All The Home Forum
Learning to stand 鈥� or ski 鈥� on my own two feetA lesson I learned on the lake as a child 鈥� determination 鈥� helped me ski through life鈥檚 hurdles.聽
How a half sand dollar taught me to be presentA trip to the beach with my children yielded a valuable lesson: when I relinquished perfection, I found presence.聽
From 鈥榮krzypce鈥� to 鈥榮yzygy,鈥� falling in l-o-v-e with spellingCall me old-fashioned. I find satisfaction in learning to spell every word I encounter.聽
Celebrating the drudgery 鈥� and enchantment 鈥� of summer jobsIt鈥檚 often said that experience is the best teacher. That鈥檚 why some of the hardest lessons in life can鈥檛 be taught.
I learned to dream on a Nicaraguan chicken busI had anxieties about visiting Nicaragua. When I finally traveled there, I realized how unfounded they were.聽
Our knickknack was a running joke. Then we learned it was precious art.When the true value of a piece of family art is discovered, our writer learns that the memories of shared experiences with family are priceless.
How I solved the mystery of the rickety homeHistory can vanish. We didn鈥檛 know what we were missing until Mrs. Kraxberger appeared.聽
How my toddler reawakened my sense of wonderWhen our essayist paused to see the world through her child鈥檚 eyes, she found magic in the聽mundane.
To speak or not to speak? A case for holding my tongue.Things our essayist regrets saying: 鈥淎nything I said to a girl in high school, for example, or whatever I was trying to say in German.鈥�
What I found when I finally stopped lookingI needed no convincing the聽wild native berry was precious. But despite my treks to the woods, it kept eluding me.
My electrifying experiment in elocutionToday we are awash in a sea of language, but despite its abundance, very little attention seems to be paid to its refined usage.
Chu Lai, Vietnam, 1966: My life lesson in leaping"Our sergeant knew what lay ahead for us new guys 鈥� as well as a way to help us face that future," our essayist writes.
Forget perfect pitch, I had perfect timing 鈥� or so I thoughtSometimes you discover you have a true superpower. And sometimes things are not exactly what they seem.
A hot, tomato-and-cheese solution to anguishI was unaware of pizza鈥檚 therapeutic value until I had kids, our essayist writes. But now I firmly believe in the 鈥減izza cure.鈥�
My Oregon Trail: Trekking from Boston with $200 and a bikeI was young and needed a聽fresh start, our essayist writes. So I headed to Oregon from Boston on a bike.
An inauspicious beginning, a bountiful end"Plastic trash, weeds, and old tires greeted us at our garden plot," our essayist writes. "Sweat and nature would prevail."
Confessions of a rapid-fire texterGroup texts may help families and friends stay in touch, but sometimes the ability to respond instantly poses its own problems, our essayist writes.
Mother of all secrets: When the CIA鈥檚 top-ranked woman is your momIt鈥檚 good to be enigmatic if you work for the CIA. But as her daughter, it took decades for me to understand.
Love and patience, I discover, go hand in paw"I like to think I have an affinity for befriending animals. But Rocky was a difficult case," our essayist writes
The perfect garden? I鈥檝e learned to leave it to nature.In spring, a gardener鈥檚 fancy turns to thoughts of creating a perfect garden.聽But one person鈥檚 perfection is another鈥檚 jungle.
