Articles written by Margaret Merrill

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About me - Margaret Merrill

I am the author of Split Apart, and Back Together, just published. Book 3, is now finished, and tentatively titled The Sacred Three. Book 4, about the older brother, Evan, in the Riker family mystery/saga, is already started. After that, I also have the beginnings

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Parenting & Pregnancy > Parenting Tips Tips for parents raising children with special needs: 1 of 18

Over the course of the past eighteen, almost nineteen years now, I have raised a special needs child, with some help from my husband. We have spent almost the first five years in the hospital off and on, gone through hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and had just about any kind of therapy you can think of. I...
Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: Moments that change your life: 14 of 222

April 25, 1994. A night never to be forgotten. The kids and I had moved back into the house after a separation from my husband. We had been living in Dayton, Ohio for about a month, and came back home to try one more time to work things out. Driving in through the storm, I should have known it was not going to be a good begi...
Food & Drink > Soups & Stews Recipes: Minestroni soup: 1 of 9

"Grandma, Grandma, PLEASE make minestrone! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!" I can distinctly remember begging my grandmother on more than one occasion to make minestrone. I normally hated vegetable soup. That is, except for my grandmother's. I would eat my grandmother's minestrone until I was about to burst. Her vegetables, freshly ...
Home & Garden > Home & Garden (Other) Is a house always a home?: 22 of 136

Sadly, a house not always a home. Why, you ask? Because of a lack of love within that house. Sure, it's true that a house is a building that is constructed for each of us to come home to. But without that love to help add cohesivehess to the household, you don't ruloy have a home-you simply have a collection of things inside...
Education > Education (Other) Should children have cell phones at school?: 21 of 105

No, no, no, it is not necessary for kids of any age to have a cell phone in school. If you let them have it in school, they automatically think that entitles them to use it in school, even in class. Step into a classroom, or any other room in the school, and you can find a phone of some sort that will get access to help, if ...
Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: Best horseback riding experiences: 12 of 43

Many, many moons ago, when I was a little girl, I used to be a Girl Scout who desperately wanted to learn how to ride a horse. I went to camp EVERY summer, and I loved it, for many reasons; my friends, the tents, the woods, the S'mores and the HORSES. I loved riding the horses every summer. Especially the big chestnut colore...
Entertainment > TV Show Reviews TV show reviews: Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: 2 of 7

How can anyone not fall in love with Guy Fieri and his show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives? As he worked his way through Food Network's show "Next Food Network Star," we all began to love him more and more as he began to show not only that he could make mistakes, but that he could be funny and human, too, in working around th...
Food & Drink > Bread & Baking Recipes Recipes: Zucchini bread: 2 of 7

I've made this zucchini bread for years now. And it never stays on my counter for more than a day, IF I'm lucky. It's a fairly plain recipe, which is the way my family likes it; but can be easily frozen, and brought out to be eaten at a later date. Just make sure no one's around when you're baking itor they'll eat it all! Ad...
Health & Fitness > Nutrition Tips How to resist the temptation of fast food: 2 of 6

Fast food temptation-admittedly it is very hard to resist. However, it can be done-with some effort, planning, and some occasional rewards. Understanding is also in order, and knowledge of your health so that you can live a long, full life. Resisting fast food is done with some effort on your part-and your family's, too. Con...
Food & Drink > Cooking (Other) Why you should learn to cook: 18 of 46

Learning to cook is an ability that no one should be without, especially if one wants to be able to eat. It is a skill that sticks with you for a lifetime. It's a basic survival skill not only for single people living in the city, but college students and even soldiers in the middle of nowhere. And, learning to cook saves yo...