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When new friends outshine old friends

DEAR ANNIE: My dearest friend and I go back over 50 years. We’ve seen each other through everything, high and lows. Recently I became disabled and can no longer drive. I’m also a widow. I’m not asking anyone to chauffeur me around (I have that handled), but a phone call here and there would be lovely. She lives just a short distance away, yet she visits only about once a month and texts or calls infrequently. She has never once offered to run an errand. I always tell her how much her visits mean to me. What makes it sting a little more is that friends I’ve known only a ...

Sound the horn to find the car

DEAR HELOISE: The key fob for my 4-year-old Toyota can be pressed to lock or unlock my car, and it can also be pressed to sound the horn. If I can’t find my car in a large lot, I hold the key fob over my head, press the horn button, and follow the sound. This is especially helpful because my car is white, which is a predominant color for vehicles. — Jo M.K., in Houston DEAR HELOISE: It’s impossible to get lost in an airport. Everywhere you go, there’s signage. Even if you’ve never been to a particular airport before, you won’t get lost as long as you can read. Why ...

Gabapentin’s benefits for sleep outweigh risks for woman

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a 70-year-old woman in good health, other than osteopenia and digestive problems that plague many seniors. I went through a sleep study and was found to have somewhat severe periodic limb movement. I do wake up frequently, always use the bathroom, and can be awake for a while before going back to sleep. I was prescribed 100 mg of gabapentin, which does help. But I worry about dementia since the frequency and length of time of taking gabapentin determines the risk. My watch does indicate a longer, deeper sleep when I take it, but there’s a trade-off. Do I get the ...

Bridge by Steve Becker

It is easier to sink a 2-foot putt in golf than it is to hole a 10-footer, and in bridge it is easier to make some contracts than it is to make some others. For a hand difficult to make at the table, when the lie of the opponents’ cards at the outset is unknown, we cite this one. West led the K-A and another spade. East took the queen and returned the ten of clubs. Declarer won with the ace, led a heart to the ace and another heart back to the king. When West showed out, declarer’s goose was cooked. No matter how he continued, he had to lose a trump trick, and he finished down ...

Cast-Iron ‘Fruit Cake’ is foolproof for dessert

While I’m not sure how or when it started, there is no denying that I have an extremely mean sweet tooth. It shows up all the time in the way I cook savory food — but it goes bananas when I get to dessert. None of this means that I need my sweets to be complicated. The desserts in my ...

A birthday, an auction and rhubarb season

It is such a lovely morning. I love mornings like this. Son Kevin is still sleeping and the rest have left for work. I think everyone needs a little “Me time”. Do we take enough time out of our busy schedules to read God’s word and thank Him for His many blessings He bestows upon us? I paid some bills and have them ready for Kevin to drive out to the mailbox later on when he’s awake. He usually takes my mail out and gets it in again after the mail lady goes. It gives him something to do and saves me some steps. He drove his mobility scooter the 4 miles to sister Emma’s house ...