By NANCY PATRICK September is National Suicide Prevention Month. As one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world, America should be one of the happiest places to live. Unfortunately, the rise in American suicides implies the opposite. A couple of years ago, the suicides of 55-year-old fashion designer Kate Spade and internationally popular chef and food techy
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK I grew up thinking of dirty words as cuss words or sexually vulgar words or even profane words against God. I did not know that the dirtiest word I would ever learn would come to me in my forties. That word is “divorce.” Of course, I knew what the word meant, but my family had largely escaped
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK Sometimes my brain runs in overdrive. I feel as if I have drunk several energy drinks or a couple of espressos, but I haven’t. My head stays full of so many of the stories that saturate our lives that my brain refuses to take a time out. I spend a lot of time thinking about the differences
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK Has anyone ever so deeply hurt, angered, or wronged you that you could not get beyond it? The idea of forgiveness made you laugh, not with humor but with a sarcastic sneer. I hate to confess, but I have felt this way on more than one occasion. I know the depth of pain, rage, and bitterness that
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK Loneliness, a sense of isolation, shattered dreams, doubtful purpose, fear, boredom, insecurity—these feelings have affected most Americans even before the COVID-19 pandemic. We can multiply those feelings in the midst of a prolonged quarantine with its accompanying restrictions. Many people distrust authorities because some of the authorities disagree among themselves. All of this upheaval occurs while the
Read moreEditor’s Note: Nancy Patrick is a regular contributor to Spirit of Abilene. Her columns usually carry weight, but she recently posted the following “Lessons Learned,” with both insight and humor, on Facebook. Read and enjoy. Lessons learned from COVID-19 quarantine from Nancy Patrick 1. I know there is no one I had rather been quarantined with than my sweet husband
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK Not often heard today, the word “integrity” has disappeared from most people’s vocabulary. Everyone seems to know what courage, honesty, sincerity, responsibility, and reliability mean; however, the word “integrity” seems even more abstract than those qualities. Definitions of the word include “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; the state of wholeness
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK In case you hadn’t noticed, “smart” stuff surrounds us: phones, homes, classrooms, cars, and even a little contraption called Alexa. We can give her commands such as “set the timer for 20 minutes” or “play (song) for me.” I usually forget Alexa sits right there on a table in my den and opt to set my kitchen
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK I often wonder what will happen if I ever run out of things to write about. Not only does writing provide my primary form of expression, but it also serves as cheap therapy for all my neuroses. Those result from my brain’s constant thinking and fretting about national and international conditions I fear I cannot impact. My
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