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"Schadenfreude" is a term introduced to me by the very erudite musical, "Avenue Q." Its technical definition is taking pleasure ("freude") in another person's pain ("schaden"). Or, as the song lyrics go, "When I see how sad you are, it makes me sort of happy!" I've seen schadenfreude at work, and wrote the better part of a column about it a few years ago. After a bit of a scheduling snafu that caused Ainsley to miss dress rehearsal for her school's variety show, she took...
Nine years ago I began an annual tradition that I have somehow managed to continue. In the issue before Ainsley’s birthday each year, I use this space to write a special letter to her. When I wrote the first, Ainsley was in preschool. She wanted to call Santa and ask for a ride in his sleigh so she could visit Baby Jesus in Heaven. She hadn’t yet learned to read — although she could recite many of her books by heart — and she had just received her first real bicycle for Chr...
5! It’s almost here, and I’ve never been more excited to welcome a new year. New Year’s is usually a pretty ho hum holiday in my book, but not this year, no ma’am. It’s been a train wreck of a year, and my readiness for transition from the old to the new is bigger than ever. Here’s how I would describe it ... Like a record player run out of songs, 2020 has been stuck riding the label, sliding and crackling at the end, the staticky nothingness signaling the conclusion of the...
A recent Saturday Night Live featured Kate McKinnon playing Madame Vivelda, a fortune teller, as she met with a group of clients in 2019. “2019 has sucked but I think 2020 will be our year,” one of them says as the skit opens. Of course the predictions she shares for 2020 — someone washing a bag of Doritos with soap, a road trip with no bathroom stops and indecent Zoom incidents, to name a few — make absolutely no sense to her clients. If only we had known. And now we again are on the cusp of a new year, and much uncerta...
For as long as I can remember, my mom has been the queen of Christmas. Perhaps your family has its own Christmas queen or king? Someone whose love for the holidays is so effervescent that it brings happiness to everyone around them. Each year well before December, my mom is already thinking about Christmas. Her unbridled joy for the holiday season has her planning new decorations, recipes and special handmade gifts. She spends months on end hand-stitching beautiful...
When I sat down to hang a picture frame and put my awl to the frame, I remembered Mr. Todd. When I was sanding a piece of wood and knew to trust my own sense of smooth, I remembered Mr. Todd. When I drew the plans for a small bookcase I wanted for my study, I remembered Mr. Todd. Mr. Todd was my seventh- and eighth-grade shop teacher at Hinsdale Junior High School from 1953-55. He began my love of hand tools and the beauty of woods. He looms in my memory as a self-effacing man who taught skills, procedures and respect for...
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the town The Hinsdaleans were scurrying, they rushed all around. For last-minute gifts and cards they did sprint, Armed with lists and ideas and maybe some hints. Gateway and Grant squares and downtown they traveled. But with each stop, their nerves did unravel. The hustle and bustle had dampened their mood. They were tired and cranky and needed some food. They stopped for some lunch and looked over the list. To finish their s...
The sky is falling. At least our sky is falling, over our home, and within our family. Health concerns of beloved family members have my husband and me scrambling to help. I used to think we had a modicum of control over our lives, over our "sky" if you will, but as we are placing metaphorical buckets under our dripping roof, I realize we are powerless in the face of certain life events. We can only react to these events and try our best to do right by our families and friends...
“Turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes.” — David Bowie One thing you learn as a parent is how much things change each holiday season as your kids (or kid, in my case) get older. One Christmas you’re lending Santa a hand assembling the Barbie Dreamhouse he delivered for your 5-year-old. Before you know it, her Christmas wish list includes a laptop and headphones for gaming and “merch” from her favorite YouTuber, YaBoiAction. For several years you enjoy gathering as a family...
Experience any hotly contested elections lately? Granted, the presidential race was certainly a spectacle not seen before (which goes for most of 2020!). But it also got two-thirds of the electorate to the polls, the highest turnout since 1900 when Republican incumbent William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Healthy turnout is healthy for a democracy, And so is a robust roster of citizens willing to throw their hats into the candidates’ ring. The window to file for candidacy in the April 6 Consolidated E...
Several years ago I found a reprint of a vintage Betty Crocker cookie cookbook at Yankee Peddler - the very same one my mom had when I was a kid. I later regretted not purchasing it. But then I found my mom's old volume, which is even better. The "Cooky Book," as it's titled, was first published in 1963. My mom was not much of a baker, so we got out the book exactly once a year, at Christmastime. My favorite part of the cookbook then (and now!) is the photos - full-page...
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me — a Hinsdale shopping spree! Yes, yes, we know the song is really about the 12 days between Christmas and epiphany. Forgive us for this slightly corny set-up for a message we present on this page each December: Shop local. This year more than ever Hinsdale merchants need our support. The coronavirus pandemic not only closed many shops in the spring, it has affected business since. And this is the time — the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas — when merchants expec...
The American Legion Post 250 of Hinsdale would like to thank each and every one of the Clarendon Hills Middle School PTO members that took time and effort to send gift cards to all the vets who attend programs at the schools. We all look forward to being at school on Nov. 11, on the 11th day, 11th hour. Thank you. — Jack Orbell, commander, and Charley Hartley, chaplain, American Legion Post 250...
Behind the steering wheel of my 2016 Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid, I've made some of my best memories. From hearing my favorite song on the radio for the first time, to driving to the city to watch the sunrise with my best friend, to going to school with my younger brother, those are the memories that will stick with me. However, when I tell my parents that I'm going to "drive around with friends," they look absolutely mortified. I'm not sure if it's the fact that my driving record...
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." - the 14th Dalai Lama Did you ever learn a new word and then start to see it everywhere? Or encounter the same message or theme emanating from a variety of sources? I've experienced both, and - as you might guess - am currently doing so right now. I keep discovering the same message from different people and places. It's simple and straightforward: Be kind. While I was home in quarantine with a sick husband, I counted on...
The Hinsdale Fire Department is once again participating in the annual statewide Keep the Wreath Red fire safety program. A wreath will be hung outside the station at 121 Symonds Drive. For each fire caused by holiday decorations, a red bulb will be replace with a white bulb. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to discourage people from traveling at the levels usually seen around the holidays, meaning more people will be spending the season at home. That shift, experts say, will lead to increased cooking activity and greater...
It's time to look back at the year that was and reflect on lessons learned. Of course, learning a lesson is not the same as applying it, and I am far from skilled at practicing what I'm preaching. While I never got around to picking up a new language or learning a new instrument, I think I've developed an important skill: the ability to listen. People at work and in my personal life have often told me to listen more. I would try, but actually I was basically still engaging...
With politics dominating the headlines, I am consciously - but maybe not subconsciously - steering well clear of any partisan chatter. You'll get your share of that during Thanksgiving with the crazy relative who's convinced there is still a path to victory in a race already declared lost. Instead, this commentary is on a fall decluttering project. Recently, I elected to make a change and began a task of discarding things that I desperately wanted gone from the House. Back in...
Last Monday I was supposed to start the week with a 90-minute gratitude walk at Mayslake Forest Preserve. Instead, I was home in quarantine while my COVID-19 positive husband was upstairs in isolation. I know that the best antidote to focusing too much on my troubles is to think about the things for which I am grateful. And so - without the benefit of the gratitude walk - I embarked on a list. Despite all the reasons I had to complain, I found plenty to be grateful for. • B...
We would like to thank everyone that supported the just1mike foundation’s sudden cardiac arrest fundraiser. We had set out raise $2,100 in honor of Michael Brindley’s 21st birthday, but we far exceeded our goal due to the generosity of our community. We raised a grand total of $9,700. Your generous donations will allow the foundation to provide in school cardiac screening. In addition, we want to thank the The Hinsdalean for publishing the article spotlighting Michael, his family and the just1mike Foundation. We know tha...
No matter what challenges we’ve faced this year as individuals, family members, business owners and community members, we still have countless reasons to be thankful. Here’s our list — one for each day of the month leading up to and including Thanksgiving. Nov. 1 — the health care workers whose professional and personal lives have been so much more difficult since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March Nov. 2 — Sammy Hanzel and Heather Bereckis, the creative minds at the village’s parks and recreation department,...
I've been playing a little game with fate lately. I'll accept that I couldn't be with my mom when she took her last breath because I had the chance to say goodbye to her the day before. I'll accept that Dan's cold prevented us from having an outdoor prayer service for her, as long as he doesn't have COVID-19. Guess what? He does. We were convinced he didn't. After all, I had the same cold - with the very same symptoms - the week before and I had tested negative. He received...
The pandemic may have disrupted a lot of our regular routines, but it did not diminish Hinsdaleans’ commitment for giving back. We’ve documented that bounty of benevolence in our Good News section over the past year, and, as we approach Thanksgiving, wanted to highlight a few of them as an expression of gratitude for those gifts: • The 2020 Pillars Ball raised $242,000 for Pillars Community Health to support medical, dental, mental health and substance use disorder services along with domestic and sexual violence services to...
The happy frenzy of the holiday cooking season is coming. It would seem that Thanksgiving is all about the traditional turkey, but in our house I know better. Everything I make is just a lead-in to arguably the best part of our holiday meal - pie! Every year I make multiple pies for just four people, because choosing one pie is far too difficult. It's a delicious dilemma because there are so many wonderful possibilities. Last year, our usual holiday plans were suddenly...
No matter how many ways the question was asked, the answer was the same. Let the public speak. Maryam Judar, executive director and community lawyer for the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst, attended the Hinsdale High School District 86 Board meeting Oct. 29 to speak on “Public Comment: Good for Democracy.” Her presentation was part of a settlement agreement reached earlier this year with several district residents over alleged First Amendment and Open Meetings Act violations stemming from a Dec. 12, 2019, board mee...
