Lucy Reflects

Do you know what the word “furlough” means? Until about a week ago it was not a word in my vocabulary. Furlough is a fancy-pants way of saying “laid off.”

It kind of crept up, this inconceivable virus that would make other obstacles in my 41 years look like a cinch.

Six-year-old Jackson Ewing sits down for an exclusive interview with Jess King.

A Mother Force to be Reckoned With.

I recently packed on the “twenty forty,” a term I coined which refers to the anomaly where you change absolutely nothing about your diet or lifestyle, but at almost age 40, you suddenly look like you’re six- months pregnant.

“If You Find it in Your Heart to Care for Somebody Else, You Will Have Succeeded.” -Maya Angelou

In light of the recent tragedy we need to take action against gun violence.

This might upset some folks, but I used to be so irritated with moms who sold stuff. When someone invited me to a LuLaRoe, Mary Kay or a Pampered Chef party, I’d end up eating a ton of appetizers, have a few drinks and suddenly have $300 charged to my credit card for a pair of odd kitchen shears, a vegetable chopping thingy I’d probably never use and leggings with hippos all over them.

We are living in a technology world and I am not a technology girl. I’ve always been a paper and pen kinda gal. I prefer to write on paper and read newspapers and books.

As I sit in my new home waiting in an unreasonable window of time for Comcast, I decided to write about our experience purchasing our first home together. And why it almost drove me to the brink of insanity.

I’m a mother to two wonderful children and I have the best husband. I really couldn’t ask for anything more. But truth be told, there were a few things I didn’t prepare myself for as I aged gracefully.

At the young age of 19, Ed Bookman had the world at his fingertips. The year was 1965. He recently started a new full-time job, had a brand-new girlfriend and brand-new car.

While passing through Downtown Lancaster to have breakfast recently, we noticed a fair popping up on Queen Street. Later that day, Bea and I ventured out to see what all the excitement was about and I was sure I spotted food trucks, which was all the motivation I needed.

At first it wasn’t to help others, it was to help myself. As a primarily stay-at- home mom, our days can vary from success to failure. I was going on week two of feeling a bit like a failure. On the outside, I was keeping up, but inside I was falling into a funk.

“I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary. … It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease.” ―Yann Martel, Life of Pi

I found a bump “down there.” My mind immediately wondered and was convinced I had acquired myself an STD. I was scared shitless to ask my parents to send me a copy of my insurance card. “Hey dad, can you send my insurance card? I think I have genital warts.” A friend informed me I could go to Planned Parenthood. Turns out I had an ingrown hair.