Relationships

My first trip to Frankfurt as a flight attendant surprised me, an intrinsically valuable experience that taught me strategies for combatting loneliness both at home and abroad. I’d worked the flight overnight, finding myself in the German city for the first time. The rest of my crew was busy, leaving me alone for the day. This fine day in Europe, I learned that while loneliness is an epidemic in our modern era, it doesn’t have to be. Here are a few tricks I now regularly use no matter where I am in the world. 5 Tips to Avoid Loneliness 1. Talk to people. People are the greatest resource on the planet! I’d already started my “research” on the aircraft crossing the Atlantic. […]

She got the phone call at a most inopportune time. “We have a referral for three brothers who would do well in a family with children. Are you interested?” asked the adoption agency. My daughter was with us in Oregon. Her dad was dying of cancer in the hospital bed in our living room, and her husband was at home in New Jersey with their three biological children. They hadn’t signed up for three more kids. After much prayer and numerous conversations between the Pacific and Atlantic time zones, they made the decision. Yes, because we have an 8-passenger van. Yes, because we have enough bedrooms. Yes, because we have healthcare, and we have food and a roof over our heads. Yes,