Community Bloggers

ORMOND BEACH -- Americans place a high value on life. We have done this whenever we’ve gone to war which sounds quite odd, doesn’t it? After all, war is death and destruction on a grand scale. Americans are optimistic people. We tend to see the glass half full and think that everyone operates at the highest and best level. On Sept. 11, 2001, our country was attacked by mad men. It shook us up and made us reassess our whole lives through the glass of insanity.

EDGEWATER -- "Are you watching TV?" was the first thing out of my husband's mouth in a surprise phone call where he worked in Pennsylvania when we lived up north on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

OAK HILL -- On 9/11, I met a brother I never knew I had. We arranged to meet at a Starbuck's in Orlando.

TAMPA -- The 2012 Republican National Convention was my second as a delegate. Four years ago, I went under the McCain/Palin ticket. I was excited but not nearly as much as this time with Romney-Ryan.

ORLANDO -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney descended upon the Republican National Convention in Tampa on a mission: to humanize himself and dispel caricatures portraying him as a corporate raiding automaton focused on profits and losses, not people.

If that was Romney’s aim, his forceful acceptance speech achieved solid footing for the 65-year-old successful businessman to capitalize on during the upcoming sprint to Nov. 6.

OAK HILL -- Until you have been diagnosed with cancer and have a million questions, you don't think about what the American Cancer Society does or what it can do for you.

ORMOND BEACH -- If the idea was to make Mitt Romney “more accessible and likeable,” then the Republican National Convention in Tampa succeeded beyond anyone’s imagination.

When I was growing up in St.Augustine, Labor Day always signaled the start of school and the beginning of Fall. I got new Saddle oxfords and a few dark print dresses because it was supposed to be cooler, after all.