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By LISA SMITH MOLINARI | Special to Stars and Stripes | Published: April 30, 2021 “If only money grew on trees,” I grumbled, stooping to crawl under our hedges. I knew weeding and mulching the 150-foot row of privets that grows along the border of our property would take all day and render me unable to move without shooting back pains. But someone had to do it. My husband of 27 years, Francis, was cutting the grass with a brand new, fire-engine-red lawnmower he’d just purchased the day before. I hadn’t thought it necessary, but he said the old mower just couldn’t cut it. I’d hea...

By LISA SMITH MOLINARI | Special to Stars and Stripes | Published: April 23, 2021 From the time I toddled around in droopy diapers, to the day I drove off to college in my Volkswagen Beetle, I lived in one small Pennsylvania town. The kids who picked their noses next to me in Mrs. Rowley's kindergarten class were the same ones who walked across the stage with me at our high school graduation. I had one hometown, one high school, one brick house, one yellow bedroom, and one best friend who I gabbed with each night on one rotary phone while draped across one mock brass twin bed.

By LISA SMITH MOLINARI | Special to Stars and Stripes | Published: February 26, 2021 “Mom, do we have any photos of me and Dad when he came home from deployment?” our daughter asked, unwittingly sending me on a harrowing, epic journey through the storage spaces of our home. Anna, 23, was completing an application for a fashion design opportunity that required her to tell her “life story” in photos and video clips. The employer thought it was interesting that Anna was a well-traveled military kid turned fashion designer, so she needed photos depicting her unique upbringing. I’m us...

By LISA SMITH MOLINARI | Special to Stars and Stripes | Published: February 19, 2021 Recently, the reputation of the military has been tarnished by Capitol riot reports indicating that a significant number of those arrested have served. Although extremism in the ranks is not a new problem, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin saw the riot as a “wake-up call.” On Feb. 3, Austin ordered a 60-day stand-down for all military commanders to meet with troops to discuss racism and extremism. Even though "DOD policy expressly prohibits military personnel from actively advocating supremacist, extrem...

By LISA SMITH MOLINARI | Special to Stars and Stripes | Published: February 4, 2021 This morning, I peered at my baggy, bloodshot eyes in the bathroom mirror. It had been a rough night. Thanks to wild fluctuations in my hormones, my hair was a rat's nest of sweaty tangles. I tossed two Tylenol down my gullet, hoping to relieve a crick in my neck from tossing and turning, and headache pangs from grinding my teeth. “Today’s gonna suck,” I admitted to myself with a defeated sigh. A few years ago, I could handle awful mornings like this, because I had secret coping tools at my disposal, ...