A married couple from the USA took early retirement to have an adventure. They moved to a Central American country, and had a great time exploring and learning to live like the locals do. After about a year, however, they began to miss certain things in their lives. After 2 ½ years, the married couple determined that they needed a broader range of cultural activities, medical services and a few amenities not available in the country. They traveled to other countries, and finally found a lovely city in Mexico where they wanted to relocate.Read more

I was 19 years old and in college. I had driven my 15-year old Volkswagen “Bug” to visit my roommate’s Mom, near New Orleans. Because I had a test coming and needed to prepare, I had to return to school in Arkansas earlier than my roommate. So I filled the Bug with gasoline and headed north. I drove into the dark of the piney woods and suddenly the car started moving in jerks, coughing and clunking. I pulled to the side of the road and turned off the car to think. I wanted to get to the first available town so I turned the key to start the car. Nothing.Read more

I was at the grocery the other day when I heard a loud wail in the aisle next to mine. I went over to take a look and saw that it was a very small child, 2 years old at the most, loudly and tearfully showing her displeasure at her mother's refusal to buy her a colorful and plastic toy.Read more

She is a single mother of two young elementary school girls. Life has been a struggle since her husband left and does not contribute financially to their care. Finding a job where she lives is difficult and some would say almost impossible. She was unable to pay her rent for some time, having to make the harsh choices of feeding and clothing her family or putting a roof over their heads. Pride kept her from explaining to friends and family. Read more

Hospitals can be a fertile ground for doing a random act of kindness. A friend of mine witnessed this firsthand when she was confined at a government hospital for high fever. While waiting for a private room to be available, she was temporarily placed in the charity ward. The ward was full, and at some point, it was even overflowing. She couldn't wait to get out of there.Read more

Today I did something nice and got "stuck" doing it for a long time. At first I was a little peeved, but it turned out great. It went down like this:Read more

In the 1940s Fergus and Hattie were a working class couple from a small, rural town. One night, they learned that another local family’s house was burning. The homeowner, Walter, had lost his job the week before.

When Fergus and Hattie arrived, they joined Walter and his wife, standing helpless in the road, as their eldest son was rescued from the fiery house. Badly burned, the boy was taken by ambulance to a specialty hospital 2 hours away. If he lived, Walter’s son would require several surgeries and many months of medical treatment. Read more

I have lost three mobile phones to pickpockets and snatchers over the years. Mobile phones are stolen a lot because they can be sold quite easily. After the loss of the third one, I had decided to put a lanyard on my phone and tie it to my waistband.Read more

My sister finished college by the grace of her history professor, Bill Savage at the University of Oklahoma. Most students were scared of him. He had a reputation as a really tough professor, but you’d learn a lot from him. Without money to finish her last semester of school she went to the financial aid office to get a loan (not a scholarship or a grant mind you, a loan she would have to pay back).Read more

I live alone and often go out of town for my work. Whenever I have to go on a trip, I leave my three full-grown cats and five kittens outside the house so they can forage for their food. If I have to leave town for more than a day, though, I make arrangements for someone to care for them.Read more