September 2017

Maggie Lena Walker – daughter of a freed slave and an Irish American newspaperman and the first woman to open and operate a successful bank in the United States – would be proud to behold her old neighborhood, Jackson Ward, and the area surrounding it. Maggie, who died in 1939,…

From local high school productions of Shrek, Footloose, and Little Shop of Horrors to Broadway shows like School of Rock, Aladdin, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in New York City, my husband, two children, and I have delighted in live theatre many times over the years. We started cautiously…

If someone told me my family would be riding a banshee through the air over the mystical world of Pandora on vacation, I would have questioned the person’s sanity. But a few months ago, that’s just what we did, thanks to the amazing Disney imagineers who created Pandora – The…

My youngest daughter, who is sixteen, would make art all day if I left her alone but is not in love with reading. Unfortunately, like her mom, she suffers from chronic and recurring 2-page narcolepsy – accompanied by a tendency to fall asleep with a book on her face. She…

Our state ranks forty-seventh for treatment of childhood major depression – the leading risk factor for suicide. That means seven out of ten Virginia kids most at risk for suicide don’t get the help they need. My family lived that statistic. My son died from it. After years of struggle…

Not too long ago, I joined a small group of dads for some post-bedtime drinks at a local pub. We chatted about podcasts. We chatted about sportsball. And after a couple of drinks, the conversation shifted to talk about our kids. As a father of daughters who are now ten…

Or as I like to say, “Hooray! It’s September, and I survived another summer without bankrupting my company or misplacing a child (mine or someone else’s)!” They say it takes a village. I had never really thought I had a village, but looking back on the summer of 2017, I…

We all know things have different weights. Science gets even more interesting when there are two things that are exactly the same size and take up the exact amount of room, and yet, one seems to weigh more than the other. That’s because they have different amounts of matter in…

When John and Ann were in a serious automobile accident, they needed care for their children. Arrangements were made for the kids to stay with relatives in Virginia until their parents could recover. The caregiving relatives needed legal authority to make medical and school decisions for the children. That was…

As my children get older, I can feel myself starting to favor one of my kids over the other. Is this normal? Parents can feel more ease with one child and more strain with another. Research shows that each parent and child have an original relationship, even compared with others in…

Sacred Heart Center Needs Your Help The Sacred Heart Center is accepting donations of pre-loved stuffed animals and toys for the kids served in its family programming services. Gently used, clean stuffed animals or dolls and 1-piece small toys (like cars and action figures) are welcome. We are also in need of…

As you walk down the aisles in a grocery store (and Richmond has plenty of those!), gluten-free signs and labels are everywhere. Many restaurants are offering gluten-free dishes. Your friends tell you they feel great on a gluten-free diet. But will you? Should you be eating gluten-free, too? How about…

Meatball Sliders Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have a lined baking sheet ready. In a large bowl, mix 2 pounds of ground beef (or ground turkey) with 2 eggs, ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon each of oregano and salt, and…

Dealing with an anxious child can be heart-wrenching. We are living in complicated times, and children are challenged with mature social, emotional, and developmental issues earlier and earlier. Whether it’s in response to a school lock-down drill to practice emergency preparedness, bullying in a peer group, or the death of…

In 1899, the Independent Order of St. Luke was teetering toward bankruptcy. A benevolent society that provided burial insurance for members of Richmond’s African American community, the organization had just a thousand members and a little over thirty dollars in its coffers. When its president resigned, only one person stepped up…

What’s the big deal? Does recycling really make a difference? I heard it all goes to a landfill, anyway. Do they really recycle what is collected? What does MRF mean?  Does any of this sound familiar? Every year, families in Central Virginia generate more than 900,000 tons of waste to…

  When we hear the news about a teenager who has been shot or young children witnessing shootings in their neighborhoods, we may wonder what the long-term impact will be on these children. Research tells us experiencing violence can have life-long health implications for children. It is one of these…