September 2022

Wedding plans clouded by young man’s mental illness

Dear Abby: After three years together, my fiance and I plan to be married next year. While we have the usual couples’ things going on, one concern is making me consider postponing the wedding or ending the engagement. My fiance has a son whose mental illness led him to withdraw from high school at 16. He has done nothing since. He doesn’t work, and his father hasn’t gotten him treatment for his issues.

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The Return of Gaura

Lindheimer’s beeblossoms, Clockweed, White Gaura, Pink Gaura, Indian feather, or Whirling butterflies, what do you call them? Gaura in our area is usually tall, short or velvety. The tall Gaura species spend a good deal of time growing during the spring, but as we arrive at the hottest time of the year, this Gaura explodes in flowers.

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Clean water shouldn’t be a luxury

Millions of people in this world struggle to access adequate food, shelter and potable water. These are necessities that many of us living in the developed world are fortunate enough to take for granted — until systems fail and they are suddenly unavailable, as millions of Texans experienced in 2021 during Winter Storm Uri when the power went out and the pipes broke.

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