Donna Vickroy – Page 12

“The Alchemist,” a book written in 1988 by Paolo Coelho, tells the story of a young shepherd who sets off to find his treasure in a faraway land. (HarperCollins)

Vickroy: Those books you truly love give you new insight into it — and yourself — every time you reread it

June 8, 2024 at 12:49 p.m.

A good book like "The Alchemist" can have lifelong effects. It can reveal truths in you as it sends others on a journey, columnist Donna Vickroy says.

At age 60, columnist Donna Vickroy thought trading a full-time writing career for gardening would be easy because she didn’t know all that she didn’t know. In this photo, her dog enjoys the wildflower garden planted alongside the miniature railroad tracks. (Donna Vickroy/Naperville Sun)

Vickroy: In the world of gardening, what you don’t kill — and doesn’t kill you — will bloom

May 27, 2024 at 3:55 p.m.

Gardening is a labor of love -- and requires a love of labor. The rewards are the colors and smells and bees ang butterflies, columnist Donna Vickroy says.

High in the rolling hills of Mijas Pueblo, Spain, you'll find a terraced outpost rife with local Andalusian history and even a bullring. (Donna Vickroy/Naperville Sun)

Vickroy: Wherever you may travel, the old maxim is right: there’s no place like home

May 24, 2024 at 4:28 p.m.

Venturing into another country can be humbling, especially when you realize you know so very little about its people even though they seem to know so very much about yours.

No matter how scared she might have been, Terese Langdon spent the months she knew she had left doing what we all should do -- talking, reminiscing, planning and offering an example of strength in the face of the inevitable. (Donna Vickroy/Naperville Sun)

Vickroy: If you want to know how to die with grace and dignity, consider this your example

May 10, 2024 at 5:55 p.m.

My sister, Terese Langdon, learned she was terminal at the darkest time of the year. The short days and overcast skies of late autumn seemed to mirror our sorrow. She...

You're in for a treat if you drive down Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago in the next week or two. The new Magnificent Mile Tulip, described as a “sunshiny bright yellow” bloom marked with red and tangerine orange that will intensify over the years, has made its debut and now fills the street's medians. (Magnificent Mile Association)

Vickroy: Tulipmania may have started with the Dutch, but Chicago’s caught it as its new Mag Mile bloom attests

April 22, 2024 at 3:04 p.m.

If Chicago were a flower, it would likely be a tulip. Strong, sturdy, wind resistant and beautiful, not to mention a hardy “winter’s over” rejoice. And now Chicago has its...

Tracy Nash, center, signs with interpreter Mary Paladin, left, while Darlene Ulrich looks on during a line dancing class at the Tinley Park Park District. (Donna Vickroy/Naperville Sun)

Vickroy: Deafness no liability for woman determined to learn line dancing: ‘It’s a bonding thing’

April 16, 2024 at 2:22 p.m.

Life is short, so if you get the chance, dance. Even if you aren’t that coordinated. Even if the years have taken a toll. Even if you can’t hear the...

No matter how many social connections we have, nothing replaces human contact and eliminates feelings of loneliness, experts say. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Vickroy: Do you find yourself lonely in a crowd of virtual friends? You’re not alone

April 12, 2024 at 7:13 p.m.

No matter how many social connections we have, nothing replaces human contact and eliminates feelings of loneliness, experts tell columnist Donna Vickroy.

Getting old is no fun in a world where technology seems to change daily and too few younger people offer a little compassion and kindness, columnist Donna Vickroy says. (Tyler Olson/Shutterstock)

Vickroy: Old people are the new underdogs and we could use some compassion

April 5, 2024 at 4:39 p.m.

The knees. The eyesight. The inability to hear what you said let alone remember it. This aging thing is hard. Nobody told us we’d need orthopedic shoes, a “favorite” pharmacy...

Art Mauer, a local astronomy expert from Crete and retired director of the Trackman Planetarium at Joliet Junior College, created this illustration for the solar eclipse that is to take place April 8. (Art Mauer)

Vickroy: Viewing a total solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime experience — and so is the long, crowded drive home

April 1, 2024 at 6:04 p.m.

There’s a dark side to viewing a solar eclipse along the line of totality. The light-years drive home. A record number of Americans viewed the Great American Eclipse of 2017,...

This wreath made up of silk tulips is the last gift Donna Vickroy's sister gave to her for her birthday, and it will forever remind her of the void in her life left by her sister's death. (Donna Vickroy/baiduhai)

Vickroy: The last birthday gift she gave me has become an emblem of the circle of life

March 12, 2024 at 5:25 p.m.

The ring of yellow, red and orange buds is now a symbol of life’s fragility, of how quickly time passes as we age, how short-lived are the flowers, the seasons...

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