In 1973, Becky and I were among a group of Gonzaga freshmen who would spend two evenings each week at St. Joseph Children’s Home, tutoring young kids who lived there. I remember the enormous building and the echo of steps in the hallway. Becky and…
Many of us aging baby boomers have a habit of comparing notes about how much they drank and drove in high school and college, and we wonder how we ever survived. In my first job in Fort Lauderdale, we'd buy six packs on Friday afternoons…
The children and grandchildren of their elders want the stories told and remembered - and so the descendents carry a permanent reminder of these stories of horror and redemption: tattoos. Not just any tattoo, but the same number as their elders were inked with by…
As parents, we recall all it took to care for our infant children. My father reportedly said as he loaded the car in 1955, “We will go to Duluth again when she can load her own play pen into the car!” The 150-mile trip from…
The former publisher of The New York Times, Arthur Ochs Sulzbereger, died yesterday. He was married later in life to Allison Cowles of The Spokesman-Review family. When the two got engaged years ago, I was asked by our editors to do the engagement story and…
The television in the condo where I'm staying doesn't have my usual favorite cable channels, so I am cut off for three months from my usual HBO/Showtime/Starz programs. It does have many stations that feature reruns from the 1960s and 1970s. And I have been…
Experts say the language and practices of grief are best learned at home, when we are little, role-modeled by the adults in our life. The poem What I Learned from My Mother by Julia Kasdorf is a great explainer of this. Here's an excerpt: I…
Andy Williams, smooth voice of the 1960s and 1970s and…through every Christmas I can remember, has died. Williams was 84 and died last night at his home in Branson, MO. As a child in wintery Minnesota, I listened to Andy Williams sing Christmas songs on…
A recipient of a donor heart has said that it is quieter than his mechanical heart. I remember the first artificial heart recipient: In 1982, Seattle dentist Barney Clark became the first human to receive a permanent artificial heart, a device known as the Jarvik…
During the first week of my Chicago sabbatical, I was trained on a computer system that helps chaplains chart their visits with patients. It was completely new. But some of the "functionality" was similar to programs I've used at the newspaper, mostly in blogging. I…
…peace and calm right over. A program pioneered in Seattle’s King County has withstood an appeals court challenge. The program has specially trained dogs provide comfort for victims in a courthouse setting, helping them to not only relax, but feel safe and secure as they…
My all-time favorite television show – The West Wing – is back…sort of. Some cast members have reunited to get us united in our civic duty and profound privilege: voting. The team has created a public service announcement for Bridget Mary McCormack, the Michigan State…
Somehow, she has survived. Abandoned along the side of a road in Afghanistan, a country of land mines and confusion, a newborn infant was found by Polish soldiers. I loved reading that the entire group of soldiers took that infant to the hospital, bought formula,…
Earlier this week our EndNotes column addressed the situation of inappropriate cards: “get well” cards sent to a person who may be terminally or chronically ill. A colleague of mine reminded me of a company that does create cards of comfort for situations where the…
I commute by "L" train to the loft where I'm living for three months in Chicago. Tuesday when I caught the train from the medical center, a man hopped on the same car at the last minute with his daughter who looked about 7. The…
I'm spending three months in Chicago, on sabbatical, studying in the chaplaincy program at Rush University Medical Center. A new town and lots of new colleagues. But it's eerie how this happens. Several of the people in my program here remind me of newsroom staffers…
Washington voters have many decisions to make this fall as we decide who and what will get our vote. Referendum 74 seeks to affirm the marriage equality law in Washington state. Like many of our political beliefs, we are influenced at first by our theories…
Our family spent Saturday honoring many amazing women: Sisters of Providence. Annually, the sisters celebrate the jubilee years in the community – 25, 50, 60, 70, 75 - of the women and their remarkable accomplishments. I listened to their stories of humble beginnings – when…
Being the elder in a large, extended family can translate into one of my favorite (and I'm sure sometimes irritating) habits now. I tell my nieces and nephews -- and great nieces and nephews -- stories about themselves when they were little. My niece on…
While flying out of Spokane this week, I noticed a sign never seen before at the aiport security line. It showed a big 1937 with these words: "If you are 75 or older, you can keep your shoes and light jacket on." It sent the…
The lovely story of the pillowcase ladies and their work creating pillowcases for children with cancer or other life-threatening illnesses reminds us how easy it is to use our talents and hobbies to create hope. The pillowcases add a bit of comfort, cheer and familiarity…
My nephew recently deployed to Afganistan. So this is one more thing to worry about while he's there. Fresh from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "If you were to list all the dangers faced by U.S. military personnel serving in Afghanistan, your list…
How did they survive? It is a miracle. The will to live and the ability to stay calm – and sing – may have helped one young Alaskan fisherman stay alive for 26 hours after his fishing boat capsized and dumped him and his friend…
My nephew, Nicholas, was deployed to Afghanistan two weeks ago for six months. The Marine officer is a career military guy, and his Facebook posts have been breezy from Afghanistan, describing uber workouts in the heat. The other night, he posted on Facebook within seconds…
We said we would always remember…and so we do. We pause to acknowledge this anniversary of sorrow and loss, of confusion and grief, of private mourning and public outcry. “Tragedy can teach us many lessons. From pain, we can learn compassion. From division, we can…
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.
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