If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! That’s What Grandpas Are For. Grandchildren Quotes. My husband has been downloading public domain books ever since he got a Kindle late last year. Our grandchildren are now six years old and read well. So, my husband decided to download Peter and Wendy, the original Peter Pan book, so our grandson could read it the next time he came to visit. Here is how the book starts “All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. “One day when she was two years... (Read More ...)

A bowl of white granulated sugar. The background has been erased. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) When Did You Learn How to Cure Hiccups? I was late into adulthood, probably my 40s, before I found a simple, reliable cure for hiccups. Eat a teaspoon of dry, white sugar. How Many Ways Are There to Cure Hiccups? Growing up, I’d heard of and tried lots of ways to cure hiccups. Put your fingers in your ears Have someone scare you Have someone tickle you Sip water Stick your tongue out and pull on it Breathe into a paper bag Hold your breath Take an antacid pill Eat slower Stop eating. None of them worked... (Read More ...)

None - This image is in the public domain and thus free of any copyright restrictions. As a matter of courtesy we request that the content provider be credited and notified in any public or private usage of this image. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Did You Have Sugar Cubes or Shots? I had sugar cubes when they were rolling out the polio vaccine, in 1962 or 1963, in eighth or ninth grade. I was happy to take the sugar cube. It was so much more pleasant than a shot. It never occurred to me to ask: Why is it ok to eat medicine when all my other serious medicine came in shots? Why couldn’t I eat sugar... (Read More ...)

Where Is Your Smallpox Vaccination Scar? 1802 caricature of Jenner vaccinating patients who feared it would make them sprout cowlike appendages. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I must have been eight or nine when it was time to get my smallpox vaccination. My mother was familiar with the scar a vaccination typically leaves. Looking ahead to the day when I would be wearing sleeveless summer or formal dresses, she asked the doctor to give me the vaccination on my thigh instead of my upper arm. Taken aback, perhaps concerned with whether I would be protected, he haughtily retorted, “I’ll give it to... (Read More ...)

General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York, United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia) What Is It About February and Suicide? I have long believed people have some control over the exact date of their death, short of a tragic accident. It may only be a day or two, or a week or two if they have some event they are trying to live to see. So, when my father died of a hemorrhagic stroke on February 12, 1991, four days after the stroke hit him, I thought he was trying to spare my mother the grief that would have marked Valentine’s Day the rest of her life. And, perhaps he was. But,... (Read More ...)