Karen Loftis Rankowitz

This week the world lost a beautiful woman, a sister, and a daughter. Two children lost their mother. A husband lost his wife. And the families and friends of Karen Houle will mourn, her life taken so unexpectedly. A sudden devastating loss will break the dam and flood us with emotions that we have no idea where they came from, or why, now, we are experiencing them. We will all grieve in different ways, and that is normal and healthy. In order to get past things, we have to travel through them. We will cry, we will feel anger, sadness…and in many ways we will each feel a touch of guilt. ‘Guilt’s’ cunning and manipulative finger will tap our shoulder and want our attention. Know that it is ok to forgive yourself. Forgiveness means moving forward and Karen would want nothing less from anyone. To hoard unhealthy thoughts and emotions in the heart can make a mess. That which is not helpful, needs to be recognized, sorted out, and then, eventually, put to rest. Sadly, we are not ...

The newsletter from school that came home in Noah’s backpack featured a duck reading a book entitled ‘Silly Stories.’ I like silly, it’s what I write about. I started reading. The first column “Where’s Your Funny Bone?” asked what makes your child laugh. Funny noises, being tickled, or maybe a funny picture; nowhere did it mention jumping off the roof of the shed with cardboard attached to arms to see if people can actually fly. So, I moved on. The next column, “Attention All Shoppers” drew me in. I’m the shopping editor for a publication I write for. Surely, this will help me with my next edition. Take your child grocery shopping, it read. I gasped so loudly that the cat fled the room. I’d rather have my eyelids stapled to my brow. As one who loves a good challenge, or simply a kick in the pants, I took my boys shopping. Actually, I take them shopping often, though not my choice; it is what a mom must endure. I thought about the newsletter’s advice and decided it was time for ...

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer for women and about 46,000 women will fall victim to it each year. Mammograms can cut this statistic by 30 percent. By now, my family, friends, and Facebook buddies are probably so tired of hearing and reading my relentless promotion of breast cancer awareness. I can understand that. I am an extremely persistent person. They see my name – usually attached to it is a pink ribbon – and they probably want to tie the thing around my neck to silence me…and these are my relatives, my friends…I can’t imagine what my acquaintances are wanting to do. Here is why I continue my faithful mission…50% of women in America do not get an annual mammogram. That is a staggering percentage. From Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and you can read the full article here http://ww5.komen.org/Content.aspx?id=6442452934 , “Average annual mammography rates were as follows: 47% for women aged 40 to 49 years, 54% for women aged 50 to 64, and 45% for women aged 65...