I find my strength in words
I'm a millionaire. However I am not from the selected, prosperous money group with real estate properties and mansions. I am a millionaire because I have been taught a good dose of humility worth a million dollars, or maybe even a billion.

A privilege of being an American
An accident of the calendar gives me the privilege of offering my musings on this Independence Day.

Day made by cop's kindness
One day last month, I had one of those mornings when everything seemed right with the world.

Metal bats need to be tossed out
Anyone who thinks a softball is a soft ball hasn't held one in his or her hand lately.

Disabled should be part of community
Over the past month, controversy has developed over Cornerstone's proposed apartment building for tenants with mental illnesses on Thomas Hickey Avenue near Essington Road in Joliet.

Wildlife in peril on our roads
Many times in an average week I wish I weren't so very familiar with the stretch of Illinois 126 that leads from Interstate 55 to Illinois 59. I travel it several times a day, five days a week and am well acquainted with the impossibly long freight trains that demand my patience; the huge, angry trucks that thunder down the narrow, ill-equipped pavement and the kamikaze drivers pulling unexpectedly out of Essington Road.

Zack faces farewells to friends
The last dance, last pep rally, last game and last study hall... my son Zack's high school senior year has been a long series of farewells -- most of them highly emotional. And though it's unsettling for him to leave his 13-year routine (but exciting to be embarking on his new life), his most wrenching farewells are his goodbyes to his friends.

Pain no obstacle for Tiger
Say goodbye to the days of napping on the couch when golf is on TV. Tiger Woods is out for the next six months, but as he limped off the course on June 16, he gave so many reasons to keep watching, even without him.

Disabled deserve safe care
For those of us with brothers, sisters or both, we know that often there are times when we just don't get along. It might be two sisters arguing over who gets to wear the new denim skirt, two brothers fighting over the last donut or a brother and sister battling over who gets to use the bathroom before school. Whatever the case, there is bound to be yelling and sometimes even physical conflicts occurring in the average family.

Slavery an evil we need to address
While away on vacation, I picked up and read a copy of a book that details how post-Civil War Reconstruction fell apart through white terrorism and propaganda in the South and moral indifference in the North. At the same time that I read "The Day Freedom Died" by Charles Lane, a Catholic priest railed against America as "the greatest sin against God" in a YouTube-publicized sermon at Trinity Church on Chicago's South Side.

Freedom wins in court case
It has been said that those seeking security over freedom ultimately deserve neither. Hopefully, last week's Supreme Court decision granting foreign Guantanamo detainees basic rights of American jurisprudence has struck a decisive legal blow to balance opposing ideals that have leaned far too heavily in the direction of security for nearly seven years.

Real love comes in tragedy
This week, California began issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Maybe same-sex marriages should be legal and maybe they shouldn't. Regardless, I wish the politicians involved in this debate could have asked Eduard Burceag for his opinion because I suspect Burceag knew a thing or two about marriage.

Hit-and-run puts apathy at its worst
On May 30, a 78-year-old man, Angel Arce Torres, was crossing a Hartford, Conn., street when he was struck by a car that crossed the center line of the road. The driver of the car kept going, leaving Torres critically injured, lying in the middle of the street. But sadly, the hit-and-run aspect of this story is not the part that is truly horrifying. Despite the fact that dozens of people witnessed the accident, not one person came to his aid, leaving him susceptible to further injury.

Fuse lit by early fireworks
On Memorial Day weekend, the fireworks began. Their sounds starting ringing through Lockport well before the Fourth of July. I was sitting at my table with my children when it happened. First a whistling noise, then KABOOM!

War true horror for 'The Kid'
In light of our troubled times, I would like to rerun this article in honor of Memorial Day, our troops and all of our loved ones who served. Let's keep our thoughts and prayers with them.

Together, even in diversity
Last weekend, our family was privileged to be at a birthday ceremony for a young man from Botswana, Africa. I use the word "ceremony" instead of party because he was turning 21, achieving the age of manhood in the eyes of his family, community and nation "with all the blessings and responsibilities that go along with that distinction," the invitation declared.

Reasons to keep my SUV
While it would seem that panic alarms have been sounded across the country with people trading in their gas-guzzlers for smaller vehicles with better gas mileage, I have three reasons why I won't be trading in my Suburban.

What can $2 trillion buy us?
Guess what $27 and change could buy you in 2003?

I've grown accustomed to the noise
One aspect of life in a tougher neighborhood that you might never have considered a problem is the absence of quiet. If you think your life is quiet enough as it is, let me make myself clear: I envy you.