My friend the bon vivant bookseller Michael Seidenberg of Brazenhead Books, which he ran out of his apartment in New York City, died in 2019. I’d known him since 1978, when as a teenager I apprenticed myself to his first shop. Michael loved pressing “lost” books and authors on me, and on anyone. A visit […] Source link
When Tara Hastings was attending Whiting High School in Hammond, Indiana, her father Steve – a “Jack of all trades” – used to pick her up and buy her lunch. They would eat together and talk in his truck at a nearby lake. Hastings, 46, now brings lunch every week to her 70-year-old father, who has Alzheimer’s disease and resides in an assisted living facility in Indianapolis. Last year, he broke his hip and needed surgery. He doesn’t walk anymore. “He can no longer feed himself, so I feed him lunch,” Hastings, a meteorologist with WISHTV.com, told The Independent. “I don’t remember the last time he said my name.” Hastings moved from Dayton, Ohio, in 2019 to be closer to her father. She met her husband Brent soon after and in August 2020, her father walked her down the aisle at her wedding. The scientist, who works full time while caring for her teenage stepdaughter and two young children, is often asked how she does it. “Is it hard? Absolutely. Are there tears? Absolutely. Have …
The beginning of every new year comes with resolutions and plans for behavior change. Often the quest to improve health behaviors, such as losing weight, increasing physical activity or quitting tobacco is short-lived. Estimates vary, but by some accounts, as many as 80 percent of people fail to meet their resolution by mid-February. One study followed 200 people with New Year’s resolutions and reported that 81 percent of them failed to maintain their health behaviors after two years. The reasons vary. With the case of cigarettes, people are dealing with a highly addictive product. For example, about 95 percent of people relapse after six to 12 months of abstinence when they try to quit smoking on their own. Regardless of the severity of your addiction or even if you do not have an addiction, change is very hard. People often have not explored their reasons for making the change or how ready they are. They also may not have come up with a plan. And, they may simply not realize how hard it is to …
