“My caregiver mantra is to remember: the only control you have is over the changes you choose to make.” Nancy L. Kriseman, author, The Mindful Caregiver

I was headed to the beach with my mom. We’d been planning it for weeks. My suitcase was half packed. Waiting in a dining room chair was a bag of groceries and wine (wait, is wine classified as groceries?). The last time I’d visited the beach house was in the Fall of 2019, thanks to COVID and Cancer.

We’d been through a tough few weeks with my husband’s virus transforming into an infection. To…

I hope citizens can tear their eyes away from “Housewives in Whatever City” long enough to be alarmed by at least one provision in the $3.5 Trillion budget bill dubbed The American Families Plan. In order to recoup a bunch of dollars Congress thinks is theirs, they’ll ask financial institutions to report on all business and personal account transactions. Cryptocurrency is not exempt either.

This goes beyond the pale of intrusive government overreach, no matter what party you support. Our government overlords have kindly provided an explanation of this entire bill, and it registers 114 pages on the EG- (enormous…

I pushed the heavy wheelchair over the threshold and out into the sunshine. Hearing an odd sound, I looked down and saw a tube dragging on the sidewalk. Mr. Jones’ catheter had fallen out. I don’t recall if I knew this outright or if someone told me what it was. But, I maneuvered the wheelchair through a K-turn and took him back inside. I probably blushed when I had to tell a nurse what had happened.

When I was thirteen, I became a Red Cross volunteer at the local veterans’ hospital. I took a shine to that old fellow with…

SCRIPTURE PROMPT

I’ve been in a crisis of church for several years now. The building, the unsingable contemporary music, and the large staff needed to pull off a plethora of programs that seldom appeal to me. All of it is overwhelming and sometimes I just fail to see the point of it.

The point, of course, is winning the lost. Yes, I used to knock on doors, worked in a bus ministry, learned American Sign Language for a deaf ministry, sang in a choir. I taught Sunday School for children, middle schoolers, and even adults at some point in my faith journey…

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“I’m not touching you…” Finger centimeters from sibling’s arm.

“Mommy, she hit me.”

“I’m tellin’.”

“Nanny, nanny, boo-boo. Stick your head in…”

“You look like a monkey, and you are one too.” Sung at end of the birthday song.

“Yo mama.” Common comeback in the 1970s.

“Takes one to know one.”

“I’m rubber, you’re glue. Whatever bounces off me sticks to you.”

“Scaredy cat.”

“Teacher’s pet.” I was one and loved it.

“Oooh, cooties!”

You are very welcome for the trip down memory lane. My younger sister hit me while my brother held me. I said, “I’m telling” a lot.

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We use numbers to improve our thinking. Or perhaps, we “try” to do so. We rely on others to draw conclusions and communicate that to us.

Rely on others’ analysis at your own peril.

“Torture numbers, and they’ll confess to anything.” ~Gregg Easterbrook

Statistics is a decision science. Information gleaned from statistical analysis should inform decisions.

Consumers of statistics (nearly everyone) must understand data’s undergirding: sources, the questions asked survey respondents, the data requester, who/what’s in the sample, the sample size. Data gathering and reportage are fraught with bias.

My advice: be suspicious of every number or percentage you hear.

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