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COVID-19 Could Be Deadly For Small Businesses

Over the last few weeks, the United States has been grappling with the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. But the devastating effects have only just begun to surface for the average citizen. While COVID-19 is a very real and dire threat to the health and lives of the elderly and our most vulnerable, its unprecedented impact on the wider economy places us all at risk. The American way of life as we know it could be forever changed unless critical action is taken immediately. Although the U.S. economy has been performing at record highs over the last several years, it is ...

Looking At The ‘Martha Stewart Of Viruses’

I was really late to the coronavirus starting line. I thought the whole thing would last for a news cycle and be gone. After all, how many earth shattering events can we take in a 36-month period? I couldn’t imagine we had room for one more. So, there were many millions of people that got a headstart buying toilet paper and hand sanitizer and I was one of the people standing in a grocery store aisle with a vacant look on my face and an empty cart, as if I were starring in my own dystopian novel. Where was I when the apocalypse came to my corner store? The world is out of hand ...

Approaching The Problem Systematically

The second of these articles taught us more about Aida’s history of pain. She counted several episodes where severe pain resulted in emergency room visits and subsequent X-rays. Each primary care physician follow-up visit discouraged Aida. She began to question whether her PCP believed her stories. Perhaps at wit’s end, her PCP sought a mental health referral. Aida doubted his compassion. She finished her second session by questioning my position. Did I believe her? It was imperative to her that I believed her. What do we do now? How do we proceed? Steven, Aida’s husband and other ...

Keeping The Kids Busy

Whatever we are dealt, we must put up with. Everyone seems to be out of school. Here are some things for you to try when you have to entertain the children. Well, with the cancellation of school for two to three weeks people are going to be scrambling to find things to do with the children. There are plenty of things that can be done at home with little or no equipment. First, I will start with some simple games — probably the children have not played these so new is good. I taught my grandchildren these games when they were staying with me. The first one is the game of cootie. ...

Lordy, Lordy, Can It Really Be 40?

“It seems like only yesterday,” a common expression used throughout life, fits many situations, events, and/or happenings experienced during our years on earth. Well tonight, Sally and I were to ponder that expression, before our children and church family, as we had planned to renew our promises to each other, before breaking bread together, in celebration of the beginning of our marriage forty years ago tomorrow. Proud to say the longevity of those promises is still much cemented in our relationship, specifically the phrase, “til death do us part.” Nothing less would/will ...

Playing The Name Game

My daughter asked, “Wanna know what I’m gonna name my children?” Of course I did. “I’m going to have two daughters, named Rose and Lily, and a son named Black-Eyed Susan.” “Is this a flower-child take on ‘A Boy Named Sue’?” My daughter blinked. She’s 4. She doesn’t yet know Johnny Cash, and more shamefully, she has yet to memorize the complete works of Shel Silverstein. I redirected my question. “Why the name Black-Eyed Susan for your boy?” I asked. “Because it’s a flower,” she responded “Right. But why that flower?” I ...