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From rocks to rubber ducks, we love our collections

Burton Cole

I do not count the dust bunnies hopping around under my bed as one of my official collections. Also gathering dust is what used to be my across her dashboard. “It’s what we Jeep people do. We collect rubber ducks.” Traffic came to a halt. She grabbed a duck from a bag of them behind her seat, ran to another Jeep three vehicles ahead of us, and passed a rubber duck through the window to that driver to add to his army of rubber ducks in formation on his dash. “It’s what we Jeep drivers do,” she told me when she got back behind the wheel. “We greet each other with ...

Religion news

Lifestyles

CHURCH CONCERT The Sojourner Quartet will present a free concert at 6 p.m. Saturday at Grace Methodist Church, 1725 Drexel NW, Warren. The Sojourner Quartet is in its 34th year of sharing the God’s message through music and ministry. Refreshments will be served after the concert. FALL RETREAT: Christian author and speaker Jennifer Cadamore is returning to Hubbard Church of the Nazarene for the Heart to Heart ladies' ministry fall retreat 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 12. She will bring a powerful message “God's Protection-Finding Security in the Shelter of God's Wings.” This event ...

Valley has deep religious heritage

Lifestyles

YOUNGSTOWN - The importance of religion in Youngstown, and the Mahoning Valley at large, cannot be understated. This fact is evident with the many churches, synagogues, cathedrals and mosques present in the area. For some, the emphasis on religion is historical. During periods of mass migration, where various groups moved to the Valley to work in the steel mills and other industries, they brought with them their culture — and thus, their religion. Mahoning Valley Historical Society Executive Director H. William Lawson said the assimilation period of these groups into the area was ...

People sometimes enjoy being creatures of habit

Lisa Resnick

The other day, my oldest son and I did something that, in hindsight, probably disrupted the entire ecosystem of our church. First, let me set the stage. I rarely go to Sunday Mass. If I can choose, I’m a Saturday evening person. It’s become a tradition I genuinely enjoy with my mom and her dear friend. We go, we catch up afterward, and it’s become just as much about spending time together as it is about the service itself. Second — and this may be the bigger miracle — my teenage son willingly came with me on a random Sunday that wasn’t Christmas, Easter or accompanied ...

Decades later, his betrayal comes to light

Lifestyles

DEAR ANNIE: I’m going through a difficult divorce after 58 years of marriage to an alcoholic. Recently he told me two things I never knew: that he slept with my sister the night before our wedding and, years later, when they were both in the military, with a friend of mine. I always knew my sister flirted with him. She’d tried the same with two other sisters’ boyfriends, and she and my husband spent years publicly claiming to dislike each other while accusing one another of “trying something.” I always thought it was weird but harmless. I never imagined it went that far on ...

Will herb to help depression harm the eyes?

Lifestyles

Q. I am prone to depression and irritability. When I heard about St. John’s wort (SJW) some years ago, I started taking it in capsules. I’ve tried to stop it a few times, but I notice a definite uptick in anxiety and impatience. So, I value this supplement, but I use less than the full dose. Reading that it might affect the eyes made me nervous. I have begun to notice dry eye symptoms in the morning. I didn’t think they were related to SJW, but now I worry that they might be. Do you have any advice? A. St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) has been used for centuries to ...