Some years ago a book was published that very few people read. I know I didn’t read it. But I do remember the cover of it. The title of the book was Vicarious Living in 59 Easy Steps. In case you cannot read the bottom portion, it says: 4. READ trashy paperbacks about rich, powerful, good-looking, ruthless people. Imagine you’re one of them. That amuses me. Not enough to purchase the book although I did look at a few pages before moving on with my life. I do think vicarious l

There are a lot of things most of us would prefer to do on a Saturday afternoon. Doing laundry might even be on the list, figuring out your taxes could be included as well as running errands that you have been procrastinating about. Getting a text that someone you love is in the emergency room probably outdistances those other chores. Depending who it is and why they are there will factor in to your decision to forego the laundry. But just knowing someone you care about is

I was listening to a sports talk show and one of the commentators mentioned that he had just gotten a text from his mother who was on vacation in Ireland. She told him that she had heard it was hot and that he should go to her place and take a swim. And while he was there would he please give the lawn an extra watering as it was so hot. The sportscaster then went on a small rant about how his mother should not be thinking about the lawn when she was on vacation. She should be

I had a student in my office the other day who I have known for three years. I used to need to bring him in because the school had some concerns about his attendance. Where I work when we see students falling off their norm we often have them talk to a counselor to see if there is any support that can be offered. Sometimes we talk with the parents. With this boy the mother and I had been talking, the teachers and I had been talking, the school administrators and I had been ta