I was talking with a friend from New Orleans the other day. Before she became a widow she was a pastor’s wife. We were chatting about the things women our age talk about – men and babies (and no that’s not always a redundant pairing), and about the gifts we ought to (read: deserve to) get for Mother’s Day. “Can you imagine being the Mother of Jesus? What an honor,” my girlfriend said breathlessly. “I would have loved to have... Read more
By now you’ve heard the news that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight have been found alive, apparently kidnapped and held for years as prisoners inside a house on Cleveland’s West Side. Understandably the reaction from the public-at-large has been one of rejoicing. These women were believed to be dead. Abducted. Likely murdered. Shouts of praise were offered up as word of the women captives set free went viral: My God is MIGHTY DO U HEAR ME... Read more
We sat on the weathered deck, my friend and me. Her in the north corner, munching on a granola bar, drinking coffee. Me in the south corner, eating the other half of a muffin leftover from breakfast, and drinking hot tea. This was our evening meal. Over on the dunes, a lab chased after the Frisbee an elderly man threw. The man and his lab walk by my friend’s cottage every morning, and again in the evening. This is the only... Read more
Because everywhere I go I meet the most interesting characters. And you? What character did you meet recently? Read more
A few weeks ago, Anna and Alex Nikolayev took their 5-month old son Sammy, who has a heart murmur, to Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento. But the couple has since claimed to any news agency willing to broadcast it, that they were unhappy with the care that their son received so they left Sutter – without taking the time to be officially discharged, and against medical advice – and went to another nearby hospital. The next day Sacramento police... Read more
The year after my father died my mother remarried. When I went to write After the Flag has been Folded, I couldn’t even remember my step-father’s name. One of my uncles had introduced Mama to him because everyone knows the answer to being a young widow is to remarry, right? My mother began singing “I take it back I didn’t mean it” as soon as we drove away from the church after the wedding ceremony. But not for the same... Read more
Social Media has been lit on fire this week by the ranting letter of University of Maryland’s Rebecca Martinson. Perhaps you heard about Martinson admist the continued news of the Boston bombers and the lame news of Congress making sure their flights home were not interrupted by their own stupidity? Martinson wrote a very nasty email to her sorority sisters at Delta Gamma, chiding, no… berating… them for being so socially lame. Apparently Little Miz Sunshine was upset... Read more
I interviewed John Paulk years ago for a feature in a Conservative Christian magazine. The focus on that article was John’s healing from a homosexual lifestyle. I was working as a freelance journalist and had contracted with the editor for the story. I had a childhood friend who had just been diagnosed with AIDS at age 25, so I was definitely curious about the subject matter. I had read Jerry Arterburn’s achingly honest memoir “How Will I Tell My Mother?... Read more
How many coincidences have to happen before it’s not a coincidence anymore? That’s the question someone posed to me recently. Of course, they were asking the question by way of referring to some conspiracy theory about the world gone bad and the Illuminati gone badder. (Excuse the grammar, I’m trying to make a point here.) I suppose it’s difficult to convince a person like me to believe in conspiracies. I’m so daft about One World Orders I had to Google Illuminati to... Read more
During the week in which two brothers gathered together the tools of destruction that would kill, maim and terrorize Boston, soldiers from around the nation gathered up their guns and ruck sacks and headed to Fort Benning, Georgia, to take part in a 60-hour marathon designed to showcase — or breakdown – their physical stamina, mental toughness, team’s tenacity, and character’s mettle. The 30th annual Best Ranger Competition 2013 got underway Friday April 12 as participants for the Boston... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias
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