DURHAM, N.C. — It’s been 35 years since John Parker died after a pickup collided with the bike he was riding on Cheek Road in east Durham before school. He was 6.

His mother, Deborah Melvin-Muse, doesn’t display photos of him, the second-youngest of six children. His brother’s birthday was the day after the crash — and he hasn’t ...Read more

I started strength training about nine years ago for admittedly vain reasons. Fresh off a breakup at the time, weight training offered a welcome distraction and the prospect of a revenge body.

I trained two or three times a week — nothing crazy, just good old fashioned bicep curls, weighted squats, plank holds. But the results were astounding...Read more

“Not aspiring to be humble” will make great T-shirts, and I hope someone is designing them as we speak.

It’ll be adorable on a throw pillow. Hilarious as a cross stitch sampler. Perfect on a mug that you give your favorite girl boss. I’d buy one of each, if I’m honest.

Inspired by Kamala Harris’ remarks to Alex Cooper, host of the ...Read more

Four years ago or so, Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo was extensively used in our area and was like the shot heard round the world. We all looked at each other with a sense of bewilderment asking how a Mini Vista could compete with the Vistas for a long, hot summer show of color. With every new variety or addition to the series, it has been the ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I'm a 27-year-old woman, and my boyfriend (31) has always been passionate about political activism. I admire his dedication to causes like climate change and social justice, but lately it feels like our relationship is getting lost in the shuffle. Every conversation turns into a discussion about his latest march or organizing efforts...Read more

Charlene Stepney still thinks about a French-speaking woman who came into her salon years ago, brought by a man who talked on her behalf and watched her closely for the duration of her hair appointment.

“Because I spoke French, and it was strange, I started asking her questions,” Stepney said last week at her business, Stepney Institute of ...Read more

BISHOP, Calif. — Just after dawn last Thursday, I pointed my car up a long, steep hill outside Bishop and climbed through the high desert scrub toward the towering peaks of the Eastern Sierra. For about 15 miles, the land and most everything on it was the same color: a muted sandy gray.

But at about 8,000-feet elevation, I rounded a curve on...Read more

PASADENA, Calif. -- On the south side of the 134 Freeway in Pasadena, amid the brush and the dirt and detritus, there is an empty tub of Dreyer’s vanilla ice cream and an empty drink cup from Subway.

They appear to be litter, perhaps cast out of fast-moving cars by careless freeway drivers.

In fact, they hide strategically placed security ...Read more

In today’s world of dating, it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of a new connection, especially if you don’t feel one very often. But it’s important to remember that building a genuine relationship takes time and patience. Often, people put too much weight on a potential future before even establishing a present connection.

Just...Read more

Like so many people, I have a deep and personal connection to Asheville, North Carolina, a once-sleepy mountain town grown into an artists’ enclave and vacation haven for people weary of bright lights and big cities.

I grew up 63 miles south of the town of 95,000 in the also once-sleepy berg of Greenville, South Carolina, in the foothills of ...Read more

Q. Every time my ex and I don’t agree, he takes me back to court. This last time we were ordered to go to co-parenting counseling. I really don’t see how that will help. We don’t trust each other, and we don’t agree on anything. I mean anything, from what time the kids should go to bed at each other’s homes to who can pick up the kids ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I have a kindergarten student who is very intelligent but can’t stay seated or silent for more than 10 seconds. This is not an exaggeration! With a class of 20, this creates constant chaos. How can I help her AND utilize what I’ve learned from your trainings?

Answer: As a former longtime primary school teacher who is ...Read more

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" is a question heard frequently around here with this small herd of grandkids.

Answers range from archaeologist to teacher, bluegrass musician, artist, builder and welder. A 9-year-old grand wants to be a NICU doctor because she's always wanted to be a doctor and loves babies. Win, win!

Of course, all ...Read more

CHICAGO — When Chicago-area college students returned to campus this fall, they were greeted with more than just new lectures, readings and tests. Many local universities welcomed students back with drastically revised guidelines around protest and political speech.

In the wake of a wave of mass student demonstrations against the war in Gaza ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Jean Darnell packed up her life and moved 1,500 miles away to Philadelphia because she believes in the promise of school libraries.

It's a bold move for the nationally recognized educator from Texas, as Darnell has become the first Philadelphia School District library chief in years since the system let its school libraries ...Read more

Edgar Roa was mostly raised by an immigrant mother without a high school degree, surviving on welfare benefits as his family frequently moved around Southern California in pursuit of affordable housing.

But he is poised to graduate next spring with a degree in a medical field with median earnings of $126,318 five years after graduation, and ...Read more

If there is one thing that will make your heart pound faster than finding out you need cardiac surgery, it’s finding out, mere hours before the operation, that you don’t.

Thus did my supposedly faulty ticker skip several beats when my cardiovascular surgeon called me the day before surgery was scheduled and said, “I have good news and bad...Read more

BOISE, Idaho -- When Michelle Short, 52, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2019, her first thought was about how she’d maintain care for her son.

Then a single mother to a 12-year-old with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, Short made a decision she thought she’d never have to make: She put her son, Riley, in a group home...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When I moved to Los Angeles from New York 20 years ago, I felt like I had landed in an alternate reality — a place where flowers bloomed year-round and a light drizzle was considered a valid reason to cancel plans.

Celebrities of varying sorts dotted the landscape. I spotted Keanu Reeves at the Griddle in West Hollywood and ...Read more