Amy Marsalis usually celebrates Valentine’s Day at home. She sets a beautiful table, while Keith, her husband of 20 years, prepares a delicious meal. If not for COVID, the couple, who love to welcome guests to their home, had debated a red-themed dinner for the holiday. They pictured bolognese, perhaps, maybe a red velvet cake, a tomato appetizer, and, of course, red wine.
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The American Cancer Society estimates ovarian cancer will strike more than 22,000 women in the United States this year. And 14,000 of those women will die. Ovarian cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages and challenging to treat once the disease spreads. According to Marci Houff, “Every woman in the world is at risk of developing ovarian cancer, and a great majority don’t know much about it.” Including
A few years ago, while conducting research for his first book, RJ Jacobs reached out to a virologist at Vanderbilt University. She and her lab colleagues studied viruses and the diseases they caused. “We’re currently investigating a strain of the coronavirus,” she said during their interview. RJ, and most of the rest of the world, had never heard of it. And Then You Were Gone arrived in bookstores last March,
When I seldom leave the house and yearn to see my adult kids, a routine comforts me. During quarantine, my husband and I wrap up our days and meet on the couch for a drink and the evening news. A little after 5 pm, Reed Clapp comes into our living room with his inventive bag of ideas for kids and parents and grandparents. Reed, or Mr. Clapp as he’s known
How does it feel? I ask. Check Yes or No winds down, and a stadium filled with 20,000 fans erupts. Amid the claps and screams and shouts, what goes through your mind? Marty Slayton Jordan is way too kind and modest to admit the experience is one gigantic rush. But don’t you know it is?
When Laticia Williams’ grandmother was a teenager, she needed a new pair of shoes. In the basement of Nashville’s FW Woolworth building, one of the original “five and dime” stores in the country, the sales clerk was willing to sell Big Mama the shoes. But, like other stores of the day, she wasn’t allowed to try them on. Big Mama traced the outline of her foot on a brown paper
Whether exploring a new city or tracking down a coffee shop in my own town, I prefer to park my car and set out on foot. When I meander through a neighborhood, I notice flowers and window displays and people I don’t see from the backseat of an Uber or behind the steering wheel of my car. And – even more fun still? – wandering through a community while devouring
One of the things I missed most about leaving Houston was my monthly book club meeting. Our group was much more than lively conversation, often on topics far beyond the book we were meeting to discuss. Book club prompted me to read books I might not normally choose and to explore topics I may not dig into on my own. It forced me out of my box. Parnassus Books,
A hard-nosed, young Navy diver, Ryan Black was assigned to deep sea salvage and rescue missions in southern Japan. While stationed in the country, he set his sights on learning kendo, the sword fighting martial art. However, when he went calling at the kendo temple, he was informed – and not at all politely – the group did not care to have an outsider in their midst. Not one to
Feeling like old friends, Mark Bilbrey greeted me with a big smile, a warm hug, and invited me behind the cheese case at Porter Road Butcher in East Nashville. We spent the next two hours laughing and talking and comparing varieties of cheddars and goudas. Tragically, 3 months later, on November 6, 2018, Mark lost his life in a one-vehicle auto accident on rain-soaked streets. For his family, friends, colleagues,
