Admit it. What are the first images that come to mind when you hear the words affordable housing? The very first thoughts, before your politically correct filter edits your response? Unkempt backyards? Crowded apartments? Lowered property values? Deteriorating schools?

We tried. We really tried to take a break from the news during the holidays. We limited watching MSNBC, listening to NPR, reading the Globe and the New York Times. One of our phones even reported screen time down almost 30 percent.

As we know, many among us have little to be merry about. Charles Dickens long ago gave us a poignant and memorable look at the less fortunate during the holidays with A Christmas Carol, his heart-wrenching tale from the mid-19th century of the overworked and underpaid, those who had little but could still find joy in their friendships and family.

Nonpartisan, according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, means “not partisan, especially: free from party affiliation, bias, or designation.” Disinterested, dispassionate, equitable, impartial and indifferent are a few of the suggested synonyms. Leading Ladies was founded with the promise that we would be nonpartisan by not endorsing any candidate or political party. We would take a stance on issues, however, and those positions might sometimes, and even often, ally with particular candidates, and even one party, more than another.

Everyone has an opinion about statistics. There are those who stake their lives on them and those who ignore them summarily. Mark Twain is famous for reputedly saying, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics,” though he attributed the words to British Premier Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

None of us was the mother of gifted athletes. Nonetheless, our kids played sports from a very young age, not because we were in search of an athletic scholarship or a spot in the majors, but because it was the thing to do. Our towns all offered soccer and tee ball, then Little League and Pop Warner football. With the right coaches promoting good sportsmanship and mutual respect, and parents on the sidelines doing the same, sports for our kids were a fine way to spend a Saturday morning or weekday afternoon.

Last week was a busy one in the news. The war in Gaza and Israel. The war in Ukraine. Election Day. The Republican debate. The Trump civil fraud trial in New York. The aftermath of the recent horrific mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine.

“The reality is that people with mental illness account for a very small proportion of perpetrators of mass shootings in the U.S., says Ragy Girgis, MD, associate professor of clinical psychiatry in the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, in a recent issue of the Columbia Psychiatry News.

At least a handful of mobile phones lit up last Wednesday night with news of an in-progress mass shooting in Maine while our audience at The Cabot listened to a panel of experts speak about the US gun violence crisis. As if on cue, and as if we all needed a reminder of how frequent and devastating mass shootings are, a lone shooter was killing at least 18 people with a semi-automatic rifle (AR-15 style) in a bar and a bowling alley less than three hours north of us.

We (Therese and Judy) went out to dinner last Wednesday night. Our fashionably late reservations were for 8 pm so we left the North Shore at 7, heading to the Merrimack Valley. As we pulled into our dinner venue, the last bus pulled out of the terminal on Common Street in Lawrence. Why is this relevant? Because our dinner destination was the Buckley Transportation Center where folding tables are set up family style every Wednesday in the bus parking spaces to provide a warm meal and more for the homeless population of Lawrence.

This week, it is difficult to think or write about anything other than the war in the Middle East. 

Tracy Kidder doesn't walk by homeless people on the street anymore. He doesn’t act as if they are invisible. He makes eye contact. He speaks to them. And he usually gives them money.

We are excited to invite you to an evening with leading activists committed to stopping gun violence on our streets, in our schools, and inside our homes. If you have ever felt frustrated, discouraged, or confused about the gun law debate, join us on Wednesday, October 25 at 7 pm at The Cabot in Beverly to learn what we all can do to effect change and help protect people of all ages and walks of life.

We think the issue described below raises some ethical and philosophical questions worth chewing on. We hope you will share your ideas with us.

Statistics out last week about childhood poverty are staggering. The child poverty rate, calculated to include the impact of government tax and spending programs, was 9.7 percent in 2020, 5.2 percent in 2021, and 12.4 percent in 2022. To put that in numbers, according to John Cassidy in The New Yorker, “the number of children living in households under the poverty line went from 7.2 million in 2020 to 3.8 million in 2021 to nine million in 2022.”

We are no longer surprised when we hear that poor people and people of color have a harder time accessing good health care because they don’t have adequate insurance or don’t get sick days at work. We get that co-pays can make it difficult for many to purchase needed medications or go to doctors’ appointments.

Many of us are watching our children and grandchildren head off to school this week, some for the first time. Those of us in the Northeast can be pretty sure (and yes, we've know about the problem in Ludlow, MA, but it's an outlier) that the shelves in school libraries will not be emptied of books that depict characters with two mothers or fathers, or boys or girls questioning their sexual…

We thought it might be interesting to ask some friends, relatives, or colleagues – or reflect on our own experiences as immigrants – what voting was like in their countries of origin. Did every adult get to vote? Was it mandatory? Were there fines or punishments for not voting?

The son of a friend of ours lives in a western mountain state where he hunts for elk and deer. He then butchers the felled animals and feeds his family with the meat. His wife only eats the meat he has provided – other meat only if she knows how it was sourced. The deer and elk are hunted during…

I’ve reached the age when young people sometimes offer me their seats on the subway in New York City. I take it, knowing I could stand, if necessary. Is that cheating?

Some people think affirmative action is cheating. They say it’s giving seats to people who don’t deserve it.