A white screen stares back at me as I struggle to find the words for this next story. It's long overdue and I'm stuck, overwhelmed by my own emotion. I remember Kelly, a little girl I used to babysit for. She had the sweetest giggle and was the Queen of Silly. If I let myself, I can still see her, rolling around on the floor with her legs up in the air, laughing uncontrollably. We spent many afternoons together reading stories, eating popcorn and just making each other laugh. I was very close to her and her family. We were a big part of each others' lives. Sadly, however, Kelly was plagued with numerous and very serious medical problems. We lost Kelly when she was only 10. I was a teen in turmoil  trying to make sense of a world that, to me, was already off kilter. Seeing Kelly's  bright smile in a portrait placed  atop her little casket forever changed my life. I learned that life isn't fair and that some very terrible things can happen to some very good people. I learned that sickness and death have no mercy, not even for children. Words like this seem unproductive, but in my world, it's the harsh reality of an unfair truth. That having been said, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for people afflicted with disease, as well as their families and caretakers whose lives are affected on a daily basis by disease and illness. It takes a lot of courage and strength just to keep on keeping on...to find joy and happiness in life's little wonders and in the smallest of accomplishments. Perhaps this is why I was drawn to Rick Jewell and his daughter, Rylee.

Erika Deady-Wohlers makes and sells tutus. She is not a seamstress nor is she a ballerina. Rather she is an ever-grateful and loving mother of two with a burning desire to give back to those who have helped her and to those who need help. Erika is a “what you see is what you get kind of person". She is smart, attractive and down to earth. She lives in the country with her husband Nick and  helps manage a successful furniture business out of their home. She has two beautiful children, Alarice  and Maeley and a big ‘ol German Shepard named Tucker. Life is good and she knows it. Still, her approach to living is humble and her ” give-back” philosophy an inspiration.

Did you know that the world consumes more than 500,000,000,000 plastic bags a year....that's nearly one million per minute ! What's worse is that plastic bags will kill over 100,000 sea turtles and other marine life each year because the animals mistake them for jellyfish or other food.The problem is, plastic just never goes away... it takes over 1000 years for plastic to degrade in a landfill. Plastic is polluting our air and contaminating or waters and soil. Did you know it takes something like 6 million barrels of oil each year just to produce the amount of plastic bags we consume... and we have even to touched upon our intake of plastic bottles! But I'm not writing this article to lecture you on the hazards and expense of plastic. Most of us already know it's a problem. I'm writing to discuss solutions and what others are doing and what you can do to help.