My step-daughter is visiting. She has come east from Marina del Rey, California for a week with us and to attend a family wedding in North Carolina. She was really looking forward to spending some uninterrupted time here, in Warren, Pa. I never knew Valerie until about twenty years ago and ...

A couple weeks ago I did the children’s sermon at church. At that time, I shared one of my secrets with the children as well as the adults in the congregation. When I was in treatment for breast cancer, I had to lay very still for many of the tests. I told the children that I repeated ...

Once upon a time, in Warren, Pennsylvania, three wise men got together on a downtown porch. Gary, Doug, and Gary enjoyed each other’s company just chatting about the weather, the town, sports and more. Guy stuff. They wound up discussing how much fun it would be to start a Front Porch ...

Football, soccer and band camps are in full swing. We knew when the fair rolled around that it was the end of our summer. I never attended any camps in my day but my children were involved in band camp. After they arrived home, I could hear music echoing across our valley as the neighbors ...

We have almost given up shopping at the big box discount stores. It’s time. Their membership rates are climbing through the roof as our need for them is heading for the cellar. We have a membership at BJ’s in Olean, Dear Richard’s hometown. It’s 58 miles away and he can drive it in ...

When the produce markets open, I think about canning. I was new to canning when I moved to the country. My grandma canned a few tomatoes if the crop was big, but other than that she did not can. I had one girlfriend whose mother canned tomato sauce for spaghetti and pizza. A couple times I was ...