Verbal and visual representation of the matriarchal rule. Ursula Buendia in One Hundred Years of Solitude and Mama Elena in Like Water for Chocolate are two of the prominent and powerful female characters in the novels. No less important than men, these women assume the leading roles in the fam...

What makes us? Webster's defines identity as, "sameness of essential or generic character in different instances; or oneness." But what makes us who we are? As we walked into Hubbard Park, as we did every Sunday, my father would ask, "Do you think they know we're coming?&q...

Giving Thanks "As the leaves on the trees begin to turn colors, I sit here and sift through piles of snapshots and realize how thankful I am for the gift of friendship and for memories of times past." That is a quote from one of my favorite authors of children's books, Mary Engelbreit. Rea...