Cindy Hval

It’s something most people don’t want to talk about or even think about. The squeamish blanch at the details; for others the subject is just too intimate to discuss. But the 700,000 people in the U.S. living with a permanent ostomy don’t have the luxury of ignoring the subject of bodily waste elimination. Simply put, an ostomy is a surgical procedure that creates an artificial opening for the elimination of bodily wastes. The waste is collected in bags or pouches. There are three types of ostomies – colostomy (descending colon), ileostomy (ascending colon), and a urostomy (bladder). Some people need to wear two bags – one for urine and another for solid waste.

John Freirich broke a number of bones when he played football, but at 79, he’s not eager to repeat the experience. “I realized I wasn’t as comfortable with a lot of physical activity as I used to be,” he said. “I wasn’t as stable.”

Some of us receive invitations to go to hell more frequently than others – that’s the nature of being a newspaper columnist. But when friends invited Derek and me to join them for dinner in hell we quickly agreed. This particular Hades involved a taping of “Hotel Hell” at the Roosevelt Inn in Coeur d’Alene, and dinner was a mystery – a murder mystery. We received an email assigning us our roles. I was to portray Millicent the Milliner. Derek’s role? A professor and colleague of our host Sherlock Holmes, aka innkeeper, John Hough.

More than 200 hundred residents call Spokane Valley’s Orchard Crest Retirement Community home. Many of those residents are grandparents, great-grandparents and even great-great-grandparents. That’s why activities director Tami Cheyney each year organizes a special celebration just for them Although Grandparents Day is traditionally celebrated in September, Cheyney chooses to hold Orchard Crest’s event at the end of August. “We had it in September one year and it rained,” she said.

Kevin Brown paints pictures with music. The Chattaroy musician sings of tall grass moving like water and golden fields shining in the sun. Colbert artist Katherine Nelson creates landscapes with charcoal. Her work often depicts the endless rolling hills of the Palouse and the shaded striations of just-plowed farmland.

Educators agree that summer reading is vital in order for children to maintain the progress they’ve made during the school year. For children in the West Central Neighborhood that proved difficult. The closest library branch is downtown, too far for most children to walk. Last year the Spokane Public Library found an innovative solution – it brought the library to the children. “Each week we set up a minilibrary in the community center,” said Eva Silverstone, communications manager. “Volunteers help the kids check out books and keep track of their summer reading progress. We also hold special programs there – the same kids’ programs we hold at our branches.”

Beautiful piano music echoed down the halls of Ballet Arts Academy in downtown Spokane on a recent afternoon. An advanced class taught by Karen Kraft executed graceful pliés and pirouettes. Sweat glistened from 17-year-old Mimi Palmer’s brow. “I’ve been dancing 11 years at this studio,” she said. She described her love of ballet: “You can feel yourself let go and forget about the outside world.”