Family Goes Strong

What Are Your Family's Genetic Traits?

Karen.springen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:58:37 +0000

Remember breeding fruit flies in school – and seeing which insect babies inherited red eyes versus white ones? Instead of mating the rapidly reproducing Drosophilia melanogaster, our 12-year-old simply brought home a list of dominant traits and recessive traits. Facing us with her adorable dimpled chin (a recessive trait), she excitedly administered the test. Did we roll our tongues (a dominant trait)? Did our thumb curve when we stuck it out, hitchhiker-style (a recessive trait)?

Superbowl Sunday: What's a Non Fan to Do?

irene zutell — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:24:30 +0000

Although most of America will spend this Sunday glued to a widescreen TV for hours of hail to the gods spectacle, there are millions who care not a whit. To paraphrase a beer slogan, this post's for you.

The fact that most of humanity is otherwise engaged opens up a huge vista of possibilities for the rest of us.

Your town will look as deserted as the sets from the Walking Dead. So here are 5 ideas to take advantage of your non-fan status.

1) Movies. Hit the 8-plex and bounce from screen to screen. No one will be there, so no one will care.

What to Write on a Loved One's Gravestone

Karen.springen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:02:09 +0000

A friend's mother adored gardening and poetry. So her family decided to engrave her bronze gravestone with the final words in William Wadsworth's "Daffodils": "And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils."

A Primer on Second Cousins Once Removed

Karen.springen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:08:32 +0000

Over the weekend I was telling a friend about the daughter of my granddad's brother. And I stumbled. What was she? A second cousin? A cousin once removed? I had no idea.

At 50, I had never mastered these terms. For years, I have read that the U.S. presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt were fifth cousins. And for years, I have not understood what on earth that meant.

Insurance Frauds: The Broken System.

irene zutell — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:00:00 +0000

It was one of those "only in LA" January afternoons. High 70's, breezy and perfect. We were just finishing our ice cream cones when we heard the sirens. Two hook and ladders, two ambulances and a police cruiser roared past the Baskin Robbins. Something ugly has happened, I thought. I was yet to learn just how ugly.

The accident scene was on our way as we bicycled home. I wouldn't have stopped, but I had to because I couldn't process the illogic of what I viewed.

Dumb Things People Say to Diabetics

CherieBurbach — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:00:00 +0000

I've had Type 1 diabetes for about half my life now, and there's one thing that bugs me about it more than anything else. No, it isn't eating healthy, injecting shots, or even testing my blood sugar. It's the dumb things people say to me.

I'm not sure why people around me (in the offices I've worked in or even total strangers, for that matter) feel the need to comment about my disease. What's worse, their comments make me wonder where they get their information from. Here are some of the dumbest things people have to said to me about my diabetes.

Fostering Love: Caregiving Parents Lose a Daughter Whose Life and Death Offer Cherished Lessons

pamcy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:07:37 +0000

Bridgette, the beloved, joyful, ever-smiling, devastatingly disabled daughter of Tom and Maryjane Famulari passed away early this morning.

These remarkable parents, full of more love and faith and generosity than most of us can even imagine, were prepared for this mournful moment nearly 30 years ago. Back then, they were midlife parents of teenagers who agreed to take in a deathly ill, 'medically fragile' girl as a foster child.

Heather Locklear/Demi Moore: Aging in Hollywood Isn't Easy.

irene zutell — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:04:43 +0000

In Hollywood, 30 is old, 40 is over the hill and 50 is rigor mortis.

The 911 Demi Moore overdose call is bouncing around the internet like a laser beam in a cut crystal vase. And the most telling part is how the caller - who identifies herself as a friend -repeatedly dodges the 911 operator's request for Demi's age. The guy becomes so exasperated, he finally says "roughly!" Demi's friend was so, so, so, so , so concerned about revealing what is public knowledge - she's 49.

Is Being a Cougar All It's Cracked Up to Be?

CherieBurbach — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:20:58 +0000

There's been a lot of talk lately about cougars, or older women dating younger men. Most of the talk centers around the notion that it is empowering for women. But is it really?

How to Cope with the Death of a Parent

Karen.springen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:13:34 +0000

For most of us, our parents are our head cheerleaders. They give us wise advice – and unconditional love. Without complaint, they also listen to endless stories about our jobs or kids.

So what do we do when they die? How do we learn to live without them? A friend who recently lost her beloved mom says she feels almost guilty that her life continues to move on.

And how do we help a surviving parent? This friend says she tries to remain strong for her dad, who is also turning to his Jewish faith for comfort.