Jennie Smith-Pariola 2/10/26 Jennie Smith-Pariola 2/10/26

If I can stop one Heart from breaking

What does it mean to live a life that matters? In recent years, my work in healthcare has quietly but insistently shifted my answer to this question toward Emily Dickinson’s. . . .

Jennie Smith-Pariola 8/31/25 Jennie Smith-Pariola 8/31/25

Hot Tea

In reading this poem about a little boy in the plains of central Syria being taught by his grandmother how to stir his tea, I was immediately taken back to my own grandparents’ home in the Appalachian foothills of East Tennessee. . . .

Jennie Smith-Pariola 2/9/25 Jennie Smith-Pariola 2/9/25

Invitation to Love

Too often we assume that Valentine’s Day is all about romantic love. What a mistake that is! . . . .

Jennie Smith-Pariola 10/4/23 Jennie Smith-Pariola 10/4/23

A Farewell

Our last post highlighted the nostalgia many of us feel this time of year as we say goodbye to summer and prepare ourselves for the colder months ahead. . . .