Columns

Transplanted from eastern Kentucky to Detroit’s Yacama Street the summer of 1954, I scented something like Mom’s canned tomatoes. “What’s that smell coming from the neighbor’s house?” I asked Mom. “Why, that’s Italian spaghetti sauce.” “Does it taste like your stewed...

As a historian and genealogist, one of the first things you learn is to be very wary of family histories. Police use the slogan “Trust but verify,” which is a good motto to apply to family history stories. Trust the story but before retelling the story search for...

Dave the plumber arrived at 11:30 a.m. Monday morning and followed my husband to the basement posthaste. The sounds of drilling and flowing water through pipes from below soon provoked a smile. After the smelly, inconvenient emergency of leaky sewage pipes, the repair...

“We forgot our ‘forever looking lists’ didn’t we,” I mumbled to my fellow Gadabouts. “I threw mine away, chirped Giselle. “It was getting too long.” “I pretty much completed mine,” said Francheska. “Well I left mine at home, and its probably a good thing, since I...

Anticipating my Friday lunch date with Elaine, I gathered our laundry a day earlier than my usual routine. I reserved Saturday for extracting honey at my place with a fellow beekeeper. My bees gave up the ghost last winter and left thirteen frames of honey. Praise...

No matter how careful I am, my eyeglasses get dirty. I must clean them several times a day. I long ago trained myself not to touch the lenses with my fingers, but, somehow, my glasses can’t stay clean for a whole hour. But the thing that really amazes me is how dirty...

I gladly accepted Sebastian’s invitation to participate in this season’s production of maple syrup. A labor intensive and scientific branch of husbandry, I’d heard the sugar shack is congenial ground to gather come March. Who could resist the warmth and friendship of...

Graham John Terry Jr., commonly called “Jack,” was born on July 21, 1912 in Dryden Township to Graham John Terry Sr. (1886-1976) and Iva Rae Lockwood Terry (1892- 1971). About 1925 Jack Sr. opened his own meat market at 133 South Main Street on the north side of...

We walk the streets of Borispol and Kiev in 1993, climb dingy high-rise apartments, find no hot water or toilet seats-search empty shelves in grocery stores for soap to wash dishes, clothes, and floors. We seek respite from roaches for our mission team, American teens...

“Be nice to your sister,” my mom would exclaim! I’ve no idea how many times I heard that in my early years, but it was likely a considerable number. Be nice, act right, play nice. It was a lesson reinforced in kindergarten and grade school as my peers and I were being...