Archives of Lifestyle

Because place matters. By Laura Robertson She sits silent, her once-lighted Esquire sign drooping with age and neglect. Flashy billboards no longer attract patrons from under glass frames. The ticket window has yellowed papers stuck to part of the inside glass. The smell of freshly popped popcorn does not emanate through the cracks of the […]

You teach us and love us, and we love you. By Carly Phillips Go to my house and find one of the plastic boxes labeled “pictures.” Pry off the lid and dig through empty film canisters, old rolls of negatives and hundreds of photos. You’ll find me posing in someone else’s sunglasses, with birthday cakes, […]

Live into it. According to the life plan I mapped out one day in middle school, when my 20s were but a distant dream, I should be married by now. Well, that hasn’t happened. And although my ideas have grown and shifted and changed, this self-imposed relationship timeline is apparently subconsciously ingrained somewhere deep inside […]

37 Years: Mary and Robert Gentry In Chicago, almost four decades ago, Robert Gentry was working at Cook County Hospital, and his friend told him about a wedding taking place. “Two things that’s always connected with weddings: good food and beautiful women,” Robert says. “That’s what got me there. And they both worked out well.” It […]

5 Years: Kelley and Jeff Branch Kelley and Jeff Branch met in 2010 in downtown Cape Girardeau. Kelley was a senior at Southeast Missouri State University, and Jeff had just graduated. One of Kelley’s best friends worked with Jeff, and they all happened to be at the same place at the same time. It was a […]

75 Years: Helen and Fred Moyers Fred and Helen Moyers have been married for 75 years. Their choice to keep choosing each other is a testament that, yes, love is real. And it endures. “Do you want to dance, honey?” Fred Moyers asks Helen Moyers in their living room at Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau […]

19 Years: Natalie and Chris Dittmer Natalie and Chris Dittmer, who have been married for 19 years, share their wisdom on marriage, persevering through difficult times and what it means to live their vows through the dailiness of life. “Everybody that’s trying to do life so that they’re an inspiration to others has to be […]

From avocado green to Tuscan red: how color impacts your everyday life Calypso, peppercorn, geranium — names of all the beautiful colors you remember using on your art project that your mom proudly hung on the refrigerator for days, until slipping it into the trash can when you weren’t looking, right? Yeah, probably not. Things […]

Here’s a confession: I don’t recycle. I did during graduate school, when there was a recycling bin right outside my door, and a truck came and picked it up once a week. Now, though, I live in a rural area with no bins and no recycling routes. For some reason, sorting my trash and taking […]