By Sharon M. Kennedy As we age, it often gets harder to cling to our dignity. For some folks losing a sense of dignity is due to major health problems that require constant medical attention including poking and probing into our physical body. For others, it’s dealing with non-life threatening…
By Sharon M. Kennedy A few readers have asked why I’ve been writing political pieces instead of my usual nostalgic references to the delightful days of my childhood. In response, I’ll make an analogy, however farfetched or “comical” it might seem to some folks. The orchestra on the Titanic could…
It took 18 months for the public to learn that at least one House Republican called Donald Trump the “Orange Jesus” after witnessing the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. I’m not being blasphemous. That really is how the unnamed person referred to the former president when his disciples attempted…
When I was earning my M.A. from Northern Michigan University, I was 53 years old. However, I was not the oldest student in the class. That distinction fell to Millie. No one knew how old she was, and we didn’t care. She was a sweet lady who was always prepared…
Sharon and brother, Bucky, with Puff the cat, circa 1959 by Sharon M. Kennedy Another chapter in my uneventful life ended in the summer of 2015. The house of my youth was leveled. In less time than it takes to watch a soap opera, the old place took its final…
“Simon Says” was a silly game from my youth. There wasn’t much to it. It involved no technology and could be played anytime, anywhere. There were no age or monetary requirements, and everyone was welcome. In fact, the more players the better. This was especially true if the kids liked…
“Let’s Be Brave” from The Passing Throng by Edgar A. Guest Let’s be brave when the laughter dies And the tears come into our troubled eyes, Let’s cling to the faith and the old belief When the skies grow gray with the clouds of grief, Let’s bear the sorrow and…
Have you ever had something stuck in your craw? Something you wanted to say but just couldn’t get it out? Perhaps a relative upset you, but you held your tongue because you didn’t want to create a scene. When I was a kid, Mom often used that expression. It’s one…
Sharon Kennedy Dental floss is a great invention and so are those little plastic sticks we’re supposed to use to scrape plaque from our teeth. But like many inventions that didn’t make it off the inventor’s floor, floss and sticks also have kinks that occasionally must be dealt with. We’ve…
Sharon Kennedy The timothy has gone to seed. The goldenrod is in full bloom. Queen Anne’s Lace unfolds in the warmth of the mid-morning sun. Black-eyed Susans fill the ditches. Robins have left without a word of farewell. The Chippewa County Fair is only a memory. Another school year has…
Welcome back to another school year. Kennedy’s time machine will take you back to a simple era of the late 1950s. Find some time to read and reflect whether it’s on your own childhood or stories of the past passed from generation to generation. The SideRoad Kids follows a group…
Sharon Kennedy A long time ago, a man called Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusuf Islam. I remember some of his songs from the 1970s. “Roadsinger,” in particular, seems appropriate in light of the recent Wyoming primary. Mixing up a few of the lyrics, Liz Cheney might be asking:…
by Sharon M. Kennedy Sixty-five years ago my sister decided to give me a good scare. Jude and I didn’t have much in common. She loved the barn and I was a housecat. She loved Elvis. I liked Faron Young. I read books. Jude subscribed to motion picture magazines. I…
Sharon Kennedy People who prefer peace to violence are probably not familiar with a 1978 novel written by Bill Pierce, a right-wing extremist neo-Nazi. Pierce wrote “The Turner Diaries” under the pseudonym Andrew MacDonald. The book eventually became the blueprint for revolution among present-day white supremacists. It influenced Timothy McVeigh…
by Sharon M. Kennedy I love doilies. Even the spelling of the word looks ridiculous, but that doesn’t change how I feel about the lacy little darlings I have scattered around my home. When I was young I used to tell Mom I was born in the wrong century or…
by Sharon M. Kennedy I’m all gussied up in my First Communion clothes. My dress and veil and lacy white socks are beautiful, but I look the same as every Sunday morning—ugly. My curly hair looks ridiculous. My dress has short sleeves so everybody will see my hairy arms, and…
Former President Don Trump recently attended the America First Policy Institute’s “Agenda Summit” in Washington, D.C. part and spoke there. It was his first appearance in our nation’s capital since the uprising he instigated. I listened to him on one computer while playing solitaire on another. I wasn’t very interested…
Sharon and Jude with Topsy the dog My sister, Jude, did her best to entertain my brother and me, but she wasn’t always successful. Asking us to climb in a wagon is one example of a “good time” that backfired. She probably intended to pull us up and down our…
By Sharon M. Kennedy Mom with one of our Herefords August has a special feel to it, unmatched by any other month. The lazy dog days melt seamlessly into one another until it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. At least, that’s the way it was…
by Sharon M. Kennedy While watching the Select Committee question people who were directly involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection, that line from the Bible kept repeating in my mind. I thought about the individuals refusing to listen to the witnesses who are testifying under oath. If they have nothing…
by Sharon M. Kennedy Dad putting up hay in the mow The fragrant fields are almost quiet now. Soon tractors, rakes, balers, and hay wagons will get a rest and reprieve until once again called into action. Bales of timothy are stacked almost to the barn rafters and thousands more…
by Sharon Kennedy A couple of years ago, I was watching a television program and the guest was former secretary of state, the late Madeleine Albright. She said something about the absurd becoming accepted as “normal” in today’s politics. Anyone who survived the past six years with their intelligence intact…
By Sharon M. KennedyMom often told me that with all the dental work in her mouth she was worth more dead than alive. I used to laugh when she said that, but now I understand. I’m nearing an age when I’m deciding what to do with my assets, and I’ve…
Beaver dam — Front door I’ll make this short. Everyone in the U.P. is complaining about the heat as they sit in their air-conditioned homes, ride in their air-conditioned cars, or dine at their favorite air-conditioned restaurants. Consider yourselves lucky. You could be as busy as the Yooper beavers who…
Trump called on his supporters to send their contributions directly to his own committees in his first speech since leaving office. That call puts Trump at odds with the Republican Party’s existing political organizations, including the Republican National Committee and the party’s congressional campaign arms. Fake news, alternative facts, media…
