“What a wonderful life” is hopefully what my dad is saying up in heaven. He sure did his best to give his four children a wonderful life growing up and for that we are thankful this holiday season. A child growing up in Chicago during the Depression, my dad was determined to provide his high […]
Community & Lifestyle
Posted inArts & Culture
DONNA R. DARLING
Most of the people who knew Donna probably only knew one or two aspects of her multifaceted personality, or only met her in one of her several vocations. As a massage therapist (she was voted Springfield’s best by Illinois Times readers back around 2002), she brought comfort and pain relief to hundreds of clients, some of whom […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A quiet voice that rang with the power of justice
Few people go out of their way to fight someone else’s fight. Even fewer people devote their entire lives to that pursuit. Ethel Gingold of Springfield was one of those people. She died July 28, 2012, at the age of 93, leaving a legacy of fearless perseverance in the quest for social justice. “She needed […]
Posted inArts & Culture
ESTRELLA NINA CELORIO LONG
My mother was born in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba, and came to the United States in her early teens. She immediately fell in love with America, and was determined to make a better life for herself here. She met my father, married and was on her way to raising three children. The family moved often, […]
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Remembering the lives they lived
Each year when we put together our end-of-year obituary issue, I find myself wishing I had known these people, or known them better. I’d see Dr. Gordon Smith at community meetings, but never knew he was a stalwart of Union Baptist Church and conducted a prison ministry. Becky Austwick used to work at Illinois Times, […]
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A Christmas like no other
“It takes a worried man to sing a worried song,It takes a worried man to sing a worried song,It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.I’m worried now but I won’t be worried long.” Mr. Hoskins hummed this tune over and over, thinking things would surely get better soon. But his luck wasn’t […]
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Unlucky in shove
My husband was a heavy-drinking, drug-taking skirt-chaser who worked only sporadically, so I divorced him three years ago. He quit drinking and drugs, renounced skirt chasing, and was constantly professing his love for me, so I took him back on the condition that he contributes financially. He soon started behaving badly. He does no housework, […]
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Historic Christmas
This Saturday, Dec. 15, six downtown historic sites are combining efforts and welcoming visitors to celebrate the holidays, a bit like the hospitable ol’ Fezziwig in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, who threw open his business to host a joyous holiday celebration for Scrooge and much of the town. Visitors will see decorations at some […]
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The son almost never rises
Two years ago, after dating a wonderful lady for a year, I married her and moved in with her. The problem is her 23-year-old son. He lives with us, has never held a job, doesn’t go to school, and does nothing but eat, sleep and poop. I’ve worked since I was 14, my wife and […]
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Happiest place on girth
I started taking medication that makes me fat – about 80 pounds overweight, which is a lot on a 5’7” female frame. Cutting calories and exercising will not change this, and I cannot stop taking this drug. I think people must look at me like I’m some undisciplined pig. I’d love to date, but I’m […]
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Take 10: Children’s books
What happens when Daisy’s ball is destroyed? When all the lights go out? When a family must flee their homeland? Adventure happens, that’s what – and so does discovery, learning and joy. Buy a child and book and ask to share an hour. Here, a few of the recent best, for tots, teens and you. […]
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Rugged and ready to shoot
In an Instagram world, the smartphone has become the primary camera for any amateur photog. But on the bike, in the water or up in the air, it’s time to forget the filters and grab a camera that’s tough enough to take on an adventure. For many of us, smartphones are our go-to camera, but […]
