Two of the memoir-writing classes I lead each week are sponsored by Lincoln Park Village, a non-profit organized by older adults who want to age at home. The Village boasts over 300 members, and its classes — everything from meditation to a “boot camp” that enhances memory  —  meet in people’s homes. To kick off the […]

People stare at my Seeing Eye dog and me sometimes. Who can blame them? We’re an unusual pair! But as long as they’re watching, I want to look good. So when I heard that the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University was looking for projects to help people with disabilities, I suggested they have their […]

Last Friday Whitney and I visited an elementary school in a South Side Chicago neighborhood that’s been the center of a national focus on violence and guns the past couple of weeks. That very day, President Obama was at a Chicago high school nearby giving a speech about his new antipoverty policy initiatives. Our mission […]

Marion Karczmar is a mischievous writer who sparkles when she reads her essays for our Monday afternoon memoir class, and I’m excerpting a piece she wrote to celebrate Valentine’s Day today. The essay is about her enduring love for her husband, and it opens with Marion asking herself the age-old question: what does the word […]

It’s guest post time again. Here’s my husband Mike Knezovich. It’s Westminster Dog Show time — bringing infinite Facebook posts of mugshots of canine contestants, and, for those of us who love that kind of thing, internal laughs just thinking about the movie spoof set at this annual event, “Best in Show.” (Best line from […]