The better I get to know men, the moreI find myself loving dogs.~Charles de Gaulle The year my daughter was born, I was struggling with many issues. My husband chose to leave our marriage to seek a more carefree lifestyle. I owned a home that was a money pit, and my funds were limited as I was working on a freelance basis so that I could parent my daughter. And, as all new parents are, I was...

When watching after yourself, you watch after others. When watching after others, you watch after yourself.~Buddha In my dreams, a turquoise Buddha circled my bed, round and round, week after week. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant dream nor was it a nightmare. It was more of an informative one, urging me to understand something I knew nothing about. As the dream continued to appear each nigh...

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.~Pierre Corneille My courageous and selfless mother, at age seventy-nine, died from breast cancer. Her name was Betty. She asked for one thing only — that she make it to her eightieth birthday. She believed that if she made it to eighty, she could consider her life long and well lived. We focused on that birthday. When Mom lay dying in July, sh...

A little magic can take you a long way.~Roald Dahl Magic was a four-year-old German Shepherd about to be euthanized at the animal shelter along with hundreds of other dogs, at least that is how I remember it. I was editing a news promo for WNBC/New York. The reporter announced that the dogs and cats would be put down if no one came by the end of the day. My friend Rosie and I left work and rus...

Concentrate on counting your blessings, and you’ll have little time to count anything else.~Woodrow Kroll The winter wind bit through my coat but didn’t dampen my cheerfulness as I carried my four jars of home-canned tomatoes into the church basement. Excited to participate in feeding the less fortunate in our community at Christmas, I joined my Sunday school classmates as we boxed the goods ...