Ann Silverthorn

Whenever you visit a country different from your own, it’s helpful to know a few of the essential facts that will make your visit more pleasant, and perhaps, safer. Here’s a list of seven facts about Portugal that are important to know. There you have it. Seven essential things you must know about Portugal before,…

At least seven celebrities have vowed to leave the USA, if a Republican is elected president. This type of attitude can destroy America. The degree of division in the United States makes it unlikely that our country will be able to prevail over the long term. Republicans against Democrats. Liberals against conservatives. America is in…

Here are seven bits of inspiration from the documentary, Martha of Lattimore, about Martha Mason, paralyzed by polio, who lived in an iron lung for more than six decades. Why am I sharing this list with you? I recently saw a post on Facebook about the iron lung, a massive mechanism invented to breathe for people who had become…

Welcome to the first in a series of blog posts about Portugal. My travels might take me to the former maritime empire in the near future, so, I’d like to find out as much as I can about the country, and I will share my findings with you. To start, here are seven basic facts about…

You may love or hate Facebook, but I often find valuable information in my newsfeed. For instance, I recently came across a link to the article, “What to Do in an Active Shooter Situation” by Brett and Kate McKay on a Website called The Art of Manliness. I encourage you to take the time to read…

Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays? What do you say? Say either one and you run the risk of being “offensive,” to someone. How to properly impart good wishes at holiday time is up for debate. When I was PTA president at my kids’ elementary school, I prepared dinner many evenings with the phone crooked on my shoulder,…

Many folks express disdain for the commercialization of Christmas. Some resent the hijacking of commerce for the last quarter of each year. Others just can’t wait for it all to be over. Me? The Christmas season is my favorite. Here are seven things Christmas gives me the excuse to do each year. So, there you have it—seven…

Not long ago, I acquired a used book about Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, at a library sale. Reading it, I was greatly impressed with all that Helen Keller accomplished in her lifetime, even while existing in what we think would have been a dark, silent world. Helen Keller was able to fill…

Several months ago, our Cairn terrier rescue, Nora, went blind rather quickly. This condition came shortly after her diagnosis of Cushing’s disease. We’re not sure if there’s a correlation between the blindness and the disease, the blindness and the medication, or if it’s completely unrelated to either. It’s not feasible for us to travel 100 miles to a veterinary…

For more than a decade, I’ve traveled the same route between northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio, first as the parent of a college prospect, and most recently, as a newbie grand-mère. I’ve often remarked that one does not need to steer the wheel between here and there; the road is so straight. So, last Sunday…