Camp is one of the quintessential moments of childhood. Many adults have fond memories of childhood campfires and s’mores, silly songs and morning stretches.  But sending your child to camp before they’re ready can turn this delightful treat into a terrible ordeal. I was 11 the year my parents sent to camp.  I didn’t go [...]

I might be a bit of a geek. Maybe I just like action packed movies with flashy effects? The fact that I shared my life with three older male cousins until another girl came along five years later, might have something to do with it, but no matter what the reasons are, I feel no [...]

  The Easter season can bring back many fond childhood memories. For many — religious or not — Easter was traditionally a widely celebrated holiday. But is Easter just like any other holiday? No! It’s actually the greatest story ever told. Watch now

Imagine sitting at home, watching TV. Figure Skater Scott Hamilton has just received an Olympic gold medal. He’s standing in the limelight on top of the podium, the crowd is erupting with bouts of cheer, and he is gleaming with pride for such a momentous feat. Picture a different scenario. Since his childhood, Scott has [...]

Louis Lapides is Jewish, and was raised according Jewish traditions, educated in the Jewish faith. But after a wild variety of life experiences, he had all but abandoned the faith of his childhood. Then one day, he was intrigued when he was told that he didn’t need to read the New Testament to find Jesus. [...]

There was a video on CNN yesterday that stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t footage from Thailand, or election coverage.  It is a video of a little 5 year old girl  sitting in front of an image of 5 cartoon children. The children are all wearing the same dress and the same expression, only [...]

One of my fondest childhood memories of the Christmas season is the Advent calendars my brother and I would receive every year. If you’re unfamiliar with this tradition, the particular version my family enjoyed consisted of a nearly flat decorated cardboard box, with tiny doors on it, numbered from 1 to 24 representing the days [...]

What is Advent? One of my fondest childhood memories of the Christmas season is the Advent calendars my brother and I would receive every year. Every day we would open one of the cardboard doors and behind each one we’d find a tiny chocolate. Every one of the chocolates was uniquely molded in a Christmas [...]

From a distance, “disabled” always seemed like an innocuous word.  It was simply an adjective that described a set of physical circumstances.  It’s a word I’ve often used, never aware of its power.  But when a friend used that word to describe someone that I love I had a startling realization.  Up close, “disabled” sounds [...]

Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up? That’s the question an article in the New York Times recently asked. It seems that it’s taking people longer to grow up. Psychologists have even come up with a new term for it: “emerging adulthood.” It’s happening all over, in all [...]