Jotting Joan

Month: January 2011

  • Reels of memories

    Our kids gave us a lot of work to do and called it a gift. It felt like a mandate. They gave us a slide converter to change our 45 trays of slides into digital format. The trays hold up to 100 slides. The slides must be individually loaded into the machine and saved to…

  • Just in time for Roe v Wade anniversary

    Murder. That was the charge against the Philadelphia doctor who resolved those inconvenient late term pregnancies by inducing labor, forcing the premature live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh and eighth months of pregnancy and then snipping their spinal column to bring a premature end to their lives. “Under Pennsylvania law, abortions are…

  • 50 years since JFK’s challenge

    Again, another editorial column I wrote to help with the editorial pages in the upcoming weeks. I think it is going in Friday, Jan. 21 paper. No signature since it is supposed to represent the newspaper’s viewpoint. Fifty years have passed since the inauguration of our nation’s youngest president, John F. Kennedy. The same year…

  • Food prices will go up

    The managing editor Shea Wilson is leaving Jan. 28. The rest of the staff was asked to write editorial columns the next couple weeks or so until we get a new managing editor. This is my first to be published. joan Middle and lower-income families can expect a greater financial pinch in the upcoming months…

  • Capturing the family visits

    Too far down the road to St. Louis to turn back, my husband and I remembered our camera sitting on the desk at home. Not the best way to begin a trip to see our six children and their families, my Indiana cousin and sister-in-love, my New York aunt and sister before reaching our ultimate…

  • Reproductive rights honored for mothers of many

    Today many applaud the right of women to choose to have (or not have) children – until the number of children edges past two – then eyebrows rise and comments flow. “You do know what causes that don’t you?” Been there, heard that when I announced we would add a sixth child to our blended…

  • Prison doc retires

    Just for my records, I am adding this feature about Dr. Seale. El Dorado News-Times published it Jan. 1, 2011. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published it Jan. 2, in its entirety. By JOAN HERSHBERGER News-Times Staff In a time when house calls waned, one doctor still visited patients at the Big House. And now, after nearly…

  • Prayer meeting in the park

    The economic crunch of recent years hit real estate related businesses hard. The number of homes sold dropped along with the price of houses. Even the task of appraising houses for their market value declined. This job that had once supported my friend left her looking elsewhere for employment. Month after month calls asking for…