Category Archives: Youth

Hallway Torture

Posted on January 22, 2013 by russtowne

(This is a re-post for newer readers.) One of the toughest challenges we had as parents was regarding discipline. We wanted to be firm but loving and fair and for the consequences to be effective, age-appropriate, and child-specific. Unfortunately, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, Children, Creativity, Discipline & Consequences, Fairness, Parenting, True Stories I've Written, Youth | Tagged child, children, consequences, discipline, fair, fairness, hallway, parenting, torture | 2 Comments

Thank You Indeed

Posted on January 18, 2013 by russtowne

I just read a heart-breaking article that was also inspiring and heart-warming. It included several responses to young women who are living with horrifying traumas of various kinds. Snippets: “In a girls’ bathroom stall at my university, girls have written … Continue reading →

Posted in Adversity, Challenges, Compassion, Dealing with Pain & Grief, Love, Making the World a Better Place, Stories That Touched Me, Youth | Tagged beautiful, brave, cares, courage, eating disorders, enough, horrifying, Love, loved, pain, raped, Reddit, stall, strong, The Lookout, trauma, women's, women's restroom, worthy, Y news, Yahoo, Yahoo News | 6 Comments

Where’d He Go?!?!

Posted on January 10, 2013 by russtowne

I’m generally not fond of pranks for a fairly long list of reasons, but I occasionally come across one that is fun, funny, and appears to do no harm. The one linked below seems to fall into that category to … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Youth | Tagged car, drive-through, drive-thru, humor, McDonald's, no driver, prank, teenagers | Leave a comment

The Little Girl

Posted on January 7, 2013 by russtowne

I just saw this photo and it made me smile. It is ostensibly of an old woman, but her spirit shines through so brightly that I also saw a little girl full of fun, curiosity, and delight. My Beloved also … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Beauty, Joy & Happiness, Photos That Touched Me, Youth | Tagged aging, beloved, brightly, curiosity, delight, fun, girl, little, old, old woman, shines, smile, spirit, treasure, warmth, young, young girl, youth | 4 Comments

Love In Action

Posted on January 2, 2013 by russtowne

I saw this photo on Facebook. It brought a smile to my face and I think it will do the same for you, too. I don’t know anything about the subjects in the photo. Actually, that’s not quite true. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Courage, Dogs & Other Wonderful Creatures, Ingenuity, Kindness, Making the World a Better Place, Photos That Touched Me, Youth | Tagged cat, Dog, heart, hearts, kindness, love in action, men, photographer, Shams Tabrizi, spirit, spirits, young, young men | 2 Comments

The First

Posted on December 13, 2012 by russtowne

She whispered, “I like you” That’s all the prompting I’d need As we stood in the shade Of a towering tree We were both new at this And acted kind of shy When we leaned toward each other We quickly … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry I Wrote, Youth | Tagged bright, first, girl, sunny, towering, tree, whispered | 10 Comments

A Middle School Love Letter Proves Some Loves Never Die

Posted on December 4, 2012 by russtowne

Twenty-two years ago a love-struck 6th-grader penned a plaintive letter to the girl of his dreams. Here are my favorite parts of the Yahoo News article (in quotes), along with some comments from me: “Written in all caps at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Choices, Friendship, Love, Stories That Touched Me, Youth | Tagged 22 years, Cathy and Trevor Webb, Florida, Love, love letter, marriage, middle school, Pensacola, proposal, roller derby, wedding | 2 Comments

Dancing In The Rain

Posted on December 2, 2012 by russtowne

I just received an email from one of my favorite relatives that showed photos of a young boy maybe 6-8 years old riding a horse, playing baseball, ice hockey, and field hockey, running, water skiing, and more. In each photo … Continue reading →

Posted in Adversity, Attittude, Challenges, Courage, Inspiring, Stories That Touched Me, Youth | Tagged adversity, biological legs, boy without legs, dance, dancing, dancing in the rain, master. dance instructor, riding a horse, sports, storm, survive | 3 Comments

This Kid Is Going Places and Bringing the World with Him

Posted on November 19, 2012 by russtowne

Meet Kelvin Doe, a 15-year-old from Sierra Leone, who took scraps from garbage cans and created his own radio transmitter to create his community’s first radio station. He broadcasts daily, even the community only gets electricity about once per week. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Dreams, Following Your Passion, Ingenuity, Inspiring, Making the World a Better Place, Stories That Touched Me, Youth | Tagged "It's a movement", cans, garbage, inspiring, Kelvin Doe, MIT, radio station, radio transmitter, scraps, Sierra Leone, youtube | 6 Comments

A Star Is Born

Posted on September 17, 2012 by russtowne

My day started in a most extraordinary way. A friend in Germany sent a video clip of a 13 year old girl with a voice that is astounding. I get inspired when I see extraordinary human accomplishment and this video … Continue reading →