There are some people who see a need in the world, and can’t NOT do something about it – and in a BIG WAY!  Rachelle Zola is such a person. And while I have the utmost respect for Rachelle and the ways she has chosen to make a difference, I sometimes wonder where she gets this compulsion and courage to change the world that is well beyond what most of us would even consider, never mind do. Photo by Alejandra I first met Rachelle in Colorado in 2004 at a “Celebration of Life” for a … [Read more...]

Small towns can have a reputation for being cliquish or prejudiced, but it wasn’t my experience growing up.  Southbridge was a New England town of 18,000, predominantly French, with a good representation of Italians, Irish, Polish, and later, Spanish residents.  My French grandmother (Memere), who had been born the oldest of 21 children in Quebec, would later move with her husband to the U. S. There they would raise a family of six, including my mom, most of whom only spoke French … [Read more...]

According to Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re gonna get.”   I never liked those boxes of assorted chocolates or being offered a choice of one when I didn’t know what was in it.  I will admit to being fussy, and especially not liking things with nuts in them.  So, I usually passed on the offer, unless I knew for sure. And although I wasn’t adventurous in eating . . . I did take a Ford Pinto (the one with the exploding gas … [Read more...]