“I was just thinking to myself that it’s crazy that we’re in a position where we may not have the necessary ‘personal protective equipment,’ (PPE)” says Megan Jansen, Registered Nurse at Salt Lake Regional Hospital and founder of Sewing for Lives, “How are we going to protect our patients if we can’t even protect ourselves?” Wanting to help her healthcare family during this … [Read more...]
Embracing Life: From Teenage Drug Addiction to Happily Ever After
Among a bustling and energetic crowd, Br’ette V. and her husband Trevor recently occupied two auditorium seats at Dixie High School in Hurricane. They waited to see their young son Chantz and his class perform at a Christmas dance recital. As the children performed, the two watched with complete adoration. First grader Chantz stood on a milk crate and swayed to a Disney song. … [Read more...]
Keira Shae: Writer Survives the Unimaginable
While other children were enjoying their summer breaks, Keira Shae recalls how she was being repeatedly raped by the 18-year-old son of her mother’s then-boyfriend at the age of eight in Utah County. It wasn’t the first time she and her siblings were sexually, emotionally, and physically abused, as she wrote in her memoir, How the Light Gets In, published in 2018 by BCC … [Read more...]
Starry Starry Night: Dark Sky Parks and Research Flourish in Utah
One of the great delights of a camping trip, or better yet, living in one of Utah’s remote places away from the lights of the larger cities, is looking up on a clear night to see the sky filled with stars. Staring into the dark sky, punctured with points of light and maybe the glowing brushstroke of the Milky Way, can be inspiring, humbling and exhilarating. It is … [Read more...]
The Other Side Academy: A Home for Recovering Addicts and Criminals in Salt Lake City
“We’re a family here. We’re all about connection. If addiction is disconnection, recovery is reconnection.” —Dave Derocher. I recently had the chance to meet with Dave Derocher, executive director of The Other Side Academy, a home for recovering addicts and criminals in Salt Lake City. I greeted him in their home-base building, a historic mansion located in east downtown. … [Read more...]
How To Beat The Virus Without Feeling Like a Prisoner
On Sunday, I was sitting at home with Nemo, my cat, minding my own business and practicing social isolation. (How’s that for an oxymoron?) As a single man, I’m accustomed to being alone, but I am not good at being forced to participate in the sort of unprecedented paradigm shift into social disintegration we are experiencing now. I had two options: Stay at home and fret … [Read more...]
Life Well-Lived: Physical Impairments Not a Factor in Exceptional Accomplishments of Bradley Hintze
Growing up in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, a range of craggy granite peaks are constantly in your field of view. Bradley Hintze was the kind of kid who just had to know what it was like to be up there. There is an excellent trail network along the entire range today, but until the late 1990s, accessing the mountains south of Little Cottonwood Canyon was a challenge – … [Read more...]
Inspiration for Life
News of Death Every city has a place where the downtrodden congregate. In Salt Lake, Pioneer Park is that place. I would see drug use and violence, but on one spring day I saw something new. A man in a chef toque was meditating under a tree. I saw him there daily. My curiosity grew and one day I sat in silence beside him. After awhile he turned and smiled at me with a sublime … [Read more...]
The Suazo Business Center Offers Guidance, Education, Inspiration, & Hope
The Story of Marcela Lopez As Marcela Lopez skillfully handcrafts with paint and brush the look of marble above the fireplace of a customer’s home, she feels grateful for the business wisdom and expertise she acquired through the Suazo Business Center. The center, located in Salt Lake City, satisfied the tugging at her soul to be more than she was at that moment, two years … [Read more...]
Bobby King: Utah is gaining a reputation in producing excellent mixed martial arts fighters
It takes a special kind of person to get into a Mixed Martial Arts ring. To willingly take a powerful punch to the face that can cause a concussion, black eyes, bloody nose or a knockout, makes for an arena where only the toughest of the tough need apply. Bobby King Bobby King is one of these tough fighters. He attributes his toughness to growing up with older brothers. “We … [Read more...]