Another one of my children then runs into the house to retrieve her science journal that she worked on all year about habitats. She then proceeds to let her siblings know that most Northeast turtles are omnivores, which means that just like humans, they eat both plant food and meat. [...] the discussion continues until, lo and behold, the kids have created a new and safe habitat for the turtle, filled with grass, pieces of steak (leftovers from dinner the night before) and of course water. Later that evening, to celebrate the end of the school year, another one of my children asked if she could make cupcakes for herself and her friends who would be coming over the next day. With offices in Greenwich, Stamford, Darien and New Canaan, Family Centers is a United Way, Darien Community Fund and New Canaan Community Foundation partner agency that offers counseling and support programs for children, adults and families.

Anyone could tell we were coming to the last day of school because the students stepping off the bus looked like pack mules. With two school days to go, Grace walked onto the porch carrying two drawstring bags, one holding gym clothes that by now were likely in the same condition as the thermos of soup; the other held the astronaut costume she wore while appearing as Sally Ride in a seventh-grade speech. Some days, in order to avoid sitting with the other brown baggers and get entre to the buyers' table and all my friends, I would ditch my bag in my locker and buy a cafeteria lunch. After a couple dozen spaghetti days, the bottom of my locker was a wad of old lunch bags; it smelled like bananas and peanut butter. On the last day of school, I dove into the bottom of my locker, retrieved an armload of bags, and tossed them into one of the big garbage cans the custodians had placed in the halls for just that purpose. On the last day of school, Grace brought home the remainder of her locker's contents: another winter coat, a pair of boots and another lunch box. Beth Dolinar is a former Riverside resident and Pittsburgh television reporter who is staying at home to raise her two children.

Here is a list of 15 things to give up in order to achieve happiness that I found on the Internet, courtesy of "Purpose Fairy," which I thought you might find interesting. There are so many of us who can't stand the idea of being wrong -- wanting to always be right -- even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain for us and for others. Whenever you feel the "urgent" need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: "Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?" (Wayne Dyer) What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big? Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you -- situations, events, people, etc. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are, and you will see how much better that will make you feel. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly! "A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind." Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, many things -- people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy; no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you're not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don't understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses -- excuses that 99.9 percent of the time are not even real. The moment you detach yourself from all things (and that doesn't mean you give up your love for them -- because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love... well, real love is pure, kind, and selfless, where there is love there can't be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist), you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind and so serene. Msgr. Frank C. Wissel, D.Min., is pastor at St. Mary Church in Greenwich and the founding director of the St. Maximilian Kolbe House of Studies for boys in Bridgeport.

The Connecticut Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society would like to send out a big thank you to all those who helped make the Hawaiian-themed Pineapple Classic 5k with obstacles such a huge success this year. [...] the Pineapple Classic just wouldn't be the same without pineapples -- so we would like to send a big thank you to Fairway Market of Stamford for coming through and donating 300 pineapples, and another to Davenport Contracting for making and donating most of the obstacles. Thank you to the Greenwich Polo Club, Smilow Cancer Hospital Greenwich Campus, Connecticut Information Security, Interstate Lumber, the Noble family, Pepsico, Creative Catering, Aurora Photography, The TD Band, Serendipity Magazine, Greenwich Track Club, GreenwichGirl Blog, 95.9 The Fox, Star 99.9, WSHU Public Radio, Hearst Media, The Daily Voice, The Banksville Fire Department, Ceci Brothers, Independent Refuse, Banksville Lawn Equipment, Mavis Tires, REI of Norwalk, and Pinkberry on Greenwich Avenue. Over one million Americans are living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.

Impact of Wind on Forests, I was heartened by the recognition of our group's dedication to this understanding in a column by Dr. Gina C. Gould (Greenwich Citizen, 06/07; Are state, CL&P not seeing the forest for the trees?). While it is accurate that if you begin with a dense (closely packed), mature forest and remove nearly all of the trees, those that remain are more likely to fail (snap or uproot). Trees (actually most any plant) exposed to more wind will quickly acclimate to increase their strength and ability to survive the increased wind. Nearly all research on tree response to removing neighbors was done on coniferous forests (needled trees like pine, spruce, hemlock, etc.). While we are certain our trees do acclimate, unfortunately there is little research of how quickly and to what extent our broadleaved forests and trees can respond to wind loads to increase their strength and stability. Not coincidentally, my research at the University of Connecticut -- focused on how broadleaved tree stability is effected by removing neighbors -- is currently ongoing.