Julia Bennett, 18, North Beach My pregnancy wasn’t easy. I was in and out of the hospital because Carter wanted to come out three months before he was due. I was constantly worried about him being a preemie, but the doctors kept him in my belly. Then once his due date came, he decided to be stubborn. I heard about the problems that could happen if he stayed in my belly for too long, and I worried some more.     The second he was born on July 22 and was placed into my arms...

… So Relay For Lifers don’t, either, bringing overnight teams to tracks round the nation to walk, relay-style, to raise money and support for cancer survivors, caregivers and families.     Each track is lighted with luminaries bearing the names of loved ones who have battled cancer.     In over 5,000 communities nationwide, Relay For Life has raised $4 billion for the American Cancer Society since 1985, when Dr. Gordy Klatt circled a Tacoma,...

Your photographs could hang in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, home to the world’s largest diamond, a triceratops and mummies.     Fifty inspired images will join that rare collection through the Wilderness Forever 50 photography competition, which celebrates Lyndon B. Johnson’s signing the Wilderness Act 50 years ago.     Our natural treasury of wilderness amounts to more than 100 million acres. Wildernesses — “rare, wild...

My mother had three flower gardens, and my dad cared for the vegetable garden when we lived in Laconia, New Hampshire. The garden between the sidewalk and the foundation of the house was approximately two feet wide and 15 feet long. Here mother planted annuals that she started from seeds on the sun porch using discarded egg cartons. As the seedlings grew she transplanted them into Dixie cups that she rescued from the trash bin following church dinners. Petunias were her favorite followed by...