How Deep Is Your Love?, Good Question

by Kevin Burton   My sister and I had one last shared musical moment, in the days before her death Aug. 25 of last year.    We had thousands of them over half a century together. What I wouldn’t give to have a few more of them now.    The final one came last August, …

Hard Lessons In Death And Unforgiveness

by Kevin Burton     This bit of Burton family lore started small, sprung up unexpected.    We had a maid named Mrs. Long. This was before the basement at my father’s house in Yellow Springs, Ohio  was finished, when you could still practice hockey on roller skates and shoot a plastic puck into a 4-by-6 …

Catsongs: Cat’s In The Cradle, Harry Chapin

by Kevin Burton    (Catsongs is a series on Page 7 to honor the memory of my late sister Pat by looking at our two shared passions, cats and music.)    For this series, I am featuring songs with cats in the title, or perhaps the lyrics. Unfortunately “Cat’s in the Cradle” is the obvious choice …

Quibbles And Bits: Cats, Beatles, Fantasy

by Kevin Burton    Our younger cat Lakin is a great leaper, has a good set of lungs and is eager to communicate.    And she’s wild about exercise. I should be so wild about exercise.    You share your living space with two cats, you find out a few things.    Like on a …

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 …

Why, Exactly, Is A Goose Called Silly?

by Dictionary Scoop    Sure, sheep are obedient, and geese are loud. But when did we decide to start calling each other by animal names?    Since Biblical times, we’ve been dragging innocent animals into our human drama to describe each other’s worst behavior.    Is that fair? Read on to see some of the animal …

Is Small Talk A Big Help In Making Friends?

by Kevin Burton    Are we going today from sublime to ridiculous?  Or is that just my bias?    Yesterday we ran part of a Los Angeles Times story about making friends in our adult years. We finish that story, by reporter Seraphina Seow today.    Psychologists interviewed by The Times, offered five suggestions for …

Rediscovering The Lost Art Of Making Friends

by Seraphina Seow Los Angeles Times    A friend of mine has been hoping to make new friends as a 26-year-old. She’s made every effort to put herself out there: joined clubs, volunteered, initiated catch-ups.    But every time she establishes a new connection, it wanes after a few weeks. She suspects that it may be …

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 …