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A treasured box … resident hold priceless memories in Lane mini-cedar chests By Joan Hershberger El Dorado News-Times A treasure box. A graduation gift. An incentive to purchase something much larger. A small memento from the past that many women (and men) have kept with them for years. In the 1920s, the Lane Furniture Co.,began…

In the darkened loft of the log cabin, the ten pajama clad kids whispered and suppressed laughter hoping the seven tired adults did not hear them. Laying there in jammies on four beds, two futons and two air mattresses, sleep eluded them.  Hours before they had converged on this isolated cabin in the woods for…

                Christmas decorations emphasize the celebration of this time of year. Whether modern, traditional or nostalgic, each tree or display delights the eye. Arrangements remind us of the first Christmas or reflect popular songs or stories.             I like a good story theme. Years ago, tiny teddy bears and miniature, ornament sized toys captured my attention. I…

Miss Manners dictates politely taking a couple bites of any food offered. It’s a great rule for holiday meals. The children who came over for Sunday dinner knew that rule. Their mom had emphasized, “no matter what the food is like, just eat and don’t say anything.” The children tried to adhere to the rule.…

Friends and family provide the ultimate measure of wealth. Those without suffer greatly. We have encountered a few poor souls over the years. The Runaway obviously suffered from a serious mental illness. As we drove him to the nearest truck stop he mumbled, “going West to my brother. I need to get a ride West.…

 Second grade wonders for Jacob included Clint’s marvelous hearing aid. To ensure he heard everything, his parents gave a small microphone to Ms. Woodward to wear each day. They showed her how to turn the mic on when she taught. With the mic on, her words broadcasted to Clint’s hearing aid. When she went to…

      My eyes would not stay awake after seven days of supervising grandchildren. I fell asleep right after sending the youngest to bed.  I woke up refreshed and alert at 10 p.m. with my husband sound sleep beside me and glimmers of lights in the hall. I slid out of bed to check on youngsters and…

Given a choice between sitting down and ordering a meal in a restaurant and making his way through a buffet, Grandpa says he gets his money’s worth at a buffet. So, when the grandkids said, “We want to go to the buffet for supper,” Grandpa happily headed for the car. I think the grands like…

In response to a  column I wrote about the onslaught of timeshare and car warranty calls, a man stopped me and said, “We answer those calls and ask, ‘What are you calling to scam me about today?’ They always hang up.” Sounds like a good idea as the holiday season of giving approaches. Many try…

Every Halloween at Jasper Elementary in New York I hoped my costume would win in the class costume parade. I really wanted the judges sitting on the sidelines of the gym to pick me. School Halloween parties in that rural area of upstate New York began after lunch. We wiggled and giggled our way through…

             Kindergarten introduced Katie to a whole new world. “I have to go to school every day! I think you have to do that in first grade and in second grade, too, maybe,” she said with a budding sense of confidence in her newly expanded world. Before this year, Katie attended two days of pre-school each…

            It was a good week for gathering Bibles and Christian literature for Love Packages. Love Packages sends new and used literature to third world countries with English readers such a Ghana, India and Belize. With only a couple boxes in storage, we hardly had enough to justify the one hour detour before our next family…

             Recently Facebook exploded when the Bossier City Police asked for help identifying a little boy wandering alone outside. They could not find his parents or guardians. Within hours the police posted that the parents had been found. The initial posting went viral with over 4,000 shares and hundreds of comments. It probably will circulate forever.…

I have always said, “I am allergic to exercise – it makes me break out in sweat.” My gym teachers never found it funny. Neither did physical therapists who aim to generate sweat as part of the healing process. The therapists at the clinic expressed their deep concern for their clients’ pain with a two…

            If leaving an item or two behind hints a reluctance to depart, Dear One obviously had mixed feelings about attending a men’s retreat last weekend. Whatever his feelings about the weekend’s events, I welcomed the prospect of a couple days by myself. Before Dear One could go, we needed to drop a couple packages off…