I was lucky in many ways that my parents were young when I was born. My mother was 19, my father 22.

Their youth meant their parents were also relatively young, as were their parents’ parents, which dropped me into a multitude of grandparents and great-grandparents at birth, a tribe of elders whose physical presence would enrich my life for ...Read more

When our kids were young, I briefly considered home schooling. Then I was teaching our son to play piano, found myself with the John Thompson Book for Beginners rolled up in my hand, ready to swat him on the arm, and realized I was not home-school material.

We paid a neighbor for piano lessons. She taught all the kids in the neighborhood and ...Read more

Eternally curious and dogged in their pursuit, married travelers Scott and Tarantino know how to track down a good story, and not just any story.

In fact, their book "Looking For Legends," comes with a bold itinerary before you even get past the cover. “Let us take you somewhere you’ve never been before, and introduce you to our friends,”...Read more

Sarah Steinsiek grew up in small-town Arkansas watching her mother, Ruthie Hare, join all sorts of fitness groups. Naturally slim, Ruthie especially loved aerobics and calisthenics.

She had another motivation, too. She knew it would help ward off the heart disease that had plagued nearly every member of her family.

Yet there was one healthy ...Read more

Sarah Jessica Parker wants her twins to have a healthier relationship with food than she had growing up, she said on an episode of Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast. That’s why she doesn’t limit what they eat, she said.

“When I was growing up, we weren’t allowed sugar in the house, and we weren’t allowed cookies, and we weren’t allowed ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — National and local leaders of Moms for Liberty came to Raleigh this week to promote a message that parents have to fight against indoctrination of their children by public schools.

Panelists at the Town Hall voiced concerns on issues such as a rise in school crime and teacher turnover and the difficulties of parents getting ...Read more

I took the bait and I'm not even embarrassed to say what the bait was.

It was a fishing scam. Not trout, bass, anything you throw back in the water, or cook on the grill -- fishing with a "ph." Phishing.

Phishing is when online fraudsters try to scam you out of money by enticing you to open an email or text without first checking the web ...Read more

The subtitle for Ben Mason’s memoir "Sex, Trucks, and Rock ‘N Roll" is “a Spiritual Journey,” but that’s much too tidy for this book. “ It’s four in the morning,” starts chapter one, “ and I’m still wired.”

So starts this headstrong story of the life of a musician, songwriter and free-thinking drummer. Every girl wants to ...Read more

MIAMI -- Helped by an influx of new Floridians, and boosted by the state’s newly expanded voucher system, Catholic schools in South Florida are seeing steady growth and even adding new classrooms. That’s in stark contrast to what’s going on in the public schools, particularly in Broward County, which faces tough decisions on closing entire...Read more

My husband and I have experienced some hearing loss. The most frequently heard word at our house is "WHAT!?"

More pressing than our physical hearing loss is our selective hearing loss, something that happens to couples who have been married a long time.

Just the other day, the husband was working on his laptop at the kitchen table with his ...Read more

Too much exposure to bright outdoor lights at night may increase a person's stroke risk, new research suggests.

The study involved more than 28,000 people living in a large city in China. Researchers found that people exposed to the highest levels of artificial outdoor light at night had a 43% increased risk of developing cerebrovascular ...Read more

Set against the backdrop of post-Roe v. Wade America, "Refuge" by Bill VanPatten dives into the profound impact of state laws on individual freedoms and explores the complexities of family, prejudice, and resilience in the face of adversity, all while fearlessly delving into the intricacies of a woman’s right to choose.

Jesse Pérez, who is ...Read more

Strokes are typically caused by high blood pressure and other traditional risk factors. But for adults under 35 who have a stroke, migraine headaches and other nontraditional risk factors may be more likely to blame, new research finds.

The higher risk declines as people age, according to the study, published in the American Heart Association ...Read more

Danielle McCollian needed some work done at her house. While at the post office, she saw an ad on the bulletin board for a guy who did remodeling.

She called, he came out and that was that. They married when she was 39 and Joe was 32. A year later, they decided to start a family. After several miscarriages, she used in vitro fertilization to ...Read more

I left home without my phone the other day. I considered turning back but decided against it.

As I continued on my way, I felt a growing sense of euphoria. It was as though a weight had been lifted -- a small electronic weight that would fit in a pocket, a purse or rattle around in a cup holder in a car. It was freeing. For a short distance ...Read more

Women with a history of pregnancy complications are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, but they can greatly lower that risk, new research suggests.

Having healthy lifestyle behaviors and managing blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels after giving birth significantly lowered their risk for future cardiovascular disease to ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Boise City Council Member Luci Willits was a junior in college when she had her first child.

At the time, she and her husband couldn’t afford child care. Instead, they planned their class schedules so that one of them was always available to take care of the baby. Occasionally, in a pinch, Willits had to bring her daughter ...Read more

Maybe it’s that I’m at an age where I ponder mortality more than others. Regardless, "The Rainbow Diary," a novel by Mitch Maiman, hit an emotional nerve and had me thinking long and hard about his truly intelligent and insightful protagonist, his story and the message he delivers about one of our greatest mysteries.

Readers get a sense of ...Read more

Growing up and then living in the Deep South for years as I did, Easter was synonymous with azaleas, temperatures in the 70s and children skipping through new spring grass looking for colored eggs.

Easter came in the spring, after all.

You know: Sunshine. Green trees. Bunnies, hopping down the bunny trail.

And then I moved to the tundra, aka ...Read more

We began married life in a 1930s Craftsman bungalow with three small bedrooms. Each bedroom had a closet the size of a telephone booth. Everything fit.

We added a baby to the mix. Everything fit.

We added a second and third baby. Everything fit.

Today, we live in a four-bedroom house with double-wide closets in every bedroom and a small walk-...Read more