A few years ago I was privileged enough to venture across the US from my home in the West to Washington DC. My mother and 8th grade classmates accompanied me for the full 5 days. I didn't think much of the trip at the time seeing as I was fairly young, but as I've grown older, I've realized the degree of what I actually experienced. As soon as our plane landed in Virginia, the great tour bega...

A wedding and chickenpox aren't usually two things that go together, and thankfully they weren't this time either—not quite, but almost. We had gone up to a second cousin's wedding, as she had invited my youngest three-year-old sister to be a flower girl, and my sister to be a bell ringer as the bride was about to come in. I myself was to be a junior bridesmaid. Since my second cousin lived q...