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Father feels invisible in fight over inheritance

DEAR ANNIE: My 90-year-old father has been married to his third wife, who is 85, for nearly 33 years. Between them, they have five adult children: two are his and three are hers. For their entire marriage, they have relied largely on my father’s retirement account to pay their day-to-day living expenses. His wife does not have a retirement account of her own. They also have two homes. One is a summer cottage that was in her family before they married. The other is a winter home they purchased together. Recently, as they began revising their wills, my father said he wanted things to ...

Low DEXA requires medicine for bones

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 74-year-old man. I have a DEXA score of -3.3. I take 1,200 mg of calcium with vitamin D daily. I lift weights and swim two to three times a week. My doctor put me on Prolia, and I had six months of infections. He switched me to Fosamax, and my blood pressure was 201/121 mmHg. I found a Phase 4 clinical trial showing that Fosamax can cause high blood pressure, but my doctor says that Fosamax “doesn’t cause high blood pressure.” I’m reluctant to try the other bisphosphonates for fear that they will do the same as Fosamax. Do I try the other drugs one at a ...

Bridge by Steve Becker

The 1992 World Women’s Olympiad Teams was won by Austria, which defeated a favored British squad by 48 IMPs in the 96-deal final. It was Austria’s first-ever Olympiad women’s title. Today’s deal from the final produced no swing but featured good defensive play by both teams. The bidding shown occurred at the table where Barbara Lindinger and Maria Erhart were North-South for Austria. Erhart’s opening spade bid was consistent with the pair’s canape style, in which a shorter suit is often bid before a longer suit. Pat Davies, the British West, unwittingly led South’s ...

How to get rid of Bible respectfully

DEAR HELOISE: I hope you or your readers can help me (and most likely many others) with learning how to respectfully dispose of used or damaged Bibles. Thank you, and I love your good work! — Eddie S., via email Eddie, this is a very thoughtful question. I’ve heard of people taking a very old Bible and burying it in a garden or placing it under the hands of a deceased loved one while they lay in their coffin. Some people have the Bible buried with the person, while others remove it before burial. There are others who say that it’s served its purpose and place it in the ...

History of Youngstown Diocese given in Vienna

VIENNA — Varied facts and statistics relating to the Diocese of Youngstown were shared at a recent program hosted by the Vienna Historical Society. Joan Lawson, chancellor/archivist for the Diocese, led the program, which included Vienna’s connections to the Diocese including St. Joseph Church — an early Catholic church located in Vienna — to the present day St. Vincent de Paul Church, which is now known as St. Thomas the Apostle Church after it merged with St. Bernadette in Masury. Lawson, whose career includes public history, archiving and church ministry, said in 1943, ...

Diocese appoints communications and social concerns director

YOUNGSTOWN — Bishop David J. Bonnar on Tuesday announced the appointment of Meagen Farrell as communications and social concerns director for the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown. In the Office of Peace and Justice, Farrell replaces departing director, R.J. Mangan. In addition to supervising diocesan multimedia productions, sh e will take on the responsibilities of supporting diocesan prison ministry and parish respect life initiatives. Farrell becomes the diocesan contact for legislative advocacy, Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Campaign for Human ...