Don’t Suffer Through Menopause

By Cheryl Mattox Berry You’ve seen them fanning incessantly while proclaiming to everyone in earshot that they’re having a private summer. You’ve witnessed their irritability and keep your distance. The two of you play a game of seesaw with the thermostat. Women going through menopause are easy to spot. If you ask them, they’ll rattle […]

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Thinking about Cosmetic Surgery: Go For It

By Cheryl Mattox Berry The last time I got together with girlfriends for Happy Hour, the conversation eventually turned to our aging bodies, specifically what we’d go under the knife to change. Survey said: boobs (perkier,) bellies (flatter) and erasing those facial lines that make us look tired and angry. Of course, we were under […]

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“Roots” Needs More Viewers

By Cheryl Mattox Berry I just finished watching the remake of Roots, which premiered Memorial Day on the History Channel and aired across three other cable networks. It was a beautiful, gut-wrenching, brutal and powerful story, more realistic than the groundbreaking original series in January 1977. The new Roots, subtitled “The Journey of an American Family,” shows […]

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Um, Can We, Like, Drop Certain Words, You Know?

By Cheryl Mattox Berry During Sunday worship service, visitors were asked to stand. The young woman who welcomed them said, “We want to thank you guys for coming…” I don’t know what she said after that because my mind was stuck on the words “you guys.” Then, a woman sitting in the pew behind me […]

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Zip Lining Frees My Mind

By Cheryl Mattox Berry Several friends have asked what possessed me to go zip lining. One jokingly said I like pain and suffering. My husband thinks I’m going through a daredevil phase. Rest assured, it’s none of the above. I decided to go zip lining for one reason: to regain my self-confidence. After I ruptured […]

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Gifts From My Mothers

By Cheryl Mattox Berry As shoppers hit the malls looking for the perfect Mother’s Day present, I’m reminded of all the gifts handed down to me from my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I’m blessed to have had these fierce, hardworking and loving women in my life. These are the things I learned from them: Josephine […]

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Domestic Violence Hurts Everyone

By Cheryl Mattox Berry My girlfriend’s two nephews are still reeling from a horrific act committed by their 53-year-old father in Sioux Falls, S.D. He shot his ex-girlfriend three times and then turned the gun on himself. He died two weeks after the shootings in late February. His on-again/off-again girlfriend, 30, miraculously survived bullets to […]

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Leave Some Jobs to Men

By Cheryl Mattox Berry Being the feminist that I am, it’s great that women can pursue careers that have traditionally been reserved for men. But I’ve got to ask this question: Why would we want to do work that takes a toll on our body? I’m specifically talking about two jobs: a boxer and soldier […]

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Catch the Happiness Bug

By Cheryl Mattox Berry Rarely do I spend time with women who are as jubilant as Pharrell describes in his Happy song, but I did this weekend. And you know what? It was infectious. Let me tell you about them: One of the women is my sorority sister who is a few weeks away from […]

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Musings

By Cheryl Mattox Berry Travel  I used to think that flying was the most luxurious way to travel. Not so much nowadays with cramped planes and the lack of freebies (snacks, beverages, pillows and blankets.) The airlines make you pay for every little thing, even boarding passes on some carriers if you don’t print them. […]

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