There’s a one-word question that follows most of us whether we’re age two or 52. “Why?” If we could just know “Why” then somehow we would have some semblance of peace and be able to move on, or so we think. The characters in Act3 Production’s newest play “The Strange Attractor,” try to come to terms with "Why" – in their own way - years after a tragedy has bonded them together forever. “The Strange Attractor” is running at the Sandy Springs playhouse through Saturday. Playwright Jesse Cramer’s work was born out of improvisation. In the story, two couples reconnect years after the tragedy …

  I had a birthday two weeks ago and I imagined my mother all those years ago. A new baby right before Mother’s Day must’ve been a real joy. My mother could drive me batty in the same way most mothers do with their daughters, but we had a strong, loving bond that transcends her death. I’ve always felt that we have the same heart, and are an extension of each other.  And through her passing I've come to realize how moms are intuitively aware of their children's unspoken needs. In the month’s before my mother passed away, a close family friend said my mom was holding on to make sure I would be …

  Share below why you love running. On any given day when I see runners along Sandy Springs streets, I feel a kinship. That same connection is felt by runners worldwide for Boston marathoners, spectators, family members, work crews and first responders after the explosions on Monday. Big Peach Running Co. held a Mile of Silence run at several locatons on Tuesday. I’ve run four marathons and a half marathon. After each one I said I was done. I don’t need to do this anymore! But I was fooling myself because each one hooks you. It’s not just the feat of running 26.2 miles. For me, it’s also the …

  In 2009, I briefly interviewed comedian Steve Harvey during a standing room only appearance at Kmart in southwest Atlanta. The sentiment in a comment he made has stayed with me. I can’t recall his exact words, but what he conveyed is that the racial hang-ups people tend to carry is pointless. People are people.  The heart of the matter is similar to what Civil Rights leader Dr. Gerald L. Durley told Sandy Springs students, Thursday, at Holy Innocent's Episcopal School. In part, Durley said, "...Tear down gender, race and faith barriers..." It's apparent that Harvey’s daytime show transcends…

  Today is Pope Benedict XVI's final day as the leader of Catholics around the world. Stories swirling around his resignation prompts many questions. The most pressing one: Are children safe within the Catholic Church - Sandy Springs and North Fulton included? Last week, during a "CBS This Morning" town hall segment on the state of the Catholic Church, a mother said, “At this point, if I had to leave my child with a priest for him to watch him for the day, that would not happen.” In full disclosure, I am Catholic. But as much as I love the holiness of the Catholic experience I have never been…

  From Sandy Springs where an ex-principal has a new book on racist culture at a fictional elementary school to CNN’s Soledad O’Brien’s recent documentary, “Who is Black in America” to sports commentator Rob Parker’s comments on Robert Griffin III, it’s clear that race issues and the boundaries of conversation can be tricky. Race problems may never be erased but we may be making progress by shedding light on an unfortunate question that lingers in African American culture – “Is he or she proud to be black?” "Are they black enough?" Rob Parker’s comments about RGIII on ESPN’s “First Take,” …

  Perhaps, the divide among us comes from making assumptions about each other. Many minorities believe that people who are not of color and of privilege, i.e. Republicans, do not care about their well-being. And some Republicans believe that many middle to lower income minorities, or Democrats, would be okay with not working for a living if they could receive some type of so-called entitlement. Sure there are some people, both black, white, brown and yellow, who would take what they can get. But you know what? I don’t know those folks. I don’t know the minorities that Mitt Romney and others …

  To celebrate Mother’s Day we’d like you to share a funny experience that you had with your mom. It could be something that happened as a child or just the other day. Our mothers leave an indelible imprint on our lives. We can think of them and smile, laugh and even cry. I’ll go ahead and date myself and share a memory from back in the late ‘70s. There was a series of commercials that used to run on TV with a woman who would say, “Hi, I’m Rula Lenska.”  My mom and I used to say, “Who the heck is Rula Lenska?” She’d appear as if she were a household name. Then one day, my mom said, “Adrianne…

  Our most heartbreaking days can sometimes bring the most tender moments. Just over two weeks ago, I took my cat Franjelica of 13 years to the Vernon Woods Animal Hospital to be euthanized. The quickness of her illness was heartbreaking. In mid-March I noticed a slight protrusion above her nose. I took her to a veterinarian in Stone Mountain, recommended by a friend, who thought it was a bad tooth. During surgery to extract it, they discovered the protrusion was a tumor, likely malignant. Franjelica was always a sweet fragile soul. I knew any kind of radiation or aggressive treatment would …

  I was an active community volunteer while living in New York City in the 1990s, working with homeless women and at-risk children. Inevitably, when I visited my family in Norfolk, Virginia, my grandmother would announce my attendance during Sunday morning church service. I’d have to stand as my community and professional accomplishments were recited to the congregation. I’d cringe with embarrassment. But my mother used to say, “You have to understand. People are always boasting about their children and we want to show them how proud we are of our children too.” If black folks don’t draw …

Residents fed up with motorists speeding through their Londonberry neighborhood met with Sandy Springs Police and City Council member Karen Meinzen McEnerny, during a public meeting last week. Over a three day period of monitoring drivers, police say 85 percent of the cars were traveling at 47 miles per hour or less on the residential street. The speed limit is 30 mph. John Heinen said that with teenage drivers at home, he and his neighbor are concerned about collisions with speeding motorists along the curvy road. “What we keep worrying about is we’re going to have a terrible situation …