Why do we give gifts during the holiday season? We do it for a reason that is as timeless as humanity itself: women.
I already felt guilty about lying to my imaginary friend about the chances for his poems ever getting published.
I spent the weekend cutting back the pumpkin patch. It had grown so big that it was in danger of engulfing our home.
No sooner were we all aflutter, what with poems and talismans and money changing hands, than Paisley, Kan., was deflated like a hot air balloon shot by a vintage two-barrel shotgun.
My grandfather, a born and bred curmudgeon, was a gentle man beneath his gruffness, but one had to dig deep to find it.
The year was 1947. I was 4 years old. My mother and I rode the bus from our home in midtown Kansas City to the downtown bus stop in front of Lerner’s department store.
This is a true story and I lived it. In 1914 my folks moved from Kansas City to Johnson County, Kan. They found a three-room house that had no running water and no electricity. They said they would make the best of it.
Sharon Jennings didn’t know if she wanted to go out with a police officer. But a friend encouraged Sharon to meet her single brother-in-law, Dennis Roscher, 29, and Sharon reluctantly agreed.
Nichole Baskett gazed wistfully at the cute boy whizzing around the Bannister skating rink and wished she could have him for her boyfriend. It was 1980 and 13-year-old Nichole was too shy to reach out to such a popular boy.
“Who is that woman?” Dan Kennaley asked. It was 1956, and Dan, 23, was an architecture student at Washington University in St. Louis. He was with friends, looking at pictures from a recent party, when a photo of a smiling, raven-haired beauty caught his eye.
Christmastime is very dear to me, and every year I have at least two Christmas trees on display in my home. My husband, however, thinks one tree is more than enough and groans as I drag stacks of boxes of Christmas decor out of the basement.
WORLD AIDS DAY includes two observances presented by the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City — a 6-8 p.m. reception Dec. 1 at Vanderslice Hall of the Kansas City Art Institute, followed by a Dec. 2 luncheon at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center with keynote speaker Kevin Fenton of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 913-269-7960.
Kansas City Ballet backer Lisa Jones has a busy week ahead. Not only is her daughter, Amelia, playing the coveted role of Clara in the Kansas City Ballet’s “Nutcracker,” but Jones also is chairing Saturday’s massive Sugar Plum Fairy Luncheon at the Marriott-Muehlebach Tower.
JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS BUREAU/AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE ANNUAL DINNER at the Westin Crown Center hotel. Robert Regnier will receive the Henry W. Bloch Human Relations Award. 913-327-8125.
Here’s some advice if you’re thinking about tromping through a holiday homes tour this year: Dress warmly, go an hour early and stake out a spot at the door to avoid the crowd.
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS tour to benefit Johnson County philanthropies presented by Johnson County Young Matrons. Tour homes in Mission Reserve and Pavilions Estates. Two-day holiday boutique Nov. 18-19 at the Lodge at Ironwoods Park. $18 tickets in advance at Hen House and Hy-Vee stores or www.JCYM.net.
After four decades of designer showhouses, members of the Kansas City Symphony Alliance have decided to shake things up for the fundraiser’s 40th anniversary in 2009.
