Sometimes we forget that old people were not always old people. We see them as living on the other side of a wall, rather than of as part of continuum of which we are all participants at different stages. When I first met Wendy’s father-in-law at Thanksgiving 1994, he seemed like an old person

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I was born in the early 80s, into a strongly Christian household. We were poor because my parents had just immigrated from China. During that time, my mom worked to make ends meet, while my dad attended medical school — training to be a physician. I had a pretty ordinary childhood, and spent a

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I’m proud and glad to be an American. My sisters and I are first-generation Filipinas born in the USA. My father came to America in the 30’s, fought as an American soldier in WWII, my mother came in the 40’s, went to school to obtain her citizenship. They came to have a better quality of […]

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What is living the American Dream? Is it owning 2 cars, having 2.5 kids, and owning a home (with a mortgage)? Or is it enjoying your job assuming you are lucky enough to have one and having enough free time to visit all of the places you would like to see and be able to […]

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I’m grateful to my “life coach” (I call her that, she might not characterize her work that way) with whom I have been working for about five months now. I have had several invaluable epiphanies (also known as “blinding glimpses of the obvious”) in that time, but the one that is driving the

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Many have noticed that it has become unusually difficult, in recent years, for Americans to talk constructively across the political divide. One reason for this regrettable development has been a change in our nation’s media culture.In the America I grew up in, we all got our news from similar,

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I was born in the Midwest, Wyoming to be exact, so I grew up with Midwestern ideals. As a child I was headstrong and tended to be my own person, which made it difficult to make friends. I wasn’t really an introvert as much as I was a self-contained person. I had strong beliefs of […]

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Blessings do indeed abound — often despite all indications to the contrary. Having been born in the USofA over 73 years ago, I have seen many changes — some good, some not so much. When I was a little girl living near Camp Drum, NY, I recall standing on our corner waving at US Army […]

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Mary Ellen of Pier Glass in Red Hook, Brooklyn shares her story about how Hurricane Sandy gravely damaged her business and her home. Despite the property damage to the glass-blowing studio, she draws strength from the community that pitched in to help her and her colleagues

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What does it mean to be an American today? When I think about “American” I mean a regular, working class, middle class or poor person who struggles to make ends meet to take care of oneself or one’s family. I think about the vast majority of people in this country who are not part of […]

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