Articles

The biggest surprise for Russ Gerber during this month's interview with Brian Talcott (p. 16) was how much the two men have in common.

Just ask the Buxton boys. Blake, nine, and Clay, seven, collect "more than a million pecans" each year from beneath their pecan tree (and their neighbor, Mrs.

You're breaking up with me? I couldn't believe it. I had never been dumped before, and it stung.

SOME YEARS AGO, I visited a young mother and her new baby. I asked her what she was finding most different with this change in her life.

In my family tradition, a woman's only chance of survival was to find a good husband to look after her. So when I was sent to London to pursue medical nursing, I came off the plane with one goal—to find a husband to look after me! I had three requirements: He had to be well educated, he had to be trustworthy, and he had to adore me.

I looked up and saw complete terror. It took a second before I realized that the face in the mirror was my own.

I was enjoying an evening walk around the neighborhood when I suddenly felt disoriented and weak and noticed that one side of my body was not altogether cooperating. But as a direct counter to the fear that crept in with the symptoms, I heard this message from the book of Isaiah: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Have you ever gone to a masquerade party? Everyone goes as someone he or she is not. The masquerader assumes a different identity and takes great pleasure in confusing people.

In Lagos, Nigeria, where I grew up, many who'd left home to make their way in the United States were welcomed back as heroes. I admit that I used to get caught up in some of that hero worship myself.

Commitment isn't about attendance. I don't even think it's about a person or a human institution or even a set of ideals.