When I had my first baby, I was amazed to see how quickly I, a right-handed person, learned to accomplish certain tasks with my left hand while holding my daughter in my right arm. “Look at me, brushing my teeth like a born lefty!” I remember thinking on my first morning as a new mom. Read full article > >

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Brain quickly adapts when arm is immobilized, study finds

The saddest story from Christmas keeps getting worse: Lomer Johnson, the man who played Santa Claus at Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store on Christmas Eve, died while apparently trying to save one of his granddaughters in the Connecticut house fire that killed five people. His body was found on the roof outside of a granddaughter’s bedroom; Johnson's wife and three granddaughters died in the blaze, while his daughter survived. The house has since been razed . Though there have been reports that the fire was caused by embers from a fireplace, the fire department still is not commenting on its cause except to say it wasn’t arson.

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Grandpa Tried to Save Kids From Fire

A wrong guess on a size led Nancy Scott and her daughter Laura to Nordstrom at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, where they were waiting in line Monday afternoon to return a pair of shoes given as a holiday gift — and score some deals. “We came to do an exchange, and we ended up buying more,” said Nancy Scott, who lives in Alexandria, while holding a stack of shoe boxes. “We are a retailer’s dream.” Read full article > >

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On day after Christmas, bargain hunters aren’t disappointed

My daughter participated in a Christmas gift exchange in her young-adult-usher ministry. Every teen but my daughter brought gift cards. She came with a movie to exchange. Her gift was not so popular. My, how times have changed. Forget the crazy-colored scarves or the overly bold-smelling lotion gift packs. The gift card is the go-to present when you don’t know what to get someone. My husband and I laughed that the teens could have put all the cards in a bowl and then selected the one each wanted. Read full article > >

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If you’re giving or getting a gift card, some safety tips to follow

If you’ve never read anything by Anita Desai, you’re out of excuses. One of India’s most celebrated writers, she’s been publishing for almost 50 years and come close to winning the Booker Prize three times. (Ironically, her daughter, Kiran Desai, beat her to it in 2006 for “ The Inheritance of Loss .”) Now she’s released “ The Artist of Disappearance ,” a collection of three superb novellas that’s a rare gift in the sparse December publishing season. Here, in miniature, you can experience the deceptively subtle, slightly surreal and profoundly insightful fiction of a world-class writer. Read full article > >

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Book review: Gripping novellas in Anita Desai’s ‘Artist of Disappearance’

Ms. Lewis, the daughter of an unwed Loretta Young and Clark Gable, was 31 before she confronted her mother and learned the truth of her upbringing.

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Judy Lewis, Secret Daughter of Hollywood, Dies at 76Judy Lewis, Secret Daughter of Hollywood, Dies at 76

Emma Sullivan, you’re lucky you’re not my daughter. (Dangerous sentence, I know: My daughters might agree.) If you were my daughter, you’d be writing that letter apologizing to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback for the smart­alecky, potty-mouthed tweet you wrote after meeting with him on a school field trip. Read full article > >

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Emma Sullivan’s potty-mouthed tweet has a lesson for all of us

About the daters … Desired superpowers … Allison:  I would want to be a time traveler so that I could have breakfast at a beach cafe in Greece, eat street fare in Thailand for lunch, have an afternoon glass of wine in South Africa and enjoy a tagine for dinner in Morocco. Chris:  Fly very fast. Always wanted to fly airplanes, although I hate flying. The highlight of my life, next to the birth of my daughter, was when I went sky diving in Hawaii last year. Read full article > >

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Date Lab: He’s nervous. Cue flying chicken.

Lawyers for a Greater Manchester mother trying to find her daughter, who was abducted by the child’s father in 2009, issue an appeal to trace her.

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Bid to trace girl abducted by dad

After he was filmed beating his daughter.

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Child-Abuse Judge Won’t Face Charges

Dorothy Rodham was a strong influence in the life of her daughter, the former first lady, senator from New York and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

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Dorothy Rodham, Mother of Hillary Clinton, Dies at 92

I am the daughter and granddaughter of lawyers and the great-granddaughter of a judge. For me, it seems only natural to seek a lawyer’s advice before signing an important legal document, especially a contract that dictates the terms for a project with bankrupting potential, such as building a new home or a major remodeling project. Read full article > >

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Don’t let bond with builder keep you from getting lawyer’s advice on contract

A French father’s 29-year fight for justice after the death of his daughter ends with her kidnapped stepfather being jailed for killing her.

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Abducted stepdad jailed for death

To the daughter of an airline pilot.

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Bhutan’s ‘Dragon King’ to Wed

Opportunities were missed in the case of a father who murdered his daughter and attempted to murder his son in Evesham, a report finds.

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River plunge death ‘preventable’