Priorities

As I sat in the comfy chair I call my “prayer chair,” my attention was drawn to the winter-bare tree in my front yard. The sky had just begun to lighten with the first hints of the soon-rising sun, and  I noticed a bird perched on a branch. At first I didn’t pay much attention, because I was involved in going through my prayer list. But then the little bird shivered. Something inside me went, “Aaawwwww, the poor thing!”
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Let Go!

Jazzy loves to “pretend-bury” treats for future enjoyment. She tucks her rawhide in the folds of her favorite blanket, and then pushes with her nose to “throw dirt” over the hole until she believes it is hidden from view. Other treats are “buried” in various corners of the house, waiting to be rediscovered by her at a later date. The best part is to watch her fuss over the burial process, and then to watch her retrieve the treat immediately, to be buried elsewhere or enjoyed in an instant gratification moment. With Jazzy, this process is all fun and games, but we humans practice a similar process that leads to our ruination.
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Groomed

When a young Ray Barone proposed to his girlfriend Debra (Everybody Loves Raymond), she whooped and danced around the room. Then with barely a nod his way, she whipped out the scrapbook of wedding ideas she’d collected since she was twelve.

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I Heard What You Said

Late to get out the door with her brood of four children, my friend “Wanda” shooed them and shoed them.

“Brittany, get your shoes on right this minute!” Mom Wanda grabbed her keys, purse, and errand list plus snacks, sippy cups, and diapers for the littlest one, expecting four-year-old Brittany to slip into her Velcro shoes and fall in line behind her.
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Colorful Characters

By Cynthia Ruchti

Consider any troupe of sit-com characters. What makes the blend work? Their differences linked by a common bond.

For example: the quirky young people with vastly different internal conflicts, all struggling to become full-fledged adults in the big city environment.

The unique family dynamics that often erupt in a firestorm that keeps us laughing because, though exaggerated, the mother-in-law seems like our own…the brother’s phobias sound familiar…the grandpa’s caustic comments show up at our own Thanksgiving dinners.

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