Pen-demic

13-year-old Braydon Harrington, from New Hampshire, spoke of connecting with Joe Biden over stuttering.   DNC One certain star of the Democratic Nominating Convention was 13-year-old Brayden Harrington, who bravely stuttered his way through a campaign endorsement  of Joe Biden. Harrington had met Biden back in February at a CNN Town Hall in Concord, NH, where Biden had told stories of his struggle with stuttering as a child. Biden's sister later observed, "The stutter at the time was horrible for him. But I think it was a great gift, because he did not let the stuttering define him." This is the message that Biden shared with Brayden Harrington in Concord. More than a pep talk, Biden's advice extended to examples of how he marked his speeches with pauses to prevent the stutter from interrupting him. He gave Brayden the text of a speech marked with his pauses to keep as a reference. "And in a short amount of time, Joe Biden made me feel more confident about someth...

  I don’t shop like others. I grew up in a military family where money was tight and my mother would shop on a weekly basis, with meals often determined by how much longer it was until the once a month pay check would arrive.  After my father retired though, my mother started doing her main shopping once a month.  That’s when my parents would go to the closest military commissary, first the Granite City Depot commissary, then after Interstate Highway 64 was built, to the Scott Air Force Base Commissary.  I didn’t realize back then, what a savings shopping at the commissary was for my parents, with a house full of kids. Later, after I joined the Air Force myself, and became a Services Officer, my unit had “oversight” over the Base Exchanges and Commissaries on the bases we were stationed at, and I learned very quickly that they sold items for cost plus a minimal surcharge which covered operating costs. Any profits made by local BX and Commissary facilities were turned...

 “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name” Psalm 9:14 NLT It is Sunday morning. I’m settled in and enjoying the music being played by the Masked Bellringers. I’m tucked in, secure in the knowledge that this week I will not fall off the footstool . The best seat in the house for me is on mbp’s lap or extended legs. The problem was that when she moved I would slip off, go boom and land on the floor.  We have now solved the problem. Grandpa’s comfy blue blanket is now our security blanket and it will not let me fall. Yes, we look a little silly curled up with the fleece blanket during the St. Louis days of summer. It works so I’m not complaining. Linus has his blanket and so do I!  How many times we all need to feel the protection of God’s loving arms and support as we move through our daily lives. In this new normal or whatever we are calling it we need to feel secure and loved. Virtual hugs, phone calls, old and new photographs, notes and...