Rank and File By Selma Pierce 2020 has been a really, really tough year for everyone. We’re still going through the COVID global pandemic. Our kids are struggling daily with on-line education. Many small businesses are fighting to stay alive, and many workers are worried about their employment. Race [...]
We are a Part of the Military Family We are a military family. This is not a common phrase these days, but it is one that I proudly state. During World War II, my dad served in the US Army. Like many of his generation, he didn’t talk much [...]
A Latch-Key Kid My dad was born in the US into an immigrant Chinese family when Chinese weren’t welcomed in the US. Laundry work or manual labor were the only jobs opened to them. During WW II, Dad joined the US Army, then went to college and earned an [...]
What’s Happened to Portland? Portland is dying. The heart of Downtown Portland is like a heart in atrial fibrillation with a lot of uncoordinated “quivering jelly” movement, but no strong purposeful life-giving muscular contraction or beat. Over the last six months, the heart of Portland’s downtown has been devastated [...]
Let the People In What’s happening to “…that government of the people, by the people and for the people ...” (Abraham Lincoln, Gettysberg Address, 1863) that we have so much pride in here in Oregon and the United States? What happened to transparency in government? The second Special Session [...]
Who Will Care for My Children? Finding childcare for one’s children is near impossible. We can do better. Who will care for my children? When I had my first child, I went back to work to support our family when she was 6 weeks old. Bud was still a [...]
Women are Tough and Resilient Women are tough and resilient. In today’s world, women wear many hats, go through many difficult situations and survive. They survive because they are tough--they really are. Women have many career choices today, they are not pigeon-holed as they were just a few decades [...]
It Starts at the Beginning We worry about our students graduating from high school. It isn’t enough that we pay special attention to our high school seniors in 12th grade. We must start nurturing and guiding them way before that, from the moment that they are born. When a [...]
In the last few days, the reopening of schools has become a major topic. Most everyone agrees that our kids deserve the best education they can possibly get and we need to make sure we keep as many people safe as possible. It isn’t a secret that distance learning [...]
Happy 4th of July! Today marks the day 244 years ago that 56 delegates signed the Declaration of Independence declaring separation from Britain. No longer were we a colony, but a separate nation. We celebrate with family and friends, usually with parades and concerts of patriotic songs and family [...]
