Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2025 i Reader's Digest

BONNIE BLUMBERG HAS always known her mother was creative and kind. When she was growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, her mom, Janice Goldstein, always volunteered to sew costumes for the class plays. And not just her daughter's costume: Goldstein would make them for the entire class, sewing and knitting into the wee hours. Goldstein's dedication to her craft was something Blumberg took as a given. Then came the 40 ministrokes. And the three massive strokes. In 2017, Goldstein lost the use of the right side of her body and began using a wheelchair. Two years ago, Blumberg, a senior lecturer in the math department at University of Houston Downtown, sold her mother's place in favor of something smaller. While packing up, she found three knit sweaters in various…

• Doctors making house calls • Tops on men's bathing suits • No teeth braces • Funerals at home, wreath on door • Undefeated, untied, unscored-upon teams • Pitching nine-inning games • Dropkicks in football • Tobacco baseball cards (Honus Wagner) • Parades with Civil War veterans • Buying gas by price—“dollar's worth” (now “fill it up!”) • Nickel hamburgers and hot dogs • Penny candy, six for 5 cents •Weekly rent • Ice delivery, ice men, ice card in window • Ragmen going through neighborhoods • Milk delivery in glass bottles to house • Coal deliveries, coal bins • Barbers giving shaves using a straight edge • Tailors and cobblers everywhere • Horse and wagons • Troughs filled with water for horses • Loud whistling—boys and men • Peashooters on…

WHEN YOU LIVE a long time with trees, they become a part of you. So it pained me to take down the old sugar maple, my arboreal cathedral, one rafter at a time, her demise not from flames but an underground blaze of fungus. Small honey-colored mushrooms fruiting at her base were “the giveaway,” said the forester. The tree was old when we moved to the farm 36 years ago, about the age of this farmhouse, we figured: 160 years. I know she was here as far back as the 1940s because we have a photo of her in her younger days, much smaller and not quite ruling over the side yard as she did in her later years. In her old age, she reached about 90 feet high. And…

IT'S LATE IN the evening, and David Nelson finds himself in a familiar spot: at a desk in his home in Houston, typing yet another letter to yet another publication about an old friend, Lee Roy Herron, who died in some godforsaken piece of jungle in Vietnam. It had not gone well the last time the two men spoke. For decades after that, Nelson had not thought much about the man he'd once called his best friend. He'd been angry with Lee Roy, believing that his death was foolish, as he should never have been in combat. But now, at age 80 and armed with new facts, Nelson has been on a mission to clear his conscience and set the record straight about Lee Roy Herron's last minutes. For the…

Managing bladder leaks doesn't have to feel overwhelming. We spoke with doctors to uncover 3 secrets they wish everyone knew about staying dry, comfortable, and confident: 1: Focus on the right absorbency. Not all incontinence products are created equal. Many are designed for light leaks, which may not be enough for your needs. Look for products that can hold up to 6 cups of liquid to avoid unwanted surprises. 2: Choose breathable, skin-friendly materials. Wearing the wrong product can lead to irritation, rashes, or discomfort. Doctors recommend products that are free from fragrances and lotions, which can irritate skin. Look for materials that are latex-free and soft on sensitive skin. 3: The right fit is essential for protection. Up to 50% of leaks are caused by incorrect fit. Products with…

Change the Recipe By José Andrés Spain's most beloved global export, chef and humanitarian José Andrés, dishes up some common sense and life lessons in this bite-sized memoir. The World Central Kitchen founder shares dispatches from his parents—who taught him that good food is less about the best ingredients and more about making the best with what's available—as well as stories from decades of feeding people at high-end restaurants in his adopted hometown of Washington, D.C., and in disaster zones in Haiti, Gaza and Ukraine. It's a hearty banquet of comfort food we can all enjoy. —Debby Waldman I Love Dad By Jackie Corley Writer Jackie Corley has done us all the great favor of curating an ode to daddio to reflect on this Father's Day. Her treasury is rich…

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The pursuit of DIY solutions is never just about home improvement. The deepest satisfaction comes from the feeling of self-improvement you get when a clever life hack works. Because—let's be real—sprucing up your kitchen isn't just about making a better space to cook. The gurus at our sister publication Family Handyman have spent years building a repository of handy hints you can tap when you're finally ready to level up your state of being by way of an organized garage. Got a great home/car/tech/life hack? Share your wisdom for other tinkerers and optimizers at familyhandyman.com/submissions. Everything Old Is New Again Taste of Home's Vintage Recipes Made Easy is chock-full of the choice recipes of yesteryear, simplified by the means of today. (You have access to something your mom didn't: an…

A Couple in Sync Rashad Polk wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Rachel Hundertmark, at an upcoming Modest Mouse concert. The couple had shared their first kiss at one of the band's shows. Little did he know, Hundertmark was thinking the same. She didn't want a traditional proposal, so she decided to ask Polk to marry her—at that concert. She even recruited her daughter, Jasmine Halstead, age 16, to tag along and record the special moment. Only Halstead knew of her mom's and Polk's overlapping plans, and she kept both secrets. On the big day, she filmed her mom dropping to one knee and popping the question to Polk, who answered by also kneeling, and pulling a ring from his pocket. Stunned and overjoyed, the two fell into each other's…

OVER OR UNDER? It's a debate we've been having since 1883, when the toilet paper roll was first patented—with a drawing of the roll hanging over. Positioned this way, the toilet paper is less likely to come into contact with the wall or cabinet behind it, thus reducing the chance of transferring bacteria. The “under” method, however, makes the paper less likely to unroll, either accidentally or at the whim of a curious child or pet. According to one survey, 72% of Americans prefer the “over” method—27% even admitted to having “corrected” the direction at a friend's house.…

PAM H. HAD always enjoyed hiking, kayaking and skiing. But beginning in her late 50s, she noticed her left knee was starting to bother her, and soon the osteoarthritis made it too uncomfortable to enjoy the activities she loved. By the time she reached her 70s, it was painful just to walk or drive. She decided to have knee replacement surgery, which had helped many of her friends. Unfortunately, the new knee wound up hurting even more, because it was discovered that Pam was allergic to at least one of the metals it contained. Doctors told her replacing the knee again wasn't an option and she would just have to live with the pain. The National Institutes of Health estimates that about 1 in 5 U.S. adults—more than 50 million…

FOR THOSE WHO aren't headed on a safari any time soon, an art exhibit called The Great Elephant Migration is heading across America. It'll pass through Wyoming in May and Montana in June. Each statue stands up to 11 feet tall and weighs as much as 750 pounds. They are made of lantana—a toxic weed that overtakes other vegetation that elephants eat—by Indigenous artisans in India's Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, for whom coexisting with elephants is second nature. “It gives people livelihood and clears lantana from the forest,” co-founder Tarsh Thekaekara told CBS News. “So it's a win-win for both people and nature.”…

MY FATHER KEPT lists. He listed the 539 books he read in his last 25 years. He listed every C-Span Booknotes episode he watched religiously every Sunday night for almost seven years (322 shows). Oh yes, he loved books! He kept shopping lists for his small fridge in his man cave (Pepsi, hazelnut coffee, heavy cream), and long lists of daily tasks. He recorded them in pocket-sized notebooks kept close by his reading chair. He never stopped writing lists until 5 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2004, when the cancer finally stopped him. After his death, I scooped all his little notebooks into a box. Besides the book list (recorded in what was reverentially called “the green book”), I rarely perused the other notebooks. The pain of his death was too…

FOR MY WIFE and me, knowing how to raise a child was a lot easier before we actually had one, and we could just sit back and mock other people's parenting skills. But ever since we dipped our toes into parenthood, we're the ones getting the dubious looks. Over the years, I've learned a lot. Primarily, that raising a kid is no laughing matter. That said, in celebration of both Mother's Day and Father's Day, I've collected a bunch of jokes that sum up the parenting experience pretty well. The first thing you learn is that parenting is synonymous with worrying. A young couple has their first child. Their joy slowly turns to concern, however, when for three years the child never utters a word. They hire speech therapists, doctors…

Growing up, Suzanne Smith* always thought she was dyslexic or had some sort of learning disorder. The Baltimore, Maryland–based artist says she daydreamed during class and doodled on her work, eventually falling behind. She was clumsy, often breaking things or making a mess. Throughout her childhood, she was called quirky and eccentric—traits that people would attribute to her creative personality. “I found different ways to cope and just accepted that this is me,” she says. But eventually, “it got to the point where I was really not functioning well, and my relationship with my husband was taking a hit.” Smith describes herself as “disorganized” and says she finds it hard to focus, making everyday household tasks like cooking and cleaning very challenging for her. “It's an unfair division of labor,…

Reporting for Daddy Duty After a 10-month tour in Afghanistan, my son, Christopher, was reunited with his daughter, Catherine. They hadn't seen each other since she was 9 months old. Amid all the hugging and kissing at the airport, Catherine was staring at her dad, trying to figure out who he was. When Christopher noticed her quietly looking at him, he said, “Let's take a walk and get reacquainted.” He took her tiny hand and led her around the terminal. Twenty minutes later, daddy and daughter returned to the group laughing, the best of friends. —DOROTHY GIEBEL Clifton Park, NY Bringing Home the Baking I studied education at the University of Colorado, more than 1,000 miles from my home in Illinois, so I didn't get to visit my family often.…

THERE ARE HUNDREDS of moose, grizzly bears and black bears in Alaska's Denali National Park, but given that the park covers 9,492 square miles, the likelihood of encountering a moose or bear is pretty low, according to the National Park Service. The sparse distribution isn't a result of hunting or disease; it just takes a lot of land to provide enough food and habitat for such massive mammals. I'm with my family on a summer vacation, taking a roughly 40-mile bus tour into Denali National Park. The scenery is spectacular, and, as our guide suggests, maybe it's just as well not to get our hopes up about seeing a moose or bear, because our visit has coincided with the time of year that those animals are typically in an aggressive…

I HAVE LONG SUSPECTED that the best Americans are not always famous. More than 20 years of research has confirmed my intuition. The best Americans are not the critics; they are the doers. They are the people who went for broke when everyone else yelled to turn back. They are those who know that one becomes great because of who they lift up, not who they put down. I have learned that no one reaches their final moments of mortal existence and whispers to their loved ones, “I wish I had gotten in some more sick burns in the comments section on Facebook.”…

1. catamaran n. (ka-tuh-muh-'ran) A burial chamber B twin-hulled boat C velvet footstool 2. obfuscate v. ('ahb-fuh-skayt) A make unclear B insult C drag out 3. scattershot adj. ('ska-tr-shot) A lightheaded B random C blunt 4. hepcat n. ('hep-kat) A bulldozer B MRI image C hipster 5. evocative adj. (i-'vah-kuh-tiv) A obscene B well-spoken C affecting 6. caricature n. ('keh-ruh-kuh-chr) A self-portrait B imitation C china closet 7. staccato adj. (stuh-'kah-toh) A with drums B cut short crisply C topped with milk 8. inculcate v. (in-'kuhl-kayt) A extract B ingrain C compile 9. scat v. (skat) A use a litter box B sneak around C sing nonsense syllables 10. ducat n. ('duh-kut) A brimless hat B gold coin C baby swan 11. cataclysm n. ('ka-tuh-kli-zm) A flood B earthquake C wildfire 12. desiccate v. ('deh-si-kayt) A completely destroy B single out C preserve by drying 13. vocation n. (voh-'kay-shuhn) A donation B congregation C profession 14. toccata n. (tuh-'kah-tah) A organ composition B Spanish cheese C fleet of ships 15. cathartic adj. (kuh-'thar-tik)…