Ask most people, and they can remember a bully from their childhood. Bullying is unfortunately part of the landscape in many school settings. We have come a long way toward building awareness and working on prevention. October, for example, is National Bullying Prevention Month. But the bullies are still out there. A million years ago,

Concert season at Pine Knob Music Theatre usually ends in early to mid-October, so if you want to catch a show there this year, you are running out of time. Or should I say, “you already ran out of time?” And I don’t just mean for the year; I mean for life. I know that

By Leslie Toldo “The Ruby Jubilee? What is that?” you ask. That’s what some people call a 40th anniversary. I am not sure why Ruby earned that distinction, but I can tell you that it wouldn’t matter what kind of stone was involved; in my mind, celebrating your 40th anniversary of anything means one thing:

On July 4, 1776, the United States came to be. Then, 100 years later, in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call in Boston, Massachusetts. Fast-forward nearly 100 more years after that—to 1974, Stuttgart, Germany—a 6-year-old Army brat (me) was having the first telephone call of my life. I was talking to

It was always one of the most awkward moments of my entire week when I was in elementary school. I stood on the playing field, with two kids my age staring across at me with disdain. They would occasionally look at each other, their eyes pleading. Who would get stuck with me today? I had

In the summer of 2015, a friend invited a few of us over to her house to kayak. Although I had lived across the street from Marl Lake in Fenton for a few years, I had never tried it. I decided to go almost all in and bought an inflatable kayak. My friend Wendy and

Who? Me? Die? Nope, that kind of stuff doesn’t happen to me. These bad habits of mine might be harmful for you, but I’ve got this. At least, that’s what I thought and how I lived for the first four decades of my life. Now that I am approaching 60 (in two years), my stance

“If you can lean, you can clean!” I heard the not-so-soothing voice of my Burger King manager, Todd, below. I was literally leaning against the pop machine at the drive-thru window, waiting for a customer to set off the “time to take an order” alarm—those really do exist, or at least they did in the

I remember a flurry of women around me, frantically applying makeup and hurriedly pulling on red dresses. My Aunt Candy was in the middle of it all, wearing a long white gown and a veil. My sister walked into the room carrying a basket of flowers, also wearing a long white gown—a tiny replica of

One thing I love about Facebook is the “memories” feed. I enjoy looking back at past years—it’s like a journal in some ways. One thought that often crosses my mind is, “Gee, I wish I were as fat as I thought I was then.” My 40s were filled with healthy choices. I started running at

I have always loved the holiday season. My mother went full tilt from Thanksgiving through Christmas, going out of her way to make every moment special and memorable. Since she passed away, I go overboard decorating, crafting, gifting, and cooking — because it makes it feel like she’s still here with me. I remember my

We have a Sunday tradition at my house: we pile into our king-sized bed with our pets and watch football. A king-sized bed may sound nice and roomy — but it can get pretty crowded when we share it with three dogs and a cat. As my 80-pound dog, Henry, lays on my chest —