Stephen J. Lyons – Page 4

A man walks past the empty square at the Louvre Pyramid in Paris on March 17, 2020, while a strict lockdown comes into in effect in France to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Commentary: Digging into the new normal during the coronavirus pandemic

March 20, 2020 at 9:13 p.m.

Mourning doves have returned, and today, for the first time this spring, I heard black-capped chickadees. The sounds of toads trilling for mates rose from the wet farm fields nearby....

Children play basketball at dusk in Chicago in 2017.

Commentary: All-Star game festivities wake up memories of a childhood spent loving basketball and Chicago

February 21, 2020 at 3:06 p.m.

After watching the pregame festivities at this year's NBA All-Star game in Chicago, I gave in to what I had denied ever since I left home at the know-nothing age...

Commentary: Tired of making lemonade out of lemons? Suck on some misery instead.

January 29, 2020 at 3:41 p.m.

We all know people who are way too cheerful. I am talking about those overachievers of joy and hope who, in the face of climate change, Ted Cruz's beard and...

Shoppers flock to Water Tower Place in Chicago on Nov. 29 looking for Black Friday deals.

Commentary: Holiday shopping? Bah! I haven’t bought a thing.

December 13, 2019 at 5:10 p.m.

The unrelenting onslaught of pre-Christmas ads to pressure me into buying stuff I do not need came weeks before Black Friday. Everywhere I turned I was assaulted with "once-a-year savings"...

The view from the observation deck at the building formerly known as the John Hancock Center, as fog passes through downtown Chicago on June 6, 2019.

Commentary: President Trump warned us Afghanistan would be better, but we risked it all for love in Chicago

October 29, 2019 at 4:54 p.m.

"It's embarrassing to us as a nation. All over the world, they're talking about Chicago. Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison. It's true." — President Donald Trump, Oct. 28,...

A television in the White House press office airs three cable news network programs in 2017.

Commentary: ‘Who won the week?’ Me, because I stopped watching cable news

September 6, 2019 at 4:45 p.m.

I was slogging through my Saturday workout at the gym trying to balance and read a book on the elliptical while ignoring the three muted television sets on the wall....

A candlelight vigil on Aug. 7, 2019, honors victims of the mass shooting that left at least 22 people dead in El Paso, Texas.

Commentary: My America, I hardly know you anymore

August 16, 2019 at 12:56 p.m.

Oh, my America, so red, white and bruised. Scars and strife forever. Beautiful for specious lies. My country 'tis of thee, what has become of thee? You have exhausted me...

Grieving over Mom: No, she’s not in a ‘better place’

May 31, 2019 at 4:27 p.m.

Two days before my mother died, she was incontinent, incoherent and, with the exception of some humming, incommunicado. Dementia had swept away her ability to swallow food or water, and...

A makeshift memorial is seen Oct. 30, 2018, outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 people were killed on Saturday.

How to find strength in dark times

May 31, 2019 at 4:17 p.m.

On the morning of the synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh, my 87-year-old father was undergoing surgery at New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital to repair a broken femur. On his way...

The slap — and a lesson I’ll never forget

May 31, 2019 at 4:25 p.m.

This is how I remember it happening: I’m in third or fourth grade, an average student at Chicago’s Bret Harte Elementary School, a boy who preferred staring out the windows...

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