Author: Iris Ruth Pastor

It’s 4:07pm on Wednesday afternoon, October 29, 2025. My husband and I are on board the SS Beatrice in Central Europe. We are cruising down the Danube River – on our way to Spitz an der Donau – a village of about 1500 residents known for its stunning landscapes and rich cultural heritage, located in the Wachau Continue reading

If you are opening this newsletter the minute it pops into your inbox, I can tell you exactly where I am on this Friday, October 24 at 3pm Eastern Standard Time.  The city: BudapestThe country: Hungary  It’s 5337 miles away from where I live in Tampa. I am at a pretty nice hotel, probably brushing Continue reading

I’m back to citing more observations by author Ingrid Fetell Lee in her book Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness. Lee says that we need more play in our lives. Why? Because it is the only known activity that humans engage in solely because it produces joy. And she describes JOY Continue reading

My father’s memoir started with two simple declarative sentences: “This is my first attempt to bring together the many incidents of my life, which may be dull and boring to everyone. However, my children or my grandchildren may see or appreciate a bit of humor or relate a piece of my experience to their own Continue reading

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in Judaism, ended at sunset last night. Always in the past, I was focused on seeking forgiveness from others. This year I decided to seek forgiveness from myself. This involves a variety of steps:  By emphasizing the above intentions, I hope to make great strides towards spiritual renewal in the Continue reading

I’m very excited – I have coined a new term: LIFE SNAGS. It was birthed this past week from my sheer craziness of flying-off the handle each time I was confronted with a minor situation not to my liking. I would prefer to think of myself as a person who copes, but you would have never Continue reading

Every time I thought about my husband’s my upcoming 60th high school reunion, I felt the beginning sting of tears.   “Iris,” I sternly admonished myself, “for Heaven’s sake, get a grip!” And now, days after two evening events filled with reminisces of the crazy things we did and the more responsible things we didn’t Continue reading

Most of you probably know by now The Story: one of my best buddies sent me a message about my 75th birthday present: “It’s something to wear and you are going to love it. Arriving shortly in the mail.” Hmm, what could be so enticing as I inch closer and closer to age 80 and further Continue reading

Courtney was at a crossroads. She had a choice when it came to how she approached her ever-present stuttering: Roll With It or Try to Fix it? So Where Did Courtney Find Hope? Her last-ditch efforts to face her speech issues and help herself climb out of her self-created basket of Hell came when she applied Continue reading

How would you like it if every time you opened your mouth to speak you were terrified?  How would you like it if you had to tell your teachers you were just too shy to publicly speak when that wasn’t the case at all? How would you like it if every time you had to Continue reading