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I can't help but chuckle at all the recent social media posts from parents dropping off their freshman kids at college. Could you people be any weepier? Come on! It's not like they're moving to the other side of the world and disowning you forever. I can laugh, of course, because I'm past that point in my life. I can also laugh because back in the day there was no more blubbering parent on the face of the earth than yours truly. As for my kids, they were just fine. In fact,...
Years ago, when I began writing for The Hinsdalean, I was asked to introduce myself in a short column. I described myself with a string of nouns: “wife,” “mother,” “daughter,” “doctor,” etc. These words, I thought, summed me up quite neatly. Decades later, I’ve changed my mind. I offered readers my roles, the hats I don and exchange as I move through my life. But roles don’t define a person, do they? Rather, I think the essence of a person lives in the spaces between her...
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of us in some way. While the long-term mental health repercussions may not be clear, the challenges of the last 18 months are sure to be taking a toll on many. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a time to acknowledge suicide as the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming more than 45,000 people a year. The rate is particularly acute among younger people, and more than half of those taking their own life did not have a known mental health condition. Following the...
Mike Slonoff is getting married tomorrow. Fifteen years ago, when his father, Jim, and I started this paper, he was a senior at Hinsdale Central. We’d see him in the halls while we were working on a story (why wasn’t he in class, Jim would wonder) or spot him in uniform on the sidelines while covering a football game. Mike’s little brother, Matt, was a second-grader at Madison School in 2006. Now he’s a petty officer second class in the U.S. Navy. Fifteen years ago my daughter, Ainsley, had yet to be born. I lived in a differ...
As I'm sure was the case for many, this summer marked my family's maiden voyage from Hinsdale in 18 months. It was our first plane ride, first meal in a restaurant and first time seeing relatives in person. I was ready to travel - but completely unprepared to question my own identity. The trip was equal parts frustrating and enjoyable: We experienced the rainiest July in Massachusetts in 80ish years (yay, lots of unexpected time indoors) but also tons of face time minus...
I wanted to recognize a beautiful and spirited woman in our community and local interior designer, my mother, Mary Anne Herring. In 1986 my mom opened a home design store called Robin’s Egg Blue in Hinsdale, which had a storefront for 24 years. Perhaps you shopped there and remember the sparkle and enchantment walking in the door and the warmth in being greeted. If you ever received a gift, it was unforgettable in the delicate wrapping and what was inside. I learned an important life lesson of attention to detail in my m...
The autumnal equinox at 2:20 p.m. Sept. 22 heralds the arrival of what some — including many at this newspaper — believe to be the best season of the year: fall. Yes, we know some have labeled Sept. 1 as the start of “meteorological” fall, but we are traditionalists and lovers of words like “equinox.” Plus, with temperatures in the 80s and 90s most days the past two weeks, we think that designation was a bit premature. Anyway, actual fall will arrive next week. And we can’t think of a better place than Hinsdale to enjoy this...
Today I have the privilege of introducing you to our new contributing columnists. We have quite a big group this year, so I will keep my opening comments brief. Before I jump in, however, I want to express our gratitude to the writers whose terms have ended: Jack Fredrickson, Gabriela Garcia, Susan O'Byrne, Amy McCauley, Beth Smits, Alegra Waverly and Carol Wittemann. They have made me laugh, made me think and occasionally brought a tear to my eye with their columns over the...
We passed our neighbor, affectionately known as "Farmer Tom" (for the fresh garlic and tomatoes he's always passing out) on a walk last week. We stopped so our dog, Lizzy, could get a treat. (He's always passing out dog treats, too.) "I just love him," Ainsley said. "He's just like my grandpa." She stopped and thought a minute. "Of course, he's like my sixth grandpa," she mused. We made a count. With her paternal grandfather, my dad, my mom's second husband, my mom's...
Americans will reflect Saturday on one of the most horrific days in our nation’s history. Two decades ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft, flying two into New York City’s World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth crashed in a Somerset County, Penn., field when heroic passengers took matters into their own hands. A lot of heroes were made that day. Nearly 3,000 precious lives were lost, including two Hinsdaleans. In a statement upon ordering the dec...
Actual texts from my high school senior on the day Lollapalooza tickets went on sale back in May. 10:51 a.m.: Do.Not.Forget.Lolla.Tickets.Get.On.The.Website.At.11:58.And.Be.Ready. 11:22 a.m.: DON'T FORGET 11:53 a.m.: I WILL PAY U BACK (*author's note – still waiting) Noon: BUY 12:10 p.m.: She called to confirm the purchase, and I gave her a, "Doh, I knew there was something I forgot to do" line (which, due to my prior track record, she gave no credence). I provided her some qu...
"Welcome to the Hinsdale Community Pool! It's a scorcher out here today, Diane, and the competition is really heating up!" "You're right there, Bill. If you're just joining us, we've already seen some spectacular performances. Over in the shallow end, Henry and Reagan secured gold by throwing all four of their shoes into the pool in under 9 seconds." "Were points awarded for shooting between Grandpa's legs while he listened to his audiobook?" "Involving Grandpa is a hit with...
The time will come, people would tell me. When I would complain about constant interruptions from a 3- or 4- or 5-year-old Ainsley while I was trying to cook dinner or do some work or even go to the bathroom, people would tell me there would come a time when Ainsley would hardly be home. And I would miss the interruptions. That time has come. Of course the start of a new school year - other than last year's - always means more time out of the house. This year Ainsley has...
At first glance, Memorial Day and Labor Day have similar purposes. One marks the unofficial beginning of summer, the other its unofficial end. We traditionally use this space the week before Memorial Day to remind readers of the holiday’s true purpose — to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice — by listing the names of Hinsdaleans who lost their lives in wars, from the first World War to the war in Afghanistan. Today, as Labor Day approaches, we would like to share some facts and history about the often overl...
One of my mom's signature phrases was, "Too much weekend." She would pull it out on a Sunday evening when I was anxious to get to bed early or a Monday morning when I was less than anxious to get out of bed. During the 15 months I lived at home after graduating from college, I went out a lot. And so I heard this phrase many, many, many times. As we spent our first full day of vacation in Saugatuck, Mich., on Aug. 15 lounging around the house - rather than heading to the beach...
Cartoons by Dan Ackley...
My teenage boys will never forgive me for “The Velveteen Rabbit.” They insist they remain emotionally scarred, more than a decade after first hearing it. “But the rabbit becomes real!” I protest. “Mom! The boy doesn’t get to be with his best friend EVER AGAIN! How is that a happy ending?” Needless to say, we take our love of loveys very seriously. We have lovey stories that run the gamut from tragic to comedic to touching, yet somehow all tear-jerking. There’s the one when we...
In 1995 when we were still using a simple cell phone technology, the FCC set some safety regulations on the radiation tolerances using heat exposure to the brain when held against the head as the benchmark. Fast forward 25 years to today, the wireless phones became smaller and more powerful at each development stage, shifting us from verbal communications to a multimedia tool now called a “mobile device,” holding as much memory as a computer. Usage grew exponentially to where the radiation level is now up five times as gre...
Wait, summer’s not over yet! Yes, the resumption of school and the winding down of Hinsdale Community Pool operations can make it feel like the fun-in-the-sun times are setting into the horizon. But lament not, for delights still abound in this season’s final movement. Speaking of music, the village’s Uniquely Thursday series has been extended an extra week due to the weather cancellation back on kick-off night. So if you can’t get to Burlington Park to hear Semple Band tonight, clear the schedule Sept. 2 to enjoy fan fav...
Five years ago this August I wrote a guest column about the passing of our beloved yellow lab, Sam Adams. A heartbreak for all of us, but as it turns out, our hearts were again captured by another yellow lab, this time a puppy that we named Augustus “Augie” Wilhelm. Augie was a captivating yellow furball who grew to be 95 pounds of unrestrained exuberance and energy. Augie is smart, as most labs are; he can track a ball thrown over the garage and catch it, put away his toys and (according to my husband) tell time — dinne...
Getting ready to go to Michigan in August has become almost as much of a ritual as the trip itself. We've fine-tuned our packing list over the years and start gathering our supplies - from marshmallow roasting sticks for s'mores to a battery-powered pump to inflate floaties - a week in advance. I've got a routine at work, too, part of which is to find a column I have previously written to re-run in this space. A favorite of mine has been one I wrote about a delicious grilling...
Students head back to school next week in Community Consolidated School District 181 and Hinsdale High School District 86. We’ve already written about the importance of getting vaccines for teens who are eligible and wearing masks. But there is something else we can do as adults to help protect kids this school year. We can pay an extra bit of attention to our driving habits. Heading back to class is always a change in routine for kids on their way to and from school. That means they might not always be paying as much a...
I'm in a mood - and not a good one. I read the papers, look on the internet, get in my car, watch TV, and it seems almost everywhere I go, people are in a mood too. The world is supposedly ending (due to disease or global warming, take your pick), people have decided they no longer need to be civil to one another, much less help each other, and the people we've elected to government offices have largely made everything divisive, attempting to sway people to "their side." My...
I walked into a meeting last week, grabbed a chair and settled in. At some point, I noticed I couldn't quite recognize the person sitting next to me because she was wearing a mask. I looked around and came to the realization that everyone was wearing a mask. I was the only maskhole! Fortunately, I had one in my purse and quickly put it on. I was more prepared when I went to get my haircut a couple of days later. There, it turned out, masks were not in wide use. These moments...
The start of school is around the corner. Unfortunately, it will again begin under the cloud of COVID-19. Thankfully this year, unlike in 2020, a majority of the population has been vaccinated, a crucial step in limiting the spread and preventing serious and potential deadly cases. The newly inoculated include many middle school and high school students age 12 and older for whom the Pfizer vaccine was approved. According to Illinois Department of Public Health statistics Wednesday, DuPage County leads the state with almost...
