She leans toward me and almost whispers: "Loneliness is real, honey. It catches hold to so many good people in a place like this, I can't tell you. Takes the heart right out of them. But what's left after that, it can go on breathing for years." "The Golden Years." We hear this expression often in connection with the most senior stage of human life. It naturally evokes images of freedom from the lifelong grind, and ample emotional and material reward for a job well done. But all too often the period is characterized by the kind of physical decline and financial instability that together make for a very harsh, burdensome final act. Having no friend or relative to turn

This "how-to" takes a set of ordinary headphone, add a couple of $5 ear buds and VIOLA! You have a set of 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones for under $20.

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Michael and Diane Hirtz and their two children live in the small rural community of Glennonville, Missouri, not far from Campbell. On weekdays, Michael Hirtz may be found tending to the needs of students and staff as Director of Malden Alternative School. On Sunday, if he's not at Glennonville's St. Teresa's Church, he may well be playing the organ at Sacred Heart parish in Poplar Bluff. But one of his weekends each month belongs to the Missouri National Guard. It seems strange to note that it's been this way for nearly a quarter of a century, as he is still in his early 40s. But it's true. "I guess you could say I was following in my father's footsteps," Hirtz says of his

Perhaps it's in the blood: His father was a chef at John J. Pershing Veterans Administration Medical Center; his grandmother, a baker at a sanatorium in Mt. Vernon, Missouri. Today, Kevin Boxx of Ellsinore is chef and general manager of The Java Stop Cafe, a cosmopolitan eatery seemingly plucked from Chicago's Hyde Park and put down again, mysteriously, on Highway 67 in Poplar Bluff. The Java Stop's companion shop is The Wine Rack, a gourmet market that seems also to have made the cosmic trip from the Windy City intact. Together, the two parts make up one establishment with a single mission: to purvey quality comestibles, wines, beers, and spirits to patrons in these environs with professionalism and flair.

The following was gleaned from Military.com What Do You Know About Veterans Day? Veterans Day gives Americans the opportunity to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of all U.S. veterans. However, most Americans confuse this holiday with Memorial Day, reports the Department of Veterans Affairs. What's more, some Americans don't know why we commemorate our Veterans on Nov.11. It's imperative that all Americans know the history of Veterans Day so that we can honor our former servicemembers properly. A Brief History of Veterans Day Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in