You’re doing okay. Shaky, most days, and you can’t stop crying but you’re doing okay. Thanks for asking, although nobody ever really wants to know. They look away, up or down or anywhere but at the truth: you’ve lost a ...

The chair you now sit in was once occupied by someone else. You are the second or fifth or forty-fourth to hold the job but get ready: in this position, everything you do is critiqued and measured against your predecessors ...

Nobody said it would be easy. You have your eyes set on something but doing it will take time, sacrifice, and effort. You’ll get things right, but you’ll also get in your own way before you get to where you ...

You can’t breathe. There’s really no describing the panic when that happens. Your ribs struggle to rise, your chest feels like it’s being stomped, you’re on fire, and your brain screams. Your arms flail. Your hands grasp at nothing, and ...

With a book in your hands, you can do almost anything. Grab a cookbook and make a meal. Pick up a how-to book and fix a toilet. Take a trip to the past or the future, learn to knit, meet ...

There are a few kids in your class that you usually try to ignore. That’s because they’re kinda mean. They call others names, knock books out of their hands, and say racist or hurtful things. They’re bullies, and you avoid ...

You are the Big Kahuna. The Boss, the One in Charge, maker of decisions and teller of things to do. You’re the Big Cheese with all the responsibility and you ain’t bad at it. So how would you do if, ...

Your new backpack can’t hold another thing. There are tissues in there, in case you sneeze. Pencils, maybe some crayons for drawing. You have room for a notebook, too, and everything you’ll need to carry for your big day. And ...

You saw it happen. Every second of it, every sound, it’s burned in your memory. You can recall how it made you feel, how time seemed to slow down, how there was no room for anything else in your mind. ...

Find a penny, pick it up. The rest of that little ditty promises luck but whatever. You don’t see a penny as worth much, but how do you perceive money as a whole? In the new book, “Women with Money” ...

The burden on your shoulders is heavy. Your whole body sags with the weight of things you know but can’t tell, and each new whisper adds to the pack. Secrets you carry are more than you can bear sometimes, which ...

Getting together with your family this summer is going to be fun! You’ll see your cousins and grandparents, friends and kin, and your aunts and uncles will be there, too. You’ll eat foods you love, play games to win, and ...

Crest Hill - To help incarcerated men and women take steps toward a brighter future, state Rep. John Connor, D-Lockport, and state Sen. Pat McGuire, D-Joliet, are collecting gently used books for donation to correctional facilities in Illinois. “Reading provides ...

You wanted it. And you wanted it very much. But, ah, well, you didn’t get it. You worked and you begged and maybe you even saved but you didn’t get what it was that you wanted. You were sad, but ...

Joliet - Will County's annual three-day book recycling event will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 31-June 2 at Joliet Park District's Pilcher Park Nature Center, 2501 Highland Park Drive. The annual event is sponsored by The ...