Walk Through History at Georgia’s New Echota Historic Site

There is a crispness to the October morning air in Georgia now that signals the seasons are finally turning the corner into fall.  Leaves will shift their colors soon to the golds, oranges, and reds that lure folks to the mountains and clog the winding roads with leaf peepers out to take in the scenery. […]

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Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Victims Need Safe Harbor

Better behaved than New Orleans and more demure than Charleston, Savannah takes its place among the great Southern grandes dames as a city of beauty, hospitality, and charm.  Laid out with an engineer’s precision, old Savannah is beautiful in the way of all intricately designed things.  Spanish moss draped live oaks give this historic town […]

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Asking Hard Questions Now Will Give Peace When Life Gets Tough

This year I read a book entitled, “Being Mortal” by Dr. Atul Gwande.  I don’t remember who recommended it to me, but it articulated many of my observations, experiences, and feelings based on my decision to pursue a career in nursing.  When I was a 20 year old student, I was assigned to care for […]

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Overalls and Pencil Skirts

I was born in overalls, or more accurately, I was raised in them. The moment I had the ability to think and move for myself, I ran full speed ahead to the most functional, albeit fashionable, OshKosh pair.  They fit unbelievably. Like the quintessential poster child for the South, I climbed magnolia trees and caught […]

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Georgia’s Rural Hospitals Need Life Support

Many of Georgia’s hospitals are in critical condition.  That is the message delivered by speaker after speaker at the Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing at the Georgia Capitol on August 22, 2016. Our rural hospitals are struggling.  Forty-one percent of them are working with a negative operating budget, and that number is expected […]

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Healthcare Providers Are the First Reponders for Many Human Trafficking Victims

One of the challenges in getting human trafficking victims the help they need is finding them to begin with.  Many trafficked women and children are hiding in plain sight and just need someone to ask the right questions to identify them.  Georgia Cares, the statewide organization coordinating care and services for child victims, reports that […]

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Life: The Final Chapter, Write Your Own Ending

More people in the baby boomer generation are reaching age 65 – some 10,000 a day until 2030 (Pew Research Center, 2010). I happen to be one of those this year. As usual, each milestone for my generation causes social change. The most recent to attract my attention is the book Being Mortal by Dr. […]

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Get Enough Calcium—Natural or Supplemental!

A major strategy for preventing broken bones is our daily diet. Calcium is essential for many bodily functions including the ability of blood to clot.  This mineral is stored in bone and is responsible for bone strength.  The body cannot make calcium, so it must be obtained either through the foods eaten or through supplements.  […]

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Calcium Rich Cheese Makes Everything Better

The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that osteoporosis and low bone mass affect 54 million Americans over the age of 50.  Osteoporosis causes an estimated two million broken bones each year, and the aftereffects are often devastating, resulting in pain, loss of mobility, and the need for long-term care.  You can reduce your risk of getting […]

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May is National Osteoporosis Prevention Month!!

I have been doing osteoporosis screening and education for many years.  Once again it is the month to focus on prevention of osteoporosis.  As I began to write this article, I began to review the statements produced by the national organizations focused on this disabling disease.  Unfortunately, the statistics have not improved, but the incidence […]

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Start Your Day with a Dose of Calcium

May is National Osteoporosis Month The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that osteoporosis and low bone mass affect 54 million Americans over the age of 50.  Osteoporosis causes an estimated two million broken bones each year, and the aftereffects are often devastating, resulting in pain, loss of mobility, and the need for long-term care.  You can […]

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Buyers of Trafficked Children are Unmasked

You have seen the numbers.  No matter which organization is publishing the statistics, Georgia is always listed in the top 5 places in the United States for sex trafficking, particularly Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST). There are many reasons for this.  Our airport, Hartsfield-Jackson, is the busiest in the world.  Atlanta sits at the intersection […]

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