Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Reader's Digest

LET’s BE FRIENDS. In fact, it’s part of our motto at Reader’s Digest: “A trusted friend in a complicated world.” We want to be that buddy who tells you a handy tip to use around the house, a memorable story or a funny joke. Hopefully we bring you all three. We also want to talk about the “complicated world” around us. For more than 100 years, Reader’s Digest has taken an honest look at tough issues facing our country. We were the first publication to take on the dangers of automobiles and the risks of smoking. We’ve covered wars and veterans’ issues, the health concerns that worry Americans, and plenty of other tough topics, including addiction, abortion, book banning and more. It is a complicated world, and we want to…

Put a Ring on It The tornado that struck Lamar County in Texas spared Dakota Hudson and Lauren Patterson, but not their house. They lost nearly everything, including the engagement ring Hudson had hoped to surprise Patterson with. Cue the Paris Junior College softball team, sent to help the family. When they arrived, they asked what they could do. “Find the engagement ring!” Hudson said. After hours of searching under tattered drywall and splintered furniture, outfielder Kate Rainey discovered the ring buried in the mud. With ring in hand, and surrounded by the cheering softball team, Hudson dropped to one knee and proposed to a beaming Patterson. As Hudson told NBC in Dallas/Fort Worth, “We’re safe. It’s a miracle the ring was found. What better time to do it?” The…

CANCER DEATHS PLUMMET Good news on the cancer front: More people than ever are surviving it. Since 1990, cancer death rates have fallen by 20% to 35% in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. That translates into more than 7 million averted deaths. The decrease is partly because powerful new treatments, such as immunotherapies and molecularly targeted treatments, arrived on the scene during the past three decades. Meanwhile, improvements to older treatments, like radiotherapy and surgery, have made them safer and more effective. We can also thank the declining smoking rate, technological innovations that help us detect tumors sooner, and organized screening programs for colorectal, breast and cervical cancers. Breathe for Better Blood Pressure Did you know that you can exercise the muscles you use to breathe? A new…

Catherine Calmeyn, Paris, and Valérie Ruault, Joigny, France Catherine In 1994, I was going through a breakup and was alone for the first time in years. I already had a solid group of friends. Then I met Valérie. We worked for the same company. Valérie Our work could be stressful, but Cat and I had a good relationship from the start. We laughed a lot. She has a gift for listening, and I talk a lot, so we’re complementary. Catherine She was so sunny. I talked to her about my breakup, and she always knew what to say. Recently, my son was depressed. He didn’t want to see me. Val told me to have faith in him, that he just needed to know I was there. She would call me…

Pumpkin Proposal My boyfriend and I were carving pumpkins. After carving a lid, I found that mine was already hollowed out—with a diamond ring inside. I was thrilled at his proposal and flummoxed as to how he pulled off placing the ring box in my seemingly untouched pumpkin. Years later, pumpkin carving remains a favorite—and my husband’s trick a mystery. —BRENDA WALSH Avon, OH “Harleyville” You Too My husband and I try to maintain a sense of humor about our shortcomings, like his refusal to admit he has a hearing problem. While driving along the highway one day, I read a roadside exit aloud: “Harleyville.” He turned to me and said, “I love you too.” It’s become an inside joke between us—instead of “I love you” we just say “Harleyville”!…

DIVE IN TO THE sapphire blue waters off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, and you may see more than 400 life-size statues standing in defense of their oceans. Titled The Silent Evolution, the underwater installation is the work of British eco-artist Jason deCaires Taylor. His sculptures are crafted from sustainable marine-grade cement and serve as a habitat for aquatic life while drawing tourists away from fragile natural-reef areas. (More than 75% of the world’s reefs are threatened.) As he says on his website underwatersculpture.com, “Museums are places of conservation and education and about protecting something sacred. We should assign those same values to our oceans.”…

KYRA PERALTE THOUGHT keeping a diary during the pandemic might help her sort out her tangled feelings. In April 2020, the mother of two in Montclair, New Jersey, started writing candidly about the challenges of juggling work, marriage and motherhood during a global crisis. Writing was cathartic, but Peralte, now 46, wanted to know how other women were doing. So she made an unusual offer. She invited women from near and far to fill the remaining lined pages of her black-and-white marbled composition notebook with their own pandemic tales. She dubbed the project The Traveling Diary. “I wanted an interaction that felt human,” Peralte says, “and it feels very human to read someone else’s writing.” She found her first contributor during a Zoom conference for entrepreneurs. When she mentioned the…

I was running late for my flight and trying to get through security when the agent asked me to remove my jacket. I whispered to my friend, “That was covering up my coffee stain.” The older woman behind me in line made me feel better about my sloppiness when she said, “Don’t worry about the coffee stain, dear. Your shirt’s on inside out and backward.” —SUSAN SHAFER Salt Lake City, UT File this SFGate headline under Did We Really Need to Ask?: “Hawaii mayor asks people to stop throwing marshmallows into Mauna Loa lava” In an Italian deli, I came across three round cheeses hanging in a net bag. After squeezing them and finding them to be extremely hard, I asked the man behind the counter, “Hey, what kind of…

1 THIS MONTH, Americans will spend about $2.6 billion on floral arrangements for Mother’s Day. That accounts for roughly a quarter of all fresh flower purchases throughout the year. But you’ll want to pick carefully which blooms you send to Mom. The art of expressing emotions through flowers isn’t all about love and happiness. Historically, marigolds have meant contempt, and yellow roses jealousy— though florists now market yellow roses as a symbol of friendship. 2 THE PURPORTED meanings of different petals are mostly lost on us today. But interest in the subject blossomed across 19thcentury Europe as multiple manuals (called floriographies) were published to translate “the language of flowers.” Even Shakespeare spoke this language. After Hamlet kills Ophelia’s father, Ophelia laments, “There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets…

The last time I cracked open my home’s first-aid kit, I had one thumb swaddled in bloody paper towels after I’d accidentally nicked it while chopping onions. Fumbling through the zippered compartments as my thumb throbbed, I discovered nothing but a few yellowed bandages, dried-out antiseptic wipes, some gauze, tape and a pair of scissors like the kind kids use in kindergarten. Luckily I managed to stem the bleeding with the gauze and went on to cook a decent spaghetti Bolognese. But I’d come to the sober realization that my cheap, neglected first-aid kit would do my family no good in an honest-togoodness emergency. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of Americans don’t own a first-aid kit. “First-aid kits are most commonly used for minor…

Christina Paino, Hauppauge, New York, and Betty Johnson, Hornchurch, U.K. Christina When I was 10, in 1962, my sister’s class was doing a pen-pal project with a school in England. I was intrigued, so her teacher gave me the name of a girl there. Betty In our first letters we got to know each other, finding out about our families, our interests, our neighborhoods. Christina We’ve shared everything over the years. When her son was born, I was ecstatic. When her husband died, I cried like I’d lost a family member. After 9/11, Betty wrote me the most heartfelt, loving letter. Betty And when the London subway bombings happened in 2005, I had a very moving letter from Chris. Christina Whether something good or sad happened, sometimes I just needed…

EXCERPTED FROM THE BOOK WE SHOULD NOT BE FRIENDS By the time I was a junior at Yale, in 1983, I’d already met everyone I cared to know. I was friends with most of the other gays and lesbians. I knew the theater people. I knew absolutely everyone in my major—there were only a few of us who had chosen to get degrees in Latin and Greek. And I knew a splattering of visual artists, a handful of comparative lit majors, the odd philosopher and three mathematicians. I also knew those I didn’t want to know. The jocks. And they didn’t seem to want to know me. In the dining halls, they filled boisterous tables. They wolfed down epic platters of scrambled eggs. They wore baseball caps backward and moved…

Bob Ross said it best: There are no mistakes, just happy accidents. Penicillin, after all, was born of a scientist’s neglected, moldy petri dish. Velcro was inspired by a dog that had gotten into some bur bushes. The ice pop was invented by a kid who’d left his glass of soda and stirring stick outside on a winter night. Do you recall a blunder that actually turned out really well for you? We want to hear about it. See terms and submit at rd.com/bestmistake, and your story might appear in an issue of Reader’s Digest.…

You can learn techniques, you can memorize recipes. But to me, the one thing that makes food memorable is when you cook with heart. —Nobu Matsuhisa, CHEF, IN VOGUE SINGAPORE I always hated the expression “being the voice of the victims.” They have voices; what they need is a megaphone. —Louise Arbour, FORMER UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, IN MACLEAN’S I’m willing to invest in myself. I’ve always made a return on that investment. —Tiffany Haddish, COMEDIAN, IN THE NEW YORK TIMES Just go to the next step. You don’t have to go to the final step. Just the next. —Wynonna Judd, MUSICIAN, IN PEOPLE Whether it’s beauty or fashion, there’s an obsession with youth. But if we’re lucky, we’re all going to get old. —Lauren Hutton, MODEL,…

1. TBD A to be determined B terribly bad day C tactical business development 2. ESL A earnmgs, savings and loans B elementary-school level c English as a second language 3. DOE A date of event B depends on experience C day off due to exhaustion 4. P&L A parsley and lemon B position and location C profit and loss 5. GMO A genetically modified organism B give me one C guaranteed mail order 6. SEP A someone else’s problem B solar energy production C seismic event prediction 7. PS A print supplement B postscript C parting statement 8. ABC A against book censorship B airway, breathing and circulation C access to basic care 9. URL A uniform resource locator B underground racing league C upper range limit 10. ROM…

Many think SOS is short for “save our ship,” but it doesn’t really stand for anything. This sequence of letters was chosen because it’s easy to type in Morse code and hard to mistake for anything else. When the Titanic was sinking, it transmitted SOS signals and another, now-defunct emergency call: CQD, which, accord- ing to unofficial sources, could have been derived from the French sécurité or the English “seek you,” What is certain is that D stood for danger or distress. Word Power ANSWERS 1. TBD (A) to be determined The band’s exact dates and venues for the summer tour are TBD. 2. ESL (C) English as a second language The school district boasts high test scores among its ESL students. 3. DOE (B) depends on experience André felt hesitant to apply for…

IF TIMOTHY WHITE JR. were Captain America, perhaps one fling of the superhero’s trademark shield could have saved the day. But this was real life. And though White has dressed up as Captain America for conventions, parades and the local Anti-Bullying Superhero Day, when he spotted trouble on this September afternoon he wasn’t wearing his costume and couldn’t fall back on any superpowers. It was rush hour in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. White, 38, was driving home from the nonprofit he and his mother run called AMiracle4Sure, which helps formerly incarcerated individuals reenter society. He noticed a gray Nissan four-door pickup on the opposite side of the two-lane street. It was hard to miss, since it was swerving and careening into the curb before course-correcting, only to careen into the curb again.…

Most of us prefer to say someone “passed away” rather than “died,” or got “let go” instead of “fired.” But while more than 9 in 10 Americans use euphemisms such as these, nearly 3 in 5 admit to having used one without really knowing what it meant. Among the most confusing: “Economical” (cheap) “For the birds” (unimportant) “Frumpy” (unattractive) “Indisposed” (in the restroom) “Monday morning quarterback” (someone who criticizes after the event) “Up to scratch” (good enough) PREPLY…

After my class read Little Red Riding Hood, I asked the young students what lesson we might learn from the fairy tale. I was looking for “Beware of strangers.” But one student’s response worked as well: “Know what your grandmother looks like.” —SANDRA STEELY Sahuarita, AZ When only two people showed up at a book-signing event for her debut novel, Crowns and Legends, Chelsea Banning tweeted that she felt “a little embarrassed.” Soon, fellow authors responded with their own horror stories. Margaret Atwood shared, “I did a signing to which nobody came except a guy who wanted to buy Scotch tape and thought I was the help.” Jodi Piccoult wrote, “I have sat lonely at a signing table many times only to have someone approach… and ask me where the bathroom…

If you wrestle with insomnia (and, consequently, the bedcovers!), you probably have been tempted to try anything that promises better sleep. One thing that might sound a little weird but that has been known to work: adding a weighted blanket to those bedcovers. “They’ve become the sleep tool to have,” says Alanna McGinn, founder and lead sleep expert at Good Night Sleep Site. “I’m a huge proponent of them because they can work so well.” About 32% of Americans don’t get enough sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts there recommend at least seven hours of shut-eye per night for adults. But as many as 35% of adults have trouble sleeping from time to time, and 10% regularly have trouble falling and staying asleep. Just as…

Jean-François Légaré and Francis Hébert, both of Montreal Jean-François I met Francis in a bar with friends when I was 29. At first, I couldn’t stand him. He was loud and obnoxious. I left early. Francis We were like two magnets repelling each other. He was clearly annoyed by me, and the feeling was mutual. Jean-François But our paths kept crossing. We started talking, having debates about politics—which I never did with my other friends— and found we had a lot in common. We now have an honest relationship. He’s the person I can talk to about anything. I don’t agree with him a lot of the time, but you need that in your life. Francis For instance, he claims to be very fashionable, despite wearing Fruit of the Loom…

“Hi, Vanessa! Nice to see you!” It feels good to hear those words when I see people I know. But I take it for granted that I have even heard that greeting—and, in fact, all other sounds. I never think about how I’m hearing things, how my brain is translating sounds into meaning. Yet the process is fascinating. The journey of a sound from outside the ear and into the brain, which takes only milliseconds, is mind-bendingly elaborate. First, the sound waves enter each ear and vibrate the paper-thin eardrum. That vibration moves two small bones that sit behind it, which begin to dance in sync with the vibrations. Then a third bone sitting against the cochlea starts to vibrate, and things get really interesting. The cochlea is a peasized…

Fact or Fiction? MEDIUM Determine whether each statement is fact or fiction. To reveal the solution to the bonus question at the bottom, write the letters indicated by your responses in the corresponding numbered blanks. Turn the page upside down for the answers. 1. Cinco de Mayo is Mexico’s Independence Day. FACT: L FICTION: Y 2. Hippos can sleep underwater. FACT: E FICTION: U 3. Greenland is the world’s largest island. FACT: A FICTION: N 4. Author C.S. Lewis was English. FACT: C FICTION: R 5. Madonna, Rihanna and Beyoncé are all the artists’ real first names. FACT: H FICTION: B 6. The Bee Gees’ hit “First of May” was inspired by a dog. FICTIO: O FICTION: M 7. Italy has had 68 governments since the end of WWII. FACT:…

WHERE, OH WHERE? (page 36 B. Winchester, California (the three others are also locations of hotair balloon festivals) BRAIN GAMES (pages 107-108) Fun at the Fair Adam likes corn dogs and bumper cars; Coralyn likes candy apples and the Ferris wheel; Hannah likes ice cream and the merry-go-round; Leigh likes cotton candy and roller coasters. Set Free Alterations While You Wait Add 7 (8, $13), multiply by 3 (24, $21), subtract 4(20, $23). Number Maze The correct sequence of moves: down 5, right 4, left 2, up 4, left 1, down 3, up 1, right 4, down 2. Good Luck 7—> 13. Square the number, then add up the digits in your answer. SPECIAL OFFER Our Best Stories Spanning 100 Years From everyday heroes to dramas in real life, the…