Social Studies

Stop loafing, kids, your inner hamster and starry-eyed men

A daily miscellany of information by Michael Kesterton

Lives Lived

Henry Stanley Kulig

Husband, father, grandfather, veteran, gardener, golfer, bridge player, Meals on Wheels volunteer. Born Jan. 2, 1920, in Strzyzow, Poland. Died May 7 in Brantford, Ont., after a stroke, aged 89.

Facts & Arguments Essay

I'm living with ALS

I keep track of the disease's progress by what I can no longer do – walk, feed myself, speak. My body is a prison

Facts & Arguments Essay

Out of my comfort zone and onto a motorcycle

I struggled to steer without hitting my instructors. But when I headed out on the highway, it was fast and fun

Facts & Arguments Essay

My in-laws never threw anything away

They had 10 brooms, six mops and expired tins of tomatoes. But emptying their house, I got to know them

Facts & Arguments Essay

My brother, the stranger

After he committed suicide, I didn't cry. I pushed his death to the back of my mind - until I dreamed about him

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Facts & Arguments Podcasts

My little guy is a new dad

Wasn't it only yesterday he was throwing things off his high chair? Now he outweighs me and I'm a grandpa

My bird-brained piano teacher

I've learned a lot from Max, my African grey parrot, who sits on my knee while I bash away at the keys

Bonding over our skateboards

My friend wanted to learn to skateboard at 30. We grew closer with each failed ollie and attempt to drop into the bowl

From wife to widow to only parent

When my husband died, grief became my full-time job. Four years later, I refuse to be an absent mother

My kids have graduated and I'm bored

This is the first fall I won’t be cheering for them at high-school games, concerts and practices. I'm a lost man