My Friend, “Prepaid” Is The Only Way To Go

by Kevin Burton    I called the cemetery where my mother will be buried next week and told the clerk that the time had come.    The clerk was actually en route to work. She said she would look up our family’s records once she got there, and call me back.    “Everything is paid …

Make Time For Mom, You’ll Be Glad You Did

by Kevin Burton    One day my mother received a letter. The people who owned the house she was renting were going to sell it, and she had 30 days to get out.    It was ridiculous to expect her to move that quickly, and my brother successfully negotiated an additional six weeks. But we …

Our Getaway In Beautiful Downtown Newton

by Kevin Burton    “There are no boring towns, just boring people,” said my first editor. Not all his nuggets were golden. That one was, and is.    My wife Jeannette and I are not boring people Thus we were in no danger of being bored, though we made the curious choice of Newton, Kansas …

Tempering Expectations For McCartney Album

by Kevin Burton    I think writers borrow the whole Dickens thing too much. You know, best of times-worst of times. But here I think, it fits.    As a Beatles fan I am of course looking forward to “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” PaulMcCartney’s first new solo album in six years, set for release …

No Tears In Heaven, No End To Tears On Earth

by Kevin Burton    The former things. The former things. May they soon become former.    There is a song, “The Tabernacle of God,” released in 1979 by Cynthia Clawson. It has always been a favorite of mine, but these days it leaps up and grabs me.    My mother is in hospice care now. …

Now The Dictionary Is Speaking My Language

by Kevin Burton    At one of my newspaper stops I was introduced to readers as speaking “fluent Spanish” That wasn’t, and isn’t, quite true.    But I do speak some Spanish and it has done me some good over the years.    How much Spanish do I speak? I once described it as “enough …

Awake Or Asleep, Your Brain Is In Motion

by Dictionary Scoop    Your brain controls everything from your thoughts to your emotions and even processes information at lightning speed. But how much do you really know about it?    Some long-believed myths about the brain have been debunked, while other surprising facts reveal just how incredible this organ truly is. Get ready to …

Good News For The Very Old And Very Young

by Kevin Burton    Today’s smiles from the Good News Network take us from Japan to Iowa, from senior years to the cradle, from life to give to life to live.    First, a story by Andy Corbley about older Japanese women, making a joyful contribution to society as a whole and to real people …

Things Get Better With Age, If You Let Them

By Hannah Singleton National Geographic      While aging is often portrayed as a slow decline, scientists say that view overlooks the bigger picture.    “Everyone talks about aging as this decline,” said Michelle Feng, chief clinical officer at Executive Mental Health and a licensed psychologist who specializes in geriatric psychology and medicine. “But aging …

Lean, Pray, Trust, Love, Just A Little Bit More

by Kevin Burton    I needed this today and I thought some of you might need it too.    This message is written on a 4-by-7 sheet of paper, not attached to anything else. I have it because I have helped my mother move three times in the last seven or eight years. Mom downsized …