Category: families
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Be nice to your spouse
My husband Jerry came home recently with a question: “What’s the worst thing you can do to upset your plans for a financially secure retirement?” I hesitated. I knew he had been reading about retirement planning, and I knew that I hadn’t been reading about retirement planning. How was I supposed to know the answer?…
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Families and polite dinner conversations
In his play “Dividing the Estate,” Texas playwright Horton Foote captures the resentments and pettiness that frequently makes family dinners anything but polite and pleasant. Bob: Well, Sister-in-Law, what a great meal. You’ve done it again. Mary Jo: Sister-in-Law? Mildred cooked all this. Lucille can’t boil water. Lucille: You’re crazy. I’m a good cook when I…
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How about a disconnected vacation?
It required all of the logistical skills of a very determined mother to find a week this summer when my husband and two college-student children were available for a family vacation. “Why don’t we try a disconnected vacation?” I suggested before we left home. Everyone laughed. The four of us arrived at the beach with…