Category: Essay
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France 🇫🇷 or Scotland 🏴, which would it be?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? My maternal grandparents were Scottish immigrants, born and raised in Glasgow, who came to America for better jobs and religious freedom. My grandfather fought (and was gassed) in WWI, and never fully recovered his health after that experience. They were born Catholics living…
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Pleased to share my first byline with Business Insider!
https://www.businessinsider.com/kid-threw-up-on-plane-flight-attendant-hero-2025-10
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Outdoor Mass in Honor of Fr. Kapaun
Please see my latest freelance assignment! https://www.cathstan.org/local/mass-at-st-jude-church-in-rockville-honors-memory-of-father-emil-kapaun
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Nothing Gold Can Stay
Yesterday, September 24, 2025, my last aunt passed away. I only had three to start with and the last one living, my dad’s baby sister, died yesterday at the age of 88. She was seven years younger than my dad, and she grew up in my hometown. She graduated from high school the year I…
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Not An Anniversary To Look Forward To
How are you feeling right now? Sad. Nostalgic. Brokenhearted. That’s how I feel right now. Today is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall near my hometown of Port Sulphur, Louisiana. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina lifted my parents’ home off of its foundation and deposited it, broken in half, across the back…
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Jettison Me Back
What TV shows did you watch as a kid? Growing up in the 50s and 60s, we were a one-tv household, which was housed in a large piece of furniture. There was no remote and because we were 60 miles southeast of New Orleans, we only got three channels, the three main networks NBC, CBS,…
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Food of the Gods
What’s your favorite recipe? You might as well ask me who’s my favorite child! Seriously, I cook every day, and of course I have my favorites. My favorites depend on the season. There are things I love making when it is cold out like Carbonnade Flamande, which is the famous Flemish beef stew we ate…
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Michelle, Ma Belle
Where did your name come from? Michelle, ma belleThese are words that go together well (ooh)My Michelle Yeah, I haven’t heard that one, lol. For a while I heard this every time I was introduced to someone whether at work or a social activity. As the old saying goes, if I only had a dollar…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 