Lisa Smith Molinari

6 days ago | stripes.com | Lisa Smith Molinari

I grabbed the bundle of letters in my mailbox and walked directly to the recycling can, expecting all junk. “So wasteful,” I muttered judgmentally, tossing them one by one into the blue bin. ​“You’ve been approved!” a credit card offer read. “Free gift inside!” two charity solicitations promised, one containing return address labels with my last name spelled wrong, and the other with a small notepad printed with cartoon butterflies.

1 week ago | syvnews.com | Lisa Smith Molinari

2 weeks ago | stripes.com | Lisa Smith Molinari

A million years ago, I was a litigation attorney with a bright professional future and significant earning potential. That was before I married a Navy man and began moving to U.S. states and foreign countries where my law licenses weren’t worth the paper on which they were printed. Despite these challenges, I maintained hope that one day, I’d rekindle my law career.

2 weeks ago | hanfordsentinel.com | Lisa Smith Molinari

To my mother, a first grade teacher for 30 years, every day was an opportunity to make a difference in the life of some squirmy, rag tag, grubby little six-year-old. And cussing, therefore, was out of the question.  Other than an occasional cathartic "Damn!" (considered quite proper in her home state of Kentucky) my mother rarely uttered a legitimate swear word.

2 weeks ago | stripes.com | Lisa Smith Molinari

To my mother, a first grade teacher for 30 years, every day was an opportunity to make a difference in the life of some squirmy, ragtag, grubby little 6-year-old. And cussing, therefore, was out of the question. Other than an occasional cathartic “Damn!” (considered quite proper in her home state of Kentucky) my mother rarely uttered a legitimate swear word.