Unofficially summer has begun! OK, for you sticklers, the “official” first day of summer is June 22, but the weather that we’ve waited for is here, the outdoor activities we love are ready for our participation or viewing, and from my visual vantage point, it’s picnic and barbecue time.

Summer “officially” begins in a few weeks. Let’s ensure that this is a summer of fun and fond memories, and if you have a child that rides in the back seat, take the extra precaution of never leaving them alone when you exit the car.

Working to Provide Veterans with Job Opportunities, Educational Programs, Housing Assistance and Access to Nutritional Food

It is popular today to publicly praise our soldiers and veterans. We see it at athletic events, and in news coverage, even standing in line at Starbucks when someone offers to buy coffee for a person wearing a military uniform. These tributes are fitting, and they avoid the public distancing marked by forgetfulness that seemed to follow some veterans, especially if they served in Korea or Vietnam. Our military personnel deserve all the attention and praise that we shower on them. And honoring our active and retired armed forces members during National Military Appreciation Month is particularly timely.

This is always one of the most bittersweet blogs that I do each year as it comes right before Mother’s Day. It has now been six years since I lost my mother unexpectedly, less than a week after Mother’s Day 2012. And, while the pain never leaves, it is true that I am able to reflect on the time we had together on this Earth with more fondness.

When you examine the issue of domestic violence, the sheer magnitude of the problem and the relentlessness of its presence can give us pause as we try to combat it in a meaningful and measurable way.

Seldom has a movement had a slogan that distills its message to a few words as the simple one coined by Dr. Temple Grandin: “Different, not less.”

Her pithy description captures the essence of autism and suggests how we should view someone who has it.

As we welcome the deepening of spring (well maybe not this year... sheesh!), with flowers blooming, longer walks and a general uplifting of pleasantness to all, it’s hard not to feel connected to Mother Nature, especially on Sunday, April 22, Earth Day. It allows each of us to have a private celebratory moment to enjoy the earth upon which we live.

Read a business story since the digital revolution, and the word innovation usually creeps into the language. The implication is that today, unlike the past, change occurs more quickly, and we must innovate if we’re to adapt and even survive.

Every year in the United States, hundreds of thousands of children are victims of child abuse and neglect. One in four children experience child abuse or neglect at some point in his or her life.

I admit it….I was guilty…guilty of being one on those voices, who for far too long tried to define the academic success of our children after high school by whether or not they attended a college or university. This thinking ignored the simple fact that while going to a four-year college is laudable, it is not always what is best for everyone.