Columns & Editorials

The power of a good story never gets old. When Forney Education Foundation Board members have the opportunity to interact with new people about FEF and its mission, the results are nearly always the same. There is an almost euphoric feeling when the listener spontaneously donates to the Forney Education Foundation after just a short story from a Board member.

MiMi and Grandpa had a date to take Grandkids, Ella and Luke, to see a movie on an afternoon when, for a change, they were all four free and available for leisure and fun! The choice was the Disney and Pixar Studio movie that has just hit the local screens in a big way, and it was computer animation at its finest…..ELEMENTAL. (PG rated for some peril, a little sort of bad language, and some maybe questionable thematic elements….. An hour and 43 minutes running time.)

I am an aspiring podcaster. Do I have a studio? No. Equipment? Again, no. Training? Most decidedly, I do not. Talent? Absolutely none. I bet you’re wondering what makes me think I could be successful in the podcast world. Trust me, I wonder, too. I can talk for hours on end. I may lose my train of thought every 5 minutes and be ever shamed for interrupting to keep my feeble brain on track, but lawd knows I can talk. My mother used to complain about me with an adage. “Dina can talk to a brick wall.” I took it as a compliment, though I am not sure it was completely meant as one. That’s the thing about only child status. We become adept at speaking to ourselves, our imaginary audience, and the occasional brick wall. When I was 8, I wrote a play about, and meant to serve as a launch to stardom for, my parents, their homestead, and all my feral cats. Think of Bonanza but for felines. Mom & Dad were not interested in any public performances. I still think of it as their loss. But, back to the topic of the podcast, a phenomenon that has taken the digital media by storm this past decade. While there are programs for every interest imaginable, the true crime genre resonates the deepest with me. I was hooked by the first episode of Serial. I am still following the trials and tribulations of Adnan Syed as my heart breaks continuously for the family of Hae Min Lee. Still, Mark Twain once said, “Write what you know.” While he never said, “Podcast what you know,” I feel like he would have, had podcasts been a thing in the late 1800s. Fortunately, I don’t know murder. I pray that I never do. There is this one story, however, that gnaws at the pit of my stomach occasionally. It’s a watercolor story from the brain of a child who was prone to imagining some saturated tales. Equal parts overheard adult conversation and fill in the blank innuendo from a kiddo from the country without anything better to do, I’d like to spin a yarn for you today. But, it's a yarn that tangles up a bit close to home. So, I’m changing the names, you know, to protect the innocent. It does not involve murder at all, unless, of course, it does.

Dear Aunt B, I am really tired of feeling bad. What are some things that I can do to feel better and improve my health?

“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside,” quipped Mark Twain.

ETFs Can Spell

Ask Aunt B

“God created dads so they could wrestle with their daughters or their sons or wife,” says Kaitlin, 8.

I made the mistake, many moons ago back when social media platforms were just ramping up, to join several pages devoted to animal rescue. I routinely see posts from the Forney Animal Shelter, the Seagoville Animal Shelter, the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake (where many noncity limit Forney pets are taken when picked up as strays, FYI), and rescue groups like Paws of Love where my beloved Poe the Super Ween was acquired. I see pictures of extreme sadness: animals not properly loved, those improperly fed, the discarded ones, and the injured. All seasons of animal abandonment are cruel. This season, just before the summer, affectionately referred to as puppy and kitten season, is especially sorrowful. I mean, it would be so easy to remedy this entire issue, just a simple neuter and, poof, all the unwanted babies would never have to face the horrors of a noisy shelter, or parvo, or distemper, or a bloated abdomen full of worms. But, that’s a story for a different day. Today we are talking about the misconceptions of pet ownership in other ways. And, boy do I have a story within a stor y to tell you.

Special Needs Trust Could Ease Families’ Stress

Should You Consider 401(K) Loans or Withdrawals?

The Layden Senior Citizens Center of Forney is located at 101 Main Street in City Hall, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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