BY JANE P. BUTLER FEBRUARY 27, 2022 6:00 AM My mind is the fog on a rainy day protecting me from knowing the extent of the grief yet to come. I am in a trance with a list to finish. Checking off each item keeps sadness hidden. When all is […]
BY ELIZABETH AND CHRISTIAN BRADYJANUARY 16, 2022 6:00 AM My back was sore as I scrambled off the floor and the pile of wrapped presents to slide onto the couch and pick up my glass of port. I stretched and observed to Elizabeth that it has been a really challenging […]
BY MARY CURRAN DECEMBER 26, 2021 5:00 AM Here we are celebrating our second holiday season in the midst of a pandemic and all I can think about is what life was like before we worried about masking, vaccines and hand sanitizer. Travel back in time to Christmas 2019. Ask […]
BY EVELYN WALDNOVEMBER 28, 2021 7:00 AM I remember watching a show hosted by Art Linkletter (my age is showing!) called “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” He would ask questions and in their open, innocent way, children would respond. Their responses brought laughter and sometimes tears. For more than 17 […]
BY BETH MCLAUGHLIN OCTOBER 24, 2021 5:00 AM After Dave, my husband, died unexpectedly in late 2015, I began to frantically look all over the house for the watch I had given him on our wedding day. It was nowhere to be found. I became fixated on its whereabouts even […]
BY LAURI PERMAN SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 6:00 AM “How long does grief last?,” a recent widow asked, struggling with the pain of her loss. In response I shared this story. I was 15, sitting cross-legged on the floor near my grandfather in his heavy wooden rocker, when I learned he […]
BY ZACHARY MASERAUGUST 22, 2021 07:00 AM Nature doesn’t refuse itself, not like human nature does, anyway. For example, the tree does not pretend to be anything but a tree, and it does not refuse being the tree that it is. It graciously accepts the storm no matter the loss […]
BY THE REV. CAROL THOMAS CISSELMAY 02, 2021 07:00 AM Tuesday, April 13 was an important anniversary. It marked one year and one month since my congregation, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County (UUFCC) “left the building.” On March 13, 2020, my board of trustees, acting with strength, an […]
BY LEARNING TO LIVE STORYTELLERSFEBRUARY 28, 2021 07:00 AM The stage is empty. Typically, people would be gathering this month to hear a group of local individuals share stories from their lives at “The State of the Story: Learning to Live” event. For the past five years, the month of […]
BY EVELYN WALDDECEMBER 27, 2020 07:00 AM I love winter! When I proclaim that to others they often respond, “really? I despise winter!” They point out how cold and dark and dreary it is in winter. My love for winter goes back to my childhood. When snow would appear, I’d […]