When former-actress-turned-royalty Meghan Markle, wife of Britain's Prince Harry, confessed to having had suicidal thoughts this month in an Oprah Winfrey primetime special, she put a spotlight on a public health crisis that is anything but glamorous. "I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry.
She is not alone in that sentiment. Stay-at-home orders have sent jigsaw puzzles flying off the shelves almost as quickly as toilet paper. Puzzle makers say sales are up 300 to 370 percent over what they were this time a year ago.
Salli Pung, the long-term care ombudsman for the state of Michigan, urges people to think through practicalities such as how a home is set up, whether someone could maneuver with a wheelchair or rolling walker, and if the bathroom is large enough, safe and accessible.
His wife snapped some pictures from the parking lot, and his uncle posted it online. Next thing they knew, it went viral. "It's been such a blessing because she's getting a lot of calls from family all around the country," Charley Adams says. "The way I look at it, it's a little bright spot in the world."
Courtesy Tim Tutt Others are adopting cyber services as a way to adapt group celebrations. At Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, a theologically progressive church in Bethesda, Maryland, they've found creative ways to worship during the time of COVID-19. They're even holding online communion services.
"The number one thing we're hearing requests for is 100 percent cotton or tightly woven cotton-poly blend," she says. "It has to be something that can be washed on high heat or sterilized in equipment that hospitals have." Some sewing supplies have been hard to come by during the COVID crisis.
Even if you know you are practicing good hygiene, it's OK to question others who come into your home, she says. "My best recommendation would be to follow the guidance for long-term care facilities," she says. "So have a little set-up stand at your front door. Check their temperature when they come in.
Courtesy of Sonya VanGelderen Sonya VanGelderen grew up in Canada but felt the pull to go south ever since she hit her 50s. Her kids were grown, she was newly divorced and she was ready to invent a happier version of herself. So she set off for Latin America, decided to stay and learned Spanish.
Consider a walker. Today's walkers aren't like they used to be either, Salamon says. Medicare covers basic models, and upgrades are available online for less than $100. Modern ones are nicer-looking than the old days and much more stable, she says. Some come with seats and baskets, four wheels and even hand brakes.
About the time jagged edges started poking through my T-shirt as I wormed my way through a tight spot in a lava tube, I began to wonder: What am I doing here? We could have been relaxing on the famous Green Sand Beach at South Point on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Like that curved shower rod in your hotel bathroom? The embroidered pillow on the bed? The martini glasses you saw down at the bar? The latest vacation souvenirs may be as close as a hotel Web site, because these days just about everything in the room can be brought home -- for a price.
Welcome to Tanya Travels, the online journal of our trip of a lifetime. The first cruise ship of the season has already come and gone from the harbor here in Zadar, Croatia. We are not far behind it. This is our last week in this beautiful country.
View / listen to audio slideshows in which patients, families and employees talk about how Cincinnati Children's Hospital has touched their lives.
HONOLULU, May 31 - Just after dawn on a recent Saturday at Waikiki Beach, when the crowd for a surfing meet was already growing with early risers, Derrick Ontai walked along the beach and scanned the sparkling blue horizon for a southern swell for the morning's competition.
In dozens of places across the state, oddball names that early settlers put on maps have stuck — maybe not as official post office addresses, but at least as curiosities. And those who stake their claim in places like Black Gnat, Buzzard Roost, Pig, Paradise or Monkey’s Eyebrow have learned to have a sense of humor about it.
Katy Crossen was half a world away when she had a life-changing epiphany that got her on the road to running. Her soul-searching began last May during a nine-day trip to India. "It is a little bit of an 'Eat, Pray, Love' story," says Crossen, who, like many single 35-year-old women, can relate to Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir about a yearlong journey of self-discovery.
When Mavi and Fe Obach did the math on what it would cost to care for Mavi's mom as she entered the early stages of dementia, they were shell-shocked. Assisted living could run $3,000 to $4,000 a month for 80-year-old Virginia Obach. The Mount Healthy family wasn't prepared for it.
The tour guide was explaining fascinating moments of the former "Sin City." The guide was in the middle of a story from 1961 when pro football hero George Ratterman, then in the middle of a campaign for sheriff, gained national attention for being set up, drugged, put in a hotel room with a stripper, and arrested.