All posts of Mia Pohlman

meet along the way: Brenda Newbern

This story was first published as “Faces of Southeast Missouri: Brenda Newbern” in the June 2025 issue of The Best Years. Brenda Newbern, manager of Parks and Recreation Tourism Division for the City of Cape Girardeau, was born and raised in Cape Girardeau. She worked her first job at Cape’s public library and then entered […]
3 days ago

From the Editor, Summer 2025: Failure

A couple of years ago, one of my friends asked me if I’d ever felt like I’d failed at something. At the time, I honestly couldn’t think of an example from my own life. We got interrupted and never came back to the conversation, but sometimes I still think about that moment and what I […]
1 month ago

from the editor, Spring 2025: New

When we first decided on the theme “new” for this Spring 2025 issue, I thought it would be a fun, lighthearted concept to explore. I kept thinking of images of wearing a new dress or buying a new keychain or getting a new haircut (always a gamble). But when we started putting the stories together, […]
4 months ago

from the editor, Winter 2024: Give

We were on an archaeological dig in the Andean Highlands of Peru and had gotten back from the field for the day; the children from the village were waiting for us. I didn’t speak Spanish, but one of the field school directors had brought out some pencils and a few sheets of paper for the […]
7 months ago

Give Your Time to Something You Care About: Shut Up & Write!

Michelle Jenson, co-host of the Cape Girardeau chapter of Shut Up & Write!, remembers the first story she ever wrote: on three pages of notebook paper, a cat got trapped in a trash bin, and a rat rescued him. She wrote it while in the fourth grade, and it started her lifelong love for writing. […]
7 months ago

Give Your Time to Something You Care About: It Takes a Village

According to World Population Review, the state of Missouri is 31st in the nation for infant mortality, where No. 1 is best and No. 50 is worst. According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, from 2017 to 2021, Missouri had 32.2 pregnancy-related deaths for every 100,000 live births, barely avoiding the category […]
7 months ago

Give Your Time to Something You Care About: Runnin’ Wild Trail Running Club

Anna Nordwald, naturalist at Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center, started running in high school. Raised in Central Missouri, she often ran on her family’s farm or on the surrounding county roads, enjoying that the pastime allowed her to be outside. As a volleyball and softball player, she wanted to try something new, so she quit […]
7 months ago

meet along the way: Dr. Loretta Prater and Her Sisters

This story was first published as “Finding Family: Loretta Prater, who grew up an only child, connects with her 15 siblings through DNA testing in her 70s” in the October 2024 issue of The Best Years. Hello, my name is Cynthia Simmons Logan. I’m calling to speak with Dr. Prater. I’m responding to an Ancestry […]
7 months ago