The Hinsdalean - Community journalism the way it was meant to be

Ahh ... that's better. The good old prefrontal cortex. Where would we be without it? Pretty much brain dead; that's where we'd be. The prefrontal cortex is the region of the brain... — Updated 9/27/2023

The last time I wrote an article for the paper, I was headed off to study travel writing in Prague, Czech Republic. Two months later, I can confidently say that my time abroad was... — Updated 9/6/2023

You'd be hard pressed to find Buncombe, Illinois, on a map. Buncombe is a five-hour drive straight south from Hinsdale as the crow flies, as my dad would say. I dreaded visiting... — Updated 8/30/2023

This summer while browsing in a used bookstore in Michigan with aisles upon aisles of books stacked floor to ceiling, I stumbled upon a devotional entitled "100 Days to Brave." I'm... — Updated 8/23/2023

I wrote a column for The Hinsdalean in 2018 called "Superhero Moms and Dads" that was about all of the many cool things we do for our kids as they grow up and how we parents should... — Updated 8/16/2023

Lately, no matter where you look, it’s Barbie, Barbie, Barbie. The hugely popular new “Barbie” movie has scores of people writing and speaking a name that is so deeply rooted... — Updated 8/9/2023

When your child leaves for college, there is plenty of advice on how to handle the transition, ranging from gentle comedy to true grief counseling. It is an adjustment period for... — Updated 7/19/2023

Recently I was having a conversation with a mom of two school-age kids. "Only 10 more weeks until school starts!" she said, already feeling drained with near constant summer... — Updated 6/21/2023

"Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?!" If these lyrics from Beck resonate with you, you might be the father of a teenage boy or the mother of a teenage... — Updated 6/14/2023

Another school year has come to an end, and another summer has begun. Every single summer I’ve spent in Hinsdale has felt like a variation of the same thing over and over again... — Updated 6/7/2023

The question recently overhead in a Hinsdale boutique wasn't meant for me but I could have answered it. "When do you leave for Europe?" I didn't catch the answer because I was on a... — Updated 5/24/2023

"When the student is ready the teacher appears. When the student is truly ready the teacher disappears." - Lao Tzu I love that quote. Aren't we all students making discoveries... — Updated 5/10/2023

My mother immigrated to the United States from England by way of Greece just a few years before I was born. My British heritage meant my childhood was steeped in tea with a splash o... — Updated 5/3/2023

Here we are in April again, friends. The temperature is warming up (shhhh, this week doesn't count!), birds are nesting on my front porch and the Silberberg family calendar is... — Updated 4/19/2023

Every year for Lent, I try to challenge myself by giving up something that has too much of a hold on my life. This year, that was Tik-Tok. I anticipated that it would be difficult... — Updated 4/12/2023

We humans think a lot of ourselves. And rightly so. After all, unlike other species, we can contemplate the past and look forward to the future. We humans can talk in actual... — Updated 4/5/2023

Our house is a very fine house. When we moved into our split, it was a compromise of sorts. The house - around 50 years old - was not new, yet not really old. Instead, it was... — Updated 3/15/2023

I recently stumbled into a conversation about faith, my palms sweaty, my heart pounding. We were about to break the unspoken rule of dinner gatherings: no discussion about politics... — Updated 3/8/2023

If you are a local music fan of a certain age, then you are aware of the recent passing of WXRT DJ Lin Brehmer. Sadly, Lin died of prostate cancer this past January at the age of 68... — Updated 3/1/2023

When songwriters Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz penned the country song “When You Say Nothing At All,” they didn’t mean keep your mouth shut when your loved one does... — Updated 2/1/2023

I'm sitting at my laptop wondering how Pam does it. How does she compose a column, every single week, and one that's a lot longer than the 450 words I need to write. I don't mean... — Updated 1/18/2023

I have never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions. The way I figure it, if you want to partake in self-improvement activities, why wait until Jan. 1? The date is utterly... — Updated 1/4/2023

I was making dinner a few nights ago when I heard my boys having a serious conversation - or as serious as serious gets for a 4- and 6-year-old. "Hey E," said C, the older one. "Do... — Updated 12/28/2022

The nice thing about winter is that there is nothing to do, and since there is nothing to do, there is no reason to feel guilty about doing nothing. Got that? Now summer is a... — Updated 12/14/2022