Social media can be fun: finding long-lost loves, keeping close with far-away friends and family and even getting a glimpse into the details of co-workers' lives. But at some point, we have to listen, really listen to the tweets and posts and texts. No one…
Sarah Blain Bain is one of those Spokane women everyone seems to know. She has 685 Facebook friends, and she probably knows all of them pretty well. She was instrumental in starting a support group for parents who lose children at birth or shortly after.…
My mom, who turns 91 today, doesn't have much of a bucket list. She's mostly content to wake up every morning alive, with mind intact, and a body that still works pretty darn well. Seeing a rock concert wasn't ever on her list. But she…
The accident which killed two University of Idaho students seems too familiar a story. We learn about these tragedies each year. And each year I think of Tyler. Tyler and I were in high school together; he played a wind instrument in Varsity Band while…
Seems that suffering and pain are no respecter of persons. Recently George Clooney spoke out about his suicidal ideations during the time he was hospitalized and experiencing excruciating pain. Health care professionals look at pain management as an essential component of treatment and as a…
Ran into Carol Speltz today at the Veterans Day benefit her husband Karl organizes every year at Jack and Dan's. Carol, who is in her early 70s, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease two years ago. The longtime educator and Christmas Bureau volunteer has been open…
A new piece of furniture arrived yesterday and the warranty information read: The term "lifetime" as it is used in this warranty is defined as 25 years. 25 years? What if we all arrived on Earth with warranties? How long would your lifetime warranty last?
Carla Johnson, a former S-R staffer now working for the AP, has an interesting story about this debate. An excerpt: Some gravely ill alcoholics who need a liver transplant shouldn't have to prove they can stay sober for six months to get one, doctors say…
Have you ever worried that you might end up (after an accident or a stroke) with a body that doesn't work at all but a brain still active? It happens. Read or watch The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the true story of the writer…
An advantage to having a "death blog" (as its nicknamed in the newsroom) is the conversations that now happen around my desk. This morning, we talked about proper funeral attire, and my colleague Gina Boysun told me that three of her male relatives wore their…
Tomorrow, the federal government is testing the Emergency Alert System at 2 p.m. Eastern time, 11 a.m. Pacific time. We've been getting memos today from government agencies asking us to let our readers know that when the usual honking/buzzing noise comes on the TV tomorrow…
My niece Gretchen who lives in LA is traveling in the East and her Facebook post read this morning: "Woke up at 2:30am and now can't go back to sleep." I was up at 3 this morning and never returned to slumber. I bet all…
Andy Williams, 83, has bladder cancer. He announced it at a concert Saturday in Branson, Mo. As the celebrities of my childhood age and pass away, the memories stir. One of the first grown up movies I ever saw was I'd Rather Be Rich at…
Every year, in a Sunday that falls closest to All Saints and All Souls Day, the names of all the parishioners who have died in the past year are read aloud at St. Aloysius Church on the GU campus. After a month's worth of names…
…how Andy Rooney spent the minutes outside of 60 Minutes? The legendary commentator died Friday from post-surgery complications. He was 92. His words, his attitude, his I'll-say-whatever-I believe voice gave us perspective and always something to think about after the second hand stopped. He earned…
This is my favorite time of year, the slow move of fall toward winter. I welcome the change back to standard time and the 4 p.m. darkness. Even as a child, I loved the foggy post Halloween nights. Mostly, I love how things quiet down.…
Thirty five years ago today, my nephew Ian was born in Spokane. Right away, doctors knew something was wrong because he looked blue/black. A valve to his heart had not opened properly. Surgery wasn't an option. He was given the last rites. Many in the…
Need some good news this afternoon? Here's some from the National Institutes of Health. Programs that grant privileges to new drivers in phases — known as graduated licensing programs — dramatically reduce the rate of teen driver fatal crashes, according to three studies funded by…
There's a well-known quote: "Pneumonia is the old person's friend." This means that an older person who is in very ill health and would like to pass on is sometimes helped along by pneumonia. So it was a bit of a surprise to receive this…
Cinque Terre -- five small towns in Italy --was a favorite weekend getaway for Gonzaga in Florence students long before Rick Steves "discovered" the region. But thanks to Rick Steves' travel blog, I discovered that parts of Cinque Terre were literally torn apart due to…
As if it's not stressful enough to wait, receive, recover and pay for an organ transplant these days, the National Institutes of Health reported this disturbing news yesterday: Organ transplant recipients in the United States have a high risk of developing 32 different types of…
The Ronald McDonald House in Spokane hosts families with children battling illness. The staff, volunteers and other families support one another and love the sick children among them, knowing they will lose some of them. One of those children, Katelyn Roker, 6, died recently of…
Google undertook an ambitious project a few years ago to digitalize newspaper archives of papers throughout the country. The project has been discontinued but you can still access many stories from the past by googling "News archives." Last night I scrolled through the Spokane Daily…
When my dad died in 1996, my heart literally hurt in a physical way. I kept saying to people: "It's like a scarf with a huge knot tied right at my heart." Now, I know it was a classic symptom of grief. From our column…
The two women I wrote about in my Sunday story are my exact age, 56. So when I saw the photo of Carol Willette's 8th birthday party, it brought back so many memories of home decor, circa 1960s, specifically the thick, flowered drapes. When I…
Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with writer Catherine Johnston of Olympia, Wash., discuss here issues facing aging boomers, seniors and those experiencing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.