By NANCY PATRICK This past Valentine’s Day found me held hostage in my home by a rare Texas blizzard and power outage. As I shivered beneath a thick comforter, I reflected on February 14, 1967, when my husband Mike proposed to me. Passionately in the throes of young love, we had attended a Sweetheart Banquet for our church that evening.

By NANCY PATRICK The older I get, the more often I hear words that I thought I understood but have somehow taken on new meanings while something else occupied my mind. I know every generation has its identifying lingo that connects the people of similar ages. My adolescence occurred in the ’60s in the midst of the hippie movement. My

By NANCY PATRICK Last summer (2020), I attended a community gathering held at Stevenson Park in Abilene. I went to support the Black Lives Matter Movement. The sweltering June evening drew a large number of Abilenians. I proudly observed people of all races and ethnicities, most carrying placards with expressions of protest for George Floyd’s recent murder. Others expressed hope

By NANCY PATRICK Back in the 1940s, Ralph Edwards created a radio program called “Truth or Consequences.” Its popularity resulted in a television version in 1950. The program’s premise required contestants to answer trivial questions correctly or reap the consequences. The consequences usually meant doing foolish, silly things that resulted in the audience’s appreciative laughter. In fact, most contestants answered

By NANCY PATRICK I recently had my seventy-first birthday. (I didn’t say “celebrate” because I don’t enjoy birthdays as some people do.) My birthdays, especially those of the past two decades, have effected a time of reflection and assessment for me.  I think my family must have had some pretty good genes because most of us have lived full lives.

By NANCY PATRICK In my youth, American society did not set aside a month during which to honor women for their contributions to the world. In 1987, Congress established March as the official month to do so. As a woman, I shamefully admit my ignorance about the historical status of women in American society. I would venture to say that

By NANCY PATRICK I want to write a new article, and I have two started. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to pull my thoughts together to finish either one of these papers in progress. As I write one sentence, my mind suddenly jumps to a related idea but one not actually pertinent to that place in the article. My inability to

By NANCY PATRICK Many of us will talk about the hardships of the year 2020 for a long time. This year has indeed made life difficult for more than one reason. Even though 2021 has begun, I include the recent hardships of the deadly winter in the difficult year that began last March when the COVID pandemic began. I had

By NANCY PATRICK As we approach the season of Lent, many people contemplate “giving up something” (sacrificing) to represent the sacrifice Christ made for his disciples. I don’t always participate in Lent, but I’ve thought about it more this year than usual—probably because of the tremendous hardship and involuntary sacrifice 2020 has inflicted on so much of humanity. My retirement