Thanksgiving is a holiday without a heart. A feast without a focus.

Forget the hoopla about "gratitude" for good health, good fortune, good families, good jobs. Let's get real.

We're together for two reasons; to watch football and eat turkey. Too much turkey.

Not at my house. We gave up...

In spite of early luke-warm reviews, Harper Lee's "new" novel, Go Set a Watchman still managed to sell over 1.1 million copies in its first week.

In so doing, it became the fastest selling book in HarperCollins' history.

Harper Lee, in 1961....

My mother once told me a girl's reputation is worth her weight in lipstick and I believed her.

Not so much for boys, I guess.

If Donald Trump is an example, even the naughtiest of little boys can still be president - as long as he has deep...

After he died, I found this wrinkled brown newsprint tucked in the back of his leather wallet.

I put it in a tiny frame on a narrow wall in my home.

When I pass by, I remember his high-minded goals and, once again, I forgive him.

You forgot again. Admit it.

In spite of all the displays in the grocery stores, the non-stop "Mothers Day" marketing on network television - in spite of the advertising for "Sunday brunch" and cheap roses, you forgot the one day we set aside to remember the woman who brought...

Arlene (not her real name) was thirteen-years-old, pregnant and morose when her mother Betty (not her name either) dragged her to church for the first time.

The girl was out of control, Betty said. Sure - nobody expects a perfect child. Especially when she gets into the slutty teen...

SPECIAL FROM Next Avenue

By Kristine Holmgren

(This article previously appeared on kristineholmgren.com)

Once upon a time, I was a show-stopping "looker," a major babe.

Young, lovely, blonde and adorable, people (especially men) paid close attention to how I...