Angelina Jolie's Breasts and the Bravery of Letting Go
I heard the news of Angelina Jolie's mastectomy on NPR last Tuesday as I was driving to work. Several co-workers stopped by my office that morning to ask I what I thought about her decision to remove both her breasts to prevent her from getting breast cancer.
"I ...
Auditing America's Political Integrity
The recent scandals swirling inside the beltway seem to have come one after another—Benghazi, the AP records seizure, the IRS audits. While investigations continue about the details of each, the incidents have been enough to raise bigger, broader questions of responsibility, ...
'The Office' Shows Even TV Romance Isn't Picture-Perfect
For me, it wasn't love at first sight. The first time I ever watched The Office, the scenes felt awkward and the staff of Dunder Mifflin seemed weird. But it didn't take long before I fell for those quirky characters, and I've been watching ever since.
Sure, ...
Prom's Biggest Drama Queens? The Adults
Along with prom comes angst, materialism, and drama. As much as we tend to associate those issues with teens attending the big dance, the grown-ups end up just as guilty. As they take pet prom issues far too seriously, parents and teachers indulge in plenty of excesses of ...
Be the Nosy Neighbor
"The best defense against modern-day slavery is a vigilant public. Be the nosy neighbor."
That's what anti-human trafficking activist Kevin Bales wrote in his book, The Slave Next Door. He had to instruct us to be nosy because these days, we won't do it ...
The Good, the Bad, and the Terrorist
In the weeks since two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, we've learned much about the two young men first introduced to us as "Suspect 1" and "Suspect 2" in blurry images released by the FBI. The ongoing investigation into ...
'Crazy Talk': How We Characterize Mental Illness
As a writer, an editor, and an advocate for people affected by mental illness, I was deeply encouraged to learn of a new entry in the Associated Press Stylebook, offering guidelines on how to describe and characterize mental illness. As the definitive guide to using language ...
Runaway Mom and the Madness of Midlife
In one picture, Brenda Heist smiles, with round cheeks and dark brown eyes. In the next, taken 11 years later, her face is sad and sunken, framed with stringy blond hair. As disturbing as these side-by-side photos appear, more chilling is the story that catapulted her into ...
The Good Heart of the Adoption Movement
At age 34, I'm trendier than I've ever been. When my husband and I adopted our son in 2008, we didn't know anyone else whose family looked like ours. We were more oddity than poster family. But, by 2011, when we adopted a second son, the evangelical orphan care ...
The Gosnell Case and My Heart For Tiny Babies
Like many in the pro-life community, I watched in horror as the FBI raided Kermit Gosnell's abortion clinic back in 2010. As much as I wanted to turn away from the gruesome descriptions of the carnage that took place at his hands I felt compelled to read the stories and ...

















