Words matter in political banter

This column was written for Braver Angels of East Central Illinois as part of their series in the News-Gazette. For more information about this non-partisan organization, visit http://www.braverangels.org We often talk of free speech when defending the right to say whatever we want. We can utter just about anything without fear of punishment. Still, it’s hard to understand why people intentionally […]

Words and actions matter to those who grieve

I was having lunch with a new friend recently. She’s a widow in her 70s and we’ve gotten close as we are also neighbors. As we chatted, she brought up her husband who had died about two years ago. She felt she was starting to come out of the grief, but mentioned that shortly after […]