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Yes, you read that title correctly. Embrace the dysfunction. This is one of the best pieces of holiday advice I can give you. I am not talking about embracing pathological or destructive behavior. I am talking about embracing normal, universal, our-family-is-nuts and I-can’t-believe-I-have-to-do-the

(This column is dedicated to all my students, teaching colleagues, friends in retail, clergy, and anyone who practices a holiday tradition.) I’m an avid non-runner. I have a runner friend that thinks this is hilarious—so much so, he even introduces me that way. While I may not run for fun or any oth

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. ~~Henry Van Dyke Wednesday, November 18, 2015 Honestly, I am having trouble writing this blog today. It's Wednesday. The Wednesday after t

In my family it was something known as “Herwick Salad”. You probably know it too: that whipped green Jello salad with shredded vegetables. Herwick was my great grandparents’ last name. In our family, the green Jello salad creation was credited to my great grandmother—a factoid that was never questio

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Winston Churchill Would you consider yourself a generous person? If so, you might find this blog very affirming. If not, it's never too late to developing a new virtue. We now have the science of generosity telling us that generous

We are officially in the season of pumpkin. Yes, I am one of those: a cucurbophile—a lover of all things pumpkin. Kind of like the “shrimp scene” with Bubba in Forrest Gump, I could start, “pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin beer, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin soup, pumpkin chocola

I have been told more than once that I have an uncanny ability to state the obvious. When this is said to me, it is not a compliment. More like a sarcastic jab when I am offering unsolicited advice or observations. So if you are rolling your eyes and saying, "Really, Amy, could you get more obvious?

The combination was laughingly almost lethal: one ridiculously funny friend + a beach trip to stay in a trailer + old crazy stories to prime the pump + a discussion of why Vespas in Italy are sexy but mopeds in Myrtle Beach are not. I had to pull off the road because I couldn’t see for all the tears

"You are either changing or you are dead." Another pearl of wisdom from one of my parents, this time from my father. I do not remember when he said this to me, probably sometime when I was waxing on about the many changes in my life and he sliced through all of my angst and navel gazing with this si