The Doings Weekly

Sister, can you spare a dime?

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:08:52 -0500

“Stranded College Student – or a Skillful Scammer” was the title of a Chicago Tribune column by Barbara Brotman a few weeks ago. I read it with interest as who among us has not been confronted by someone on the street asking for money? What does one do when faced with a person seemingly in need? I have thought a lot about this. I am guessing you have also. The young man in question said he was in the city to celebrate his birthday and his wallet and cellphone were stolen and he needed money to get home. He asked …

O’Laughlin scholarships keep the ‘Joy’ going

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 03:52:09 -0500

School may be out for summer, but several bright and earnest young people are looking forward to the next academic chapter in their lives, thanks to a scholarship awarded to them in the name of Kelli Joy O’Laughlin. Even as the person accused of taking the life of the always-smiling, gregarious 14-year-old Lyons Township High School freshman 20 months ago this week acted as his own attorney and sought to delay his trial in a courtroom not far from here, Kelli’s family are choosing hope by sharing joy. Recently, Brenda and John O’Laughlin awarded several scholarships to graduating seniors who …

Commemorating the ‘last times’ is difficult

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:52:27 -0500

I’m glad to know that this is my last Doings column. I’m sad it’s my last column, but I’m glad I know it. Last times and first times have the most weight for me. First times are always easy to recognize. Last times often aren’t. I wish an editor could schedule the events in my life the way a newspaper editor can schedule columns. Then I’d always recognize the last times. I can buy an ornament marking Baby’s First Christmas, but I can’t buy an ornament commemorating Baby’s Last Lullaby. I’d love to have a keepsake ornament for the last …

Western Springs girl heads to national spelling bee

Thu, 30 May 2013 08:46:32 -0500

OAK BROOK — Regional spelling bee champ Alia Abiad of Western Springs stumped the presenter at a send-off to the nation’s capital May 23 hosted by sponsor ComEd. Bound for the national championship in Washington, D.C., the seventh-grader from McClure Junior High School exercised her prerogative in a mock competition featuring terms related to energy. After breezing through spelling endothermic, which describes a heat-absorbing reaction, Alia asked for the origin of the word luminaire as she took turns with two other regional champs. Sheila Owens, vice president of corporate affairs, was at a loss to respond, but elaborated on the …

Hinsdale Central yearbook editor urges you to pull out your yearbook

Thu, 23 May 2013 03:43:43 -0500

If you are a high school graduate, chances are you keep your high school yearbooks either holed up in the basement, in a corner of the attic, or collecting dust on a bookshelf at your parents’ house like my parents do. Yearbooks are like home videos. They are seldom looked at but always kept. Hinsdale Central’s 70th volume of its yearbook El Diablo was handed out to students recently. As editor, I took a very intimate role in its production. So I perked up when an English substitute I had last week had something to say about yearbooks. “Don’t have …

La Grange Scout gives memorial plaques a facelift

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:16:25 -0500

LA GRANGE — Memorial Day will be even more meaningful this year for Lyons Township High School sophomore Kevin Petrak of La Grange.

To gray or not to gray

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:25:18 -0500

LA GRANGE — I have four sisters and we’ve remained close over the years in spite of the geographic distances that separate us. We make a concerted effort to get together a couple of times a year, just the five of us. Often, when I am with one of my sisters, I comment on how attractive their hair looks. I admire the various shades of blond, brown and red, some highlighted at the beauty shop and some colored at home, but all looking quite lovely. We have various shades of hair color; most quite different from the shade we were …

Program focuses on how to love your teen

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 06:50:11 -0500

HINSDALE — Being part of a rather large crowd at last week’s Loving Your Teen Without Losing Your Mind presentation was encouraging and empowering, though some material was downright startling. “Parents of teenagers all feel like fools and failures,” said Michael J. Bradley. “You’re here because you want to know how to control your child.” In today’s world, parents need to shift their thinking. “Your role is to teach the child to control themselves,” he said. Bradley, Ed.D., is a nationally recognized speaker, author and expert on teenagers. He loves teens, loves their honesty and their passion and is also …

Breaking down barriers with the homeless

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 06:05:34 -0500

Library: a shelter for the homeless with shelves of books. Some days that’s how it seems in my town’s library. I sometimes smell them before I see them. They settle in the soft chairs on the library’s second floor — talking, eating, sleeping or just sitting. My mom was never homeless, but dementia had destroyed her grooming thermostat. She wore layers of stained, dirty clothes. She stopped taking baths. She “dry-shampooed” her hair with baking soda. She looked like a homeless person. The day I took over her grooming, I brushed enough baking soda from her matted hair to fill …

Searching for a child’s ‘lovey’

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:39:38 -0500

When you say “My Child’s Lovey,” people from all walks of life will give you a knowing nod. A lovey can be anything — blanket, pacifier, stuffed animal, random household object — but it always has the same job; it is a young child’s touchstone of comfort and security. My middle son’s lovey is his stuffed dolphin, “Seesh” (so named by his toddler pronunciation of “fish”). I swear there hasn’t been a love this deep between a boy and his lovey since Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh. Because Seesh comes everywhere with us, I am immediately thrown into a …

Look outside the medicine cabinet when treating pain

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:41:07 -0500

I will never forget that morning six years ago when everything changed. I awoke to vertigo, head and neck pain so severe I was bedridden for days. Next came the doctor circuit. Everyone had a different theory about what was wrong with me — Meniere’s disease? Migraines? Anxiety attacks? — and a prescription to match. Nothing helped; some things made me feel worse. I couldn’t work, drive or care for my children. Today I’m doing better, thanks to two specialists who keep me functioning. I learned I have temporomandibular joint disorder, a problem with the jaw joint and surrounding muscles. …

If not now, when on gun violence

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:25:37 -0500

I am endearingly known as “Danger Woman” in my family. This is not because I am a daredevil, but because I am always on the lookout for potential hazards. I recall several Fourth of July seasons when I threatened to picket in front of our house if my husband set-off fireworks in our back yard. My grown children still recall with embarrassment the Halloween I gave out pencils and stickers after a candy scare. That being said, I have been paying close attention to the discussions regarding gun violence in our country today. I use the term gun violence and …

A vote for Kim Barker in District 107

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:42:02 -0500

Kim Barker would serve the community well as a member of the School Board for District 107. As an experienced professional in her field, a long time community volunteer and a parent of young teens, Barker brings valuable quantitative skills, analytical abilities and valuable life experiences to the position. She is energetic, capable, and committed and will invest the time necessary to drill down, understand the issues and work through the data to arrive at the best possible decisions for both the children and the taxpayers of the district. R. Becker Willow Springs …

Navigating lonesome places

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:55:12 -0500

Elsa, at 88, had only one friend left whose mind wasn’t corrupted by dementia. That was Beth, a sharp, lamb-haired lady of 82. Beth could hardly walk. Elsa could hardly see. Elsa telephoned Beth every Monday evening. Each lady sat at her own kitchen table, sipping a glass of wine. They conversed about everything from whether marijuana should be legalized to whether La Grange was right to ban backyard chickens. Then Beth died. Now Elsa is the last of the sharp ones among her circle of peers. She’s tried to set up weekly phone chats with other elderly friends. But …

The truth behind a mid-life ‘crisis’

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:13:02 -0500

I am 43 years old and I own — and wear — a pair of cheetah-print skinny jeans. I also dream of being in a rock band. No doubt these statements will evoke a myriad of responses: “Who cares?” “You go, girl!” “Ugh.” “Honey, I WISH I was 43 again.” “(Gasp!) She told the whole world her age!” And my favorite: “She must be going through a mid-life crisis.” Ah, the mid-life crisis theory. It’s the go-to explanation for anything middle-agers do that is considered unorthodox for our life stage. He bought a sports car? She gave up a posh …