and I wanted a dramatic, solitary view. On a dismal weekday like this I hoped to find everything I needed at the j...

Have you had a kindness shown?Pass it on!Let it travel down the years,Let it wipe another’s tears,Till in heaven the deed appears—Pass it on!~Henry Burton My parents divorced in 1963, when I was eleven years old. One year later, my father stopped providing any type of financial support for my three sisters and me. My mother was on her own, working to provide for her family of girls, one ...

One reason we admire cats is for their proficiency in one-upmanship. They always seem to come out on top, no matter what they are doing, or pretend they do.~Barbara Webster Recently, while cat sitting for my neighbor’s two felines, I had quite the scare. As I doled out kibble, I heard a loud meow that seemed to be coming from behind the stove. Of course, I was startled. Heart racing, I opened ...