Living Well Etc.

Let go of the Past. Concentrate on the Present; Build the Relationship you Want. As an etiquette consultant, many of the relationship questions I receive concern finding and strengthening relationships.  Since I’ve been in a long, healthy relationship with nearly 25+ blissful years and counting, I firmly believe it is possible even though it has not always been so.  I am a victim and – luckily – a survivor of domestic abuse.  Due to the mental baggage attached to victimhood, it is common knowledge future relationships may suffer.   Victims often fall into the same trap again.  Nevertheless, it was not the case for me.  Why?   What is the glue that binds two people in a relationship? For starters, I will not allow the past to affect my relationship.  Since our relationship is most important to me, I work on it every day and we do everything together—partners in all things.  An important ...

Pills May Not be the Answer for Some MS Sufferers Multiple   Sclerosis hit me like a teen hitting the fridge after school: fast and furious.  I was sore, dizzy, tingly, and very stiff from day one.  Diagnosed with a progressive form of  MS , my options were limited to treating my symptoms.  Still, due to possible side effects, I am very leery of drug therapy.  After all, growing a second head would not be helpful.  My doctors assuaged my worries and convinced me to treat my stiff muscles—better known as muscle spasticity.  Better to be stiff than toothless. Muscle relaxants are one of the best methods for treating spasticity.  I have taken them before for a neck injury, so I felt relatively safe trying them again.  Following all directions on the container, I began my treatment fully expecting that it may take some time for my body to adjust to any short-term side effects.  I was expe...

Entrepreneur, Freer of Slaves,   and Voodoo Queen of San Francisco Much of this amazing woman's history has been blemished due to an organized smear campaign in the late 1800s. Some say she practiced voodoo, stole babies, and killed those who were in her way.  None of these accusations can be confirmed.  After many years of digging, researchers found that the following facts could not be erased so easily.  Vital to the Underground Railroad Whether or not Mary Ellen Pleasant was born a slave – whose father was a plantation owner – or if she was born free, doesn't really matter.  Historical records do confirm, however, that she was vital to the Underground Railroad.  She also became a successful businessperson in a time when women didn't have many rights if any.  Early in her life, Mary Ellen married James W. Smith, an abolitionist who introduced her to saving slaves by smuggling them to Canada.  She and her husband...