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2020-04-01 Readers Digest PDF
2020-04-01 Readers Digest PDF
N U T R I T I O N T H AT P E R F O R M S ®
AVAILABLE
FOR CATS
& DOGS
APRIL 2020
BODY FAT
SECRETS
You Need
to Know
An RD ORIGINAL
An RD EXCLUSIVE
UNSOLVED
MURDERS
That Still Shock the Nation
6
Fast Back
Stop Worrying—
Do a Jigsaw Puzzle
An RD ORIGINAL
He Paid Off a
Pain Fixes Stranger’s Taxes
By SARI HARRAR An EVERYDAY HERO
Ů H
Recipes
KRŅHVRPH
with
D O
Z LQJĺHGLHQWŷ"
I dig it.
CONTENTS
Features 76 90
national interest special report
56
cover story
Why Are Military
Families on Food
Stamps?
Heroes in the
Heartland
Twenty-five years after
THEY GOT AWAY Some of America’s the bombing in Okla-
WITH MURDER bravest are going hun-
gry. Why aren’t we do-
homa City, the tales
Five whodunits that of courage and survival
still confound the law. ing more to help them? amid the horror that
by bill hangley jr., andy
by cynthia mcfadden, day are as searing and
christine romo, and
simmons, and marc peyser kenzi abou-sabe from inspiring as ever.
nbc news by henry hurt
68
health & medicine
New Help for
84 104
humor first person
Aching Backs How I Know It’s Spring Taking the Leap
nomoco
Old advice: Pain pills, Yes, the snow is starting A woman confronts her
shots, and surgery. The to melt. But even better: three biggest triggers—
science: Harness your The Dairy Queen is all at once.
brain and go low-tech. getting ready to reopen. by eva holland from the
by sari harrar by philip gulley from the book nerve: adventures in
saturday evening post the science of fear
84
Reader ’s Digest
Departments
6 Dear Reader
8 Letters
10
everyday heroes
10 A Very Special
Tax Break
by emily goodman
14 The Wolf at
the Door
by andy simmons
your true stories
16 An Old Dog’s
New Trick
quotable quotes
18 Kevin Hart,
Margaret Atwood,
Soledad O’Brien
how to
20 Connect with
Strangers
by elizabeth bernstein
from the wall street
journal
On the Cover
(torn paper). this page: ee berger
2 april 2020
Contents
department of wit
48 This Team Is a
Humor Disaster
24 by victor mather
from the new york
Laughter, the Best times
Medicine
news from the
35 world of medicine
Laugh Lines 52 Don’t Clean Too
Much, and More
46
Life in These
United States
51
36 Humor in Uniform
88
114
joleen zubek (citrus and zen puzzle). life on white/getty images (horse)
everyday miracles
30 A Lifesaving The Genius
Traffic Stop
by caroline fanning
Section
114 Piece of Mind
13 things by caitlin agnew
32 Body-Fat Secrets 118 Brain Games
You Need to Know 120 Word Power
by denise mann 124 Photo Finish
the food on
your plate Send letters to [email protected] or Letters, Reader’s Digest, PO Box 6100,
36 I Am Citrus Harlan, Iowa 51593-1600. Include your full name, address, e-mail, and
by kate lowenstein daytime phone number. We may edit letters and use them in all print and
and daniel gritzer electronic media. Contribute your True Stories at rd.com/stories. If we
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i won! humor items, visit rd.com/submit, or write to us at Jokes, 44 South Broadway,
7th Floor, White Plains, NY 10601. We’ll pay you $25 for any joke or gag and
40 Masters of $100 for any true funny story published in a print edition of Reader’s Digest
Musical Whistling unless we specify otherwise in writing. Please include your full name and
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42 Store Plastic tion, and other inquiries at rd.com/help, or write to us at customercare@
Bags, and More rd.com or Reader’s Digest, PO Box 6095, Harlan, Iowa 51593-1595.
rd.com 3
A DV ERTI S EM EN T
HAS NEVER
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DEAR READER
A
Regular people caught
few months ago, I became in frightening situations make
enthralled by a podcast series for page-turning journalism.
so dark I hesitate to recom-
mend it to you. Every commute for but I believe I devour these kind of
days, Root of Evil filled my car with stories for a legitimate reason: They
the voices of two sisters, Rasha and concern the search for the hardest
Yvette, as they uncovered four gen- truths imaginable. What kept me lis-
erations of terrifying secrets within tening to the Hodel story, for instance,
their clan, the Hodels. wasn’t just ghoulish fascination. It was
I’ll spare you the details here, some admiration. The voices of the family
of which (only some, thankfully) members reckoning with the horrors
you will learn from our cover story caused by their loved ones carried a
(page 56). But I won’t hold back on searing honesty that can’t be faked.
my own secret: I can’t get enough of If you, too, are drawn to stories of
well-told stories about unfathomable ordinary people experiencing the
evil like this. worst their fellow humans have to of-
I was rapt when my catechism class fer and somehow coming out stronger,
turned to the first Biblical murder, of I do unhesitatingly recommend one
Abel by Cain. In college, I devoted my recent source. As I read the 41 tales
senior thesis to In Cold Blood, Truman in our new True Crime collection, I from top: joleen zubek. matthew cohen
Capote’s attempt to make sense of felt each bringing me closer not
the random murder of the Clutter only to crime fighters, survivors,
family in their home on the Kan- and witnesses, but to humanity.
sas plains. Perhaps my favorite The books are available at shop
film character is FBI trainee Cla- .rd.com/truecrime. I think you’ll
rice Starling in The Silence find them thrilling reading.
of the Lambs, the every-
Bruce Kelley,
woman who hunts for
editor-in-chief
one serial murderer with
clues offered by another. Write to me at
I may be rationalizing, [email protected].
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Reader ’s Digest
LETTERS
my angel. Two things
I want to emphasize:
Notes on the 1) Do not drive yourself
February issue to the hospital! 2) Teach
the people around you
what to do when you
have an attack.
—Nancy Lantz
Scandinavia, Wisconsin
I am hearing-impaired, as are my two
children. Almost as soon as our “superdog,” Life in These
Skippy, came to live with us, she seemed to United States
sense that we could not hear. When some- I read the excuses for
skipping church to
one comes to the door, Skippy nudges me my husband, a retired
until I follow her. She barks only when my pastor. He especially
husband, who has perfect hearing, is home. appreciated the excuse
—Becky meyers Cedarville, Michigan “The pastor is too
attractive.” He grinned
and said, “Yeah, I al-
Our dog Missy was so Losing Laura ways had that problem.”
smart, I was able to My sympathies to Peter —nancy
teach her to read! I DeMarco and the par- payne-olewiler
made five posters, each ents of Laura Levis. Fleming Island, Florida
with the name of one Years ago, I did the
of her favorite toys. I same thing as Laura A Safe Home
would hold the poster and drove myself to the for Women
and name the toy, then hospital during an Great article about
ask her to go get it. After asthma attack. The Kathrine Lee and Susan
several weeks, I stopped front door was locked. Kovaka saving women
naming the toy and Nowhere was there a from trafficking. I would
just said, “Go get it!” sign for the emergency also like to shout out
It took a while, but with entrance. I found a Dedee Lhamon, who
practice, she would phone booth down started the Covering
bring the right toy the street, and while House in St. Louis
100 percent of the time. I was trying to find the for the same reasons.
—maggie roth number, a police officer As someone who
Tyler, Texas stopped and asked if has supported this
Spook Us!
With the Reader’s Digest office located just miles
from Sleepy Hollow, New York—the setting for the
famous Headless Horseman story—we are always
in a Halloween mood. Soon enough, it will be your
turn. So we want to know: What’s the most mem-
orable Halloween costume you’ve ever worn or
seen? Scary, funny, or just strange—all are good.
Share your story (and photo if you have one!)
and see terms at RD.COM/COSTUME.
Reader ’s Digest
EVERYDAY HEROES
A Very Special
Tax Break
By Emily Goodman
M
ichael Evans was standing in the idea of this woman losing her
line at the Wayne County Trea- home right after losing her child. He
surer’s Office in Detroit last approached the window. “I don’t
August, waiting to pay his taxes, when mean to butt in,” he said to the ca-
he heard a disturbing sound ahead of shier, “but if y’all can get her house
him. The elderly woman at the win- back, I’ll pay for her taxes.” The
dow was crying—and so was the ca- amount due: $5,000.
shier helping her. Then Evans learned The two women were stunned.
why: He heard the cashier inform the Their despair turned to disbelief.
woman that her house was in fore- The cashier left for a moment to con-
closure and headed for auction. He firm the amount and that it was all
also heard the woman tell the cashier right for Evans to pay it. Evans vowed
that her daughter had recently died. to go straight to the bank and come
Evans, a businessman who had just right back with the money. And he
buried his father, couldn’t stomach did.
10 april 2020
Michael Evans
(right) inspires
his son (left)
to continue
his legacy of
charity.
But when he returned to the trea- all the money the restaurant made
surer’s office, he asked someone else that day to the boy’s family.
waiting in line to hand the $5,000 “We help people, me and my son,”
check to the cashier. Evans was trying Evans says. “We send a check; we walk
to slip away quietly and, preferably, into funeral homes and just pay for
anonymously. the whole funeral. We try to help our
“I didn’t want this attention,” he community.”
explains. Why does Evans give so much to
Of course, attention found him— strangers? It’s a question he never
it’s not every day that someone pays fully answers. “To be honest, I don’t
a stranger’s hefty tax bill. That said, like putting money in the banks,” he
Evans often finds himself on the says. “Doing things with your money
giving end of charitable situations, is better.” As for paying the elderly
woman’s taxes, he says he did it “for
no other reason but to make sure the
EVANS VOWED TO lady was in her house.”
COME RIGHT BACK A few weeks after the tax incident,
WITH THE MONEY. Evans received the Spirit of Detroit
Award for his lifetime of generosity.
AND HE DID. Again, he didn’t want the attention,
but his son felt the honor was over-
due. “It was good to see my dad finally
though for years he went unrecog- get the recognition he deserves,” the
nized for it. He is the president of M2E younger Evans says.
Investments—the name is a reference Michael Evans Sr. is nearing 60 and
to his son (and namesake), Michael will retire soon. Before he does, he
Evans II. The firm owns a variety of hopes to convert some commercial
businesses, from restaurants to a spaces he recently acquired into low-
portable restroom company, most lo- income housing. And he’ll continue to
cated in the inner city of Detroit and sponsor his local youth football league
many devoted to improving it. His team—he pays for their equipment,
1 Premium Driving School gives driv- uniforms, and out-of-state travel.
ing lessons to teenagers, often for free. His son will carry on with the busi-
In 2015, when he saw a story on the ness, and—no less important—with
news about a local boy with an incur- his dad’s penchant for philanthropy.
able bone disease, Evans held a fund- “I model my life after him,” Evans II
raiser at his Detroit Shrimp & Fish says of his father. “When I have kids, I
restaurant to help pay for the boy’s want them to look at me the way I look
wheelchair and van. He also donated at my dad.” RD
Blue Cross Blue Shield Companies are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Reader ’s Digest Everyday Heroes
R
uss Fee was asleep inside his Matt and emerged from the tent.
tent last summer when a series Wolves are large, Fee told the radio
of screams jolted him awake. show Calgary Eyeopener. “I felt like I
Throwing on his shoes, he ran out had punched someone that was way
to investigate. Fee and his wife were out of my weight class.”
traveling through Can- Before the wolf could
ada’s Banff National turn its ire on Fee, Matt,
Park to enjoy its stun- his arms bloodied, flew
ning beauty and awe- out of the tent to re-
some wildlife. It was the sume the battle. The
latter he now encoun- men pelted the wolf
tered. Although it was with rocks, forcing it
dark, Fee could discern back, then the Fees
a neighboring tent in and the Rispolis fled to
shambles. Backing out the shelter of the Fees’
was a wolf, dragging minivan. An ambulance
something in his teeth. was called, and Matt
That thing was a man. was taken to a local hos-
M o m e n t s e a r l i e r, Without Russ Fee (above), pital suffering puncture
says Elisa Rispoli, the
Elisa and Matt Rispoli, wounds and lacerations.
attack “could have been
from New Jersey, were so, so much worse.” He has fully recovered.
asleep with their two The wolf was tracked
young children when the wolf tore down by park officials and euthanized.
into their tent. “It was like something As for Fee, whom Elisa dubbed
out of a horror movie,” Elisa posted their guardian angel, he does ad-
courtesy russ fee
JHLFRFRP_$872_/RFDO2IĆFH
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2019. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, DC 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway
Inc. subsidiary. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2020. © 2020 GEICO 19_229013
Reader ’s Digest
Truth in Advertising
YOUR In front of the grocery store, a bubbly Girl
TRUE
Scout stood beside a table full of cookies.
“Please buy some cookies from me!” she
STORIES
in 100 Words*
begged. “How much are they?” I asked.
“They’re $5 a box, except these two kinds
over here. They’re $6 a box.” Figuring there
must be something special about the two
Splitting Hairs
I work with kids, and $6 varieties, I asked why. “Well, these are
I’d recently gotten gluten-free,” the little girl replied. “What
my hair cut. A little boy about the others?” She beamed. “Oh, those
named Jaiden asked,
“Miss Joanne, did you are overpriced!”
get a haircut?” Trying —Kathryn Thayer Spokane, Washington
to be funny, I replied,
“I got ’em ALL cut.” He
looked at me quizzically
and asked, “What’s a
mall cut?”
—Joanne Rivera
ramona, california
T
here was an old dog in the hear from them. Later, I was making
middle of the road who seemed dinner and heard a knock on the
lost. You could tell he had door. It was the flower man holding
loving owners because he looked a large, beautiful arrangement.
well-fed and he had no street sense. The card read, “I may be old, fat,
The basset hound was blocking and hard of hearing, but you were
a busy street, and everyone was a wonderful woman to save my life.
stopped. A man was able to coax My small owners are relieved that I
the dog out of the road with a ham wasn’t killed. With much love, Bar-
ney the Basset Hound.” I got flowers
*Sometimes 100 words just from a dog! They were a perfect
aren’t enough! centerpiece for my table. RD
rd.com 17
Reader ’s Digest
QUOTABLE QUOTES
I had to take my son’s phone from him,
which is the worst thing to do to a child. He broke down.
He said, “Take my leg instead.”
—Kevin Hart, comedian
from left: david fisher. arthur mola. ap. stephen lovekin (all shutterstock)
In the spring, at the end of the day,
you should smell like dirt.
—Margaret Atwood, author
POINT TO PONDER
Why do American warriors under fire do what they have done
since this nation’s inception? It is our love of nation, our way of
life, and our love for those with whom we serve, side by side.
We defend, we avenge, we sacrifice, and we are willing to die for
this unique creation, the United States of America.
—Staff Sgt. David Bellavia, medal of honor recipient
HOW TO
Connect with
Strangers
Sometimes random interactions can
be the most meaningful
By Elizabeth Bernstein
from the wall street journal
W
e were five minutes into nervous.”
the worst turbulence I’d ever We hadn’t spoken much during the
experienced—approaching flight, other than the usual pleasant-
Boston’s Logan International Airport ries. But my seatmate seemed friendly.
20 april 2020
In research
s t u d i e s, Sa n d -
strom has found
t h a t p e o p l e’s
moods improve
after they have a
conversation with
a stranger—say, a
Starbucks barista, a
volunteer at a mu-
seum, or the per-
son next to them in
line. Overall, people
report that they are
happier on days when
And I suddenly felt desperate for a they have more inter-
human connection. actions with acquain-
“Sure. My name is Sue,” the woman tances they don’t know well.
replied, smiling warmly. “What brings And yet most of us resist talking to
you to Boston?” I started to explain people we don’t know or barely know.
that I was on a business trip. Then the We fret about the mechanics of the
plane lurched violently, and I blurted conversation—how to start, maintain,
out, “I might need to hold your hand or stop it. We think we will blather on
too.” Sue took my hand in both of and disclose too much, or not talk
hers, patted it, and held on tight. enough. We worry we will bore the
Sometimes a stranger can signifi- other person.
cantly improve our day. A pleasant We’re typically wrong. Sandstrom’s
encounter with someone we don’t research shows that people under-
know, even a nonverbal exchange, estimate how much another person
can soothe us when no one else is will like them when they talk for the
around. It may get us out of our own first time. In a study in which she
heads—a proven mood booster—and asked participants to talk to at least
help broaden our perspective. one stranger a day for five days,
“People feel more connected when 99 percent said they had found at
they talk to strangers, like they are least one of the exchanges pleasantly
part of something bigger,” says Gillian surprising, 82 percent said they’d
Sandstrom, a psychologist and senior learned something from one of the
lecturer at the University of Essex who strangers, 43 percent had exchanged
studies interactions between strangers. contact information, and 40 percent
rd.com 21
Reader ’s Digest
woman on a plane who talked about and what I learned: It’s OK to ask for
the joys of being an older mother. help from a stranger if you need it.
When Sue Pernick took my hand Now if I mention to my friends that I
on that scary flight to Boston, I al- am stressed or worried, they respond,
most wept with relief. She was so “Just think of Sue!” RD
calm, validating, and reassuring—
wall street journal (may 11, 2019), copyright
“Yep, this is a little bumpy, but we’ll © 2019 by dow jones & company, inc.
22 april 2020
7. Open up. Mutual
days when they interact disclosure helps make
with more acquaintances. connections.
rd.com 23
LAUGHTER
The best Medicine
An elderly couple had tears. And if you are one: Have you ever
just learned how to sleeping, send me your blacked out?”
send text messages. dreams. I love you.” “No.”
The wife was a roman- Her husband texted “And finally, ques-
tic type, and the back, “I’m on the tion number ten.”
husband was more toilet, please advise.” —Lee Mack, comedian
of a no-nonsense guy. —friarsclub.com
One afternoon, the In the foyer of a church,
wife decided to send A market researcher a young boy was look-
her husband a text. approached me and ing at a plaque with
She wrote,“If you are said, “Can I ask you the names of men and
laughing, send me ten questions?” women who had died
your smile. If you are “Go on,” I said. in various wars. He
crying, send me your “Question number asked the pastor,
IS YOUR
BLADDER
ALWAYS
TAKING YOU
ON A TRIP
OF ITS OWN?
Urgency
Freq uenc y
Leak age
place of talking with your doctor about your medical condition or treatment.
What is Myrbetriq (meer-BEH-trick)?
Myrbetriq is a prescription medication for adults used to treat the following symptoms due to a
condition called overactive bladder:
• Urge urinary incontinence: a strong need to urinate with leaking or wetting accidents
• Urgency: a strong need to urinate right away
• Frequency: urinating often
It is not known if Myrbetriq is safe and effective in children.
Who should not use Myrbetriq?
Do not take Myrbetriq if you have an allergy to mirabegron or any of the ingredients in Myrbetriq.
See the end of this summary for a complete list of ingredients in Myrbetriq.
What should I tell my doctor before taking Myrbetriq?
Before you take Myrbetriq, tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions, including if you:
• have liver problems or kidney problems
• have very high uncontrolled blood pressure
• have trouble emptying your bladder or you have a weak urine stream
• are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if Myrbetriq will harm your unborn
baby. Talk to your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.
• are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Myrbetriq passes into your breast milk.
Talk to your doctor about the best way to feed your baby if you take Myrbetriq.
Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter
medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Myrbetriq may affect the way other medicines work,
and other medicines may affect how Myrbetriq works.
Tell your doctor if you take:
• thioridazine (Mellaril™ or Mellaril-S™)
®
• )
• propafenone (Rythmol®)
• digoxin (Lanoxin®)
• solifenacin succinate (VESIcare®)
How should I take Myrbetriq?
• Take Myrbetriq exactly as your doctor tells you to take it.
• You should take 1 Myrbetriq tablet 1 time a day.
• You should take Myrbetriq with water and swallow the tablet whole.
• Do not chew, break, or crush the tablet.
• You can take Myrbetriq with or without food.
• If you miss a dose of Myrbetriq, begin taking Myrbetriq again the next day. Do not take 2 doses
of Myrbetriq the same day.
• If you take too much Myrbetriq, call your doctor or go to the nearest hospital emergency room
right away.
What are the possible side effects of Myrbetriq?
Myrbetriq may cause serious side effects including:
• increased blood pressure. Myrbetriq may cause your blood pressure to increase or make your
blood pressure worse if you have a history of high blood pressure. It is recommended that your
doctor check your blood pressure while you are taking Myrbetriq.
• inability to empty your bladder (urinary retention). Myrbetriq may increase your chances of not
being able to empty your bladder if you have bladder outlet obstruction or if you are taking
other medicines to treat overactive bladder. Tell your doctor right away if you are unable to
empty your bladder.
• angioedema. Myrbetriq may cause an allergic reaction with swelling of the lips, face, tongue,
q and tell your doctor right away.
The most common side effects of Myrbetriq include:
• increased blood pressure • dizziness
• common cold symptoms • joint pain
(nasopharyngitis)
• dry mouth • headache
• constipation
• urinary tract infection • sinus (sinus irritation)
• back pain
(cystitis)
Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away or if you have
swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, hives, skin rash or itching while taking Myrbetriq.
These are not all the possible side effects of Myrbetriq.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA
at 1-800-FDA-1088.
How should I store Myrbetriq?
• Store Myrbetriq between 59°F to 86°F (15°C to 30°C). Keep the bottle closed.
• Safely throw away medicine that is out of date or no longer needed.
Keep Myrbetriq and all medicines out of the reach of children.
General information about the safe and effective use of Myrbetriq
Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in the Patient Information
ot prescribed. Do not give Myrbetriq
to other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have. It may harm them.
You can ask your doctor or pharmacist for information about Myrbetriq that is written for
health professionals.
For more information, visit www.Myrbetriq.com or call (800) 727-7003.
What are the ingredients in Myrbetriq?
Active ingredient: mirabegron
Inactive ingredients: polyethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, hydroxypropyl cellulose, butylated
hydroxytoluene, magnesium stearate, hypromellose, yellow ferric oxide and red ferric oxide
(25 mg Myrbetriq tablet only).
What is overactive bladder?
Overactive bladder occurs when you cannot control your bladder contractions. When these muscle
contractions happen too often or cannot be controlled, you can get symptoms of overactive bladder,
which are urinary frequency, urinary urgency, and urinary incontinence (leakage).
Marketed and Distributed by:
Astellas Pharma US, Inc.
Northbrook, Illinois 60062
Myrbetriq® is a registered trademark of Astellas Pharma Inc. All other trademarks or registered
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
©2012 - 2018 Astellas Pharma US, Inc.
Revised: April 2018
206813-MRVS-BRFS
057-2652-PM
Reader ’s Digest
EVERYDAY MIRACLES
K
emira Boyd had just jumped to cry. Now she didn’t make a sound.
in the shower when she heard “I’d been told to raise their arms when
her stepmother, Tammy Boyd, babies are choking, so I tried that, but
banging on the door. Kemira’s 12-day- she still was hesitating to breathe,”
old daughter was choking. Having Kemira told Today. She knew Ryleigh
fed and burped baby Ryleigh just needed to get to the hospital fast.
30 minutes earlier, the 24-year-old The trio had barely made it out of
new mother burst out of the bath- their Summerville, South Carolina,
room and began patting her daughter neighborhood when the flashing lights
on the back. Ryleigh was usually quick of a police cruiser appeared behind
rd.com 31
Reader ’s Digest
13 THINGS
1 2
those extra pounds There are two neck region, burns
should be avoided major kinds of energy rather than
at all costs, right? body fat. White storing it the way white
Actually, while being fat, the most abundant fat does, according
overweight isn’t gener- type, is what you feel to Scott Kahan, MD,
ally good for our health, when you “pinch an director of the National
not all fat is created inch” on your mid- Center for Weight and
equal—some may even section. Brown fat, Wellness in Washing-
be beneficial. found mainly in the ton, DC.
4 7
Infants have Brown fat does keeping us from starv-
high levels of have its drawbacks. ing when food is scarce.
brown fat, which Radiologists don’t
9
helps regulate their like it, because the heat White fat can
body temperature. it generates makes it sometimes be
Sadly, we lose it as we harder for body scans turned into
age, and adults have to detect tumor-related brown—it’s then called
only small amounts. activity in cancer pa- beige or brite (“brown
tients. Although there’s in white”) fat. Like
5
Adults can rev no firm evidence that brown fat, beige fat
up brown fat by any specific foods or burns calories and
exposing them- nutrients can activate can thus help combat
selves to cold tempera- brown fat, radiologists obesity. Scientists are
tures. In a recent study, routinely recommend still trying to figure
people who slept in that patients eat a out how the conversion
a mildly cold room high-fat, low-carb diet happens; one study
(about 66 degrees F) before scans on the points to a hormone
increased the amount grounds that this re- called irisin, which
and activity of their duces brown fat activa- our muscles produce
brown fat by up to tion. (This suggests that when we exercise.
40 percent. Sleeping a low-fat, high-carb
10
in mild warmth diet could boost brown Fat cells’
(81 degrees F), how- fat activity.) Radiolo- sensitivity to
ever, decreased their gists even keep their temperature
amount of brown fat. waiting rooms warm changes means there’s
Cold showers don’t to avoid activating more than one way we
seem to affect it. brown fat. can get rid of unwanted
rd.com 33
Reader ’s Digest 13 Things
13
Mount Sinai Medical and new fat cells can fat has been
Center in New York appear after heating linked to
City. The body removes or cooling treatments, brain health.
these damaged cells so they are not a substi- According to a study in
over several months. tute for healthy diet Neurology, people with
and exercise. higher body mass
11
heat can also indices (BMI) and
12
be used to elimi- color isn’t waist-to-hip ratios had
nate fat cells, says the only telltale less gray matter—the
Dr. Chapas. “Several marker of how material in the brain
studies have shown that harmful fat might be. that helps process new
heating fat cells above For instance, excess information—compared
104 degrees F for a sus- fat stored in the abdo- with their leaner
tained amount of time men or around inner counterparts. But the
can cause the fat cells to organs such as the liver study’s authors can’t
undergo programmed and gut “releases in- say whether body fat
cell death,” she says, flammatory chemicals is the cause of these
and be eliminated from and other molecules differences in the brain
the body. This is the that can increase the or a result of them. RD
Simpler Times
My ten-year-old daughter: Can I go to my friend’s house?
Me: Take your phone and text me every 20 minutes to tell me you’re OK.
Me, when I was ten: I’m off to the abandoned quarry with my pals.
Mom: Dinner’s at five.
@joeheenan
34 april 2020
Reader ’s Digest
LAUGH LINES
To be or not to be a horse
rider, that is equestrian.
—Mark Simmons, comedian
Do other animals
have signature
tranquilizers,
A chicken just told me or are horses
her top-three favorite just especially
composers of all time: stressed out?
—@atanenhaus
Bach, Bach, Bach.
—@ericdadourian
The laminator
Whoever named is a device that
life on white/getty images
Yuks —@Tups13
rd.com 35
G
ather round, one and all; our
show is about to begin. Prepare
the
to be dazzled, prepare to be
FOOD dazed, but we warn you—we citrus
ON YOUR
are masters of disguise and experts at
sleight of hand. You think you know
Po
m
elo
PLATE us, but no, you do not.
Behold this deck of cards. Pictured
on each card is a different one of us:
yuzu, kumquat, kaffir lime, and Meyer
lemon; satsuma, Minneola, tangelo,
and Sumo orange. What names! What
Cl e me
nti flamboyant colors and sweet, bright
n
juiciness! Not to boast, but have you
e
ir
Kaf f this? Your grapefruit is nothing but a
cross between the pomelo and the
sweet orange!
This sleight of hand, you see, is
our greatest trick. All the variations,
colors, shapes, and flavors of us are
nothing more than a shuffling of our
I Am Citrus ... four basic building blocks—the spade,
CREAMY
A GOOD SOURCE OF ORANGE-FENNEL
FIBER AND A GREAT DRESSING
SOURCE OF CRUNCHY
DELICIOUSNESS.
In a small
bowl, whisk
together 1 very finely minced small
shallot, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard,
1 teaspoon ground fennel seed, the zest
of 1 navel orange (about 1 teaspoon),
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, ¼ cup
freshly squeezed navel orange juice,
and 1 cup thick plain Greek yogurt (pref-
erably whole milk, but nonfat and low-
fat work too). Season with salt and
pepper. Serve as a cold or room-
temperature sauce with cold poached
salmon; cold roast pork loin or tender-
loin; or roasted carrots, butternut
squash, or beets.
scurvy, offered a contract to anyone
who made a portable, potable frozen
orange juice rich in vitamin C. (Sim-
ply freezing fresh OJ turns it into a foul
brownish liquid.) It was the USDA that
won the prize, by concentrating the liq-
uid without heating it, then—presto!—
adding a touch of fresh juice for flavor
before freezing the whole concoction.
By this time the war was ending,
so Minute Maid—it was called that
even then—was marketed to civilians.
But get this, dear audience: No one
went for it. The company lost a lot of
money in its first two years. That was
when that old Hollywood crooner Bing
Crosby worked some magic of his own.
In exchange for company stock and
cash, Crosby agreed to put in a good
The Food on Your Plate
I WON!
MASTERS OF
MUSICAL
WHISTLING
COMPETITION
brad gassner, age 34,
St. Clair, Missouri
WE 1
FOUND
Dry Shampoo Your Dog
pets When you can’t give Fido a
A FIX
9 Tricks to
proper bath with soap and water
(in cold weather, for instance), a dry
Improve Your Life* shampooing will at least keep him
smelling fresh. Use baking soda or
a commercial dry pet shampoo. If you
go the baking soda route (it’s gen-
erally cheaper), massage it into
your dog’s coat, let it sit for
a few minutes, then brush
his fur until all the baking
soda (plus the oil and
odor) is gone. There,
now you can scrub
away the ground-in
dirt later.
42 april 2020
We Found a Fix
2
Pack a Power Strip
travel Having multiple
sockets at your disposal
comes in handy during
4
a trip, especially abroad.
Pack a power strip and
you’ll need only one travel
adapter. You’ll also be Pack Away Plastic
able to charge multiple Bags Neatly
devices at the airport, home Reusing plastic
where outlets are few
and the competition for grocery bags is eco-
them can be fierce. friendly and cheap,
but they can take up
3
a lot of room. To store
them efficiently, stuff
Don’t Mix Ammonia as many as you can
and Bleach into an empty paper
health Combining
these common cleaning
towel roll and toss
solvents creates toxic it into a drawer or cab-
vapors that, if inhaled inet. The cardboard
repeatedly, can burn
your throat and cause
tube keeps the plastic
respiratory problems bags contained and
such as bronchitis. Even makes it easy to pull
short-term exposure
out one at a time.
joleen zubek, stylist: mae lander
5
them near one another.
Windex, for example,
contains ammonia, and
drain cleaners such as Make Frozen Fish Taste Fresher
Drano typically include food If you want the fish that has been in your freezer to
bleach. taste like it was freshly caught, soak it in milk while it’s
defrosting, then cook it. You’ll limit the fishy odor too.
rd.com 43
Reader ’s Digest
8
Get a Free Engine-
Light Check
auto If you’re not sure
why your check-engine
light came on, try going to
a chain automotive store
such as AutoZone. They
have a tool that deciphers
your car’s troubleshooting
joleen zubek, stylist: mae lander, backpack courtesy statebags.com, tile courtesy thetileapp.com
codes, and AutoZone will
6
provide the diagnosis for
free. Then you can ad-
dress easy issues (a loose
gas cap, for example)
Never Lose Anything yourself and kick more
technology Are you always misplacing serious problems (such as
your wallet, keys, purse, or briefcase? a misfiring engine) over to
your trusted expert.
Low-cost, high-tech tracking devices can
help. Two of the most popular are Ping
and Tile. Both are Bluetooth-enabled, and
the latest model from Ping also uses GPS.
The devices connect to apps on your
9
Chase Away Deer
with Soap
phone that generate maps to your missing garden Because most
items. Some users attach them to their soap is made with an
pets’ collars or their kids’ backpacks. animal by-product
called tallow, it scares
off deer. Sprinkle shav-
ings in the garden or
7
hang bars near the plants
you want to protect—it
works within about three
Make Ink Cartridges Last Longer feet. Avoid soaps with
money Documents created with fonts that were coconut oil (deer like
originally made for typewriters, such as Courier those), and change the
and Century Gothic, will use less ink when you print scent periodically. Deer
them. So will choosing the “Draft” print option. are adaptable! RD
People say, “I’m taking it one day at a fall on Friday the 13th.
time.” You know what? So is everybody. It was my mother.
✦ That islands don’t
That’s how time works. tip over if you put too
—hannibal buress, comedian much weight on the
edge.
the only woman there.” that neither is “the one ✦ That Earth has one
Dad shrugged. “If that is always hot.” moon. The new moon
I go, you’ll still be the ✦ That Halloween has on the calendar every
only woman there.” never and will never month confused her.
—Gerald E.
Bronnenberg
Nixa, Missouri ON SECOND THOUGHT, I’LL DRIVE
Adult or a dolt? Actual
things grown-ups have
had to have explained Today, I flew on the set of a nightmare.
to them, as shared on
reddit.com:
✦ Why a room below
sea level on a cruise
ship would not have
a balcony.
✦ That there are more
than six bones in the
human body ... she
thought it was head,
back, arms, and legs.
✦ In regard to the
North and South Poles,
courtesy jessie char
rd.com 47
Reader ’s Digest
DEPARTMENT OF WIT
This Team Is a
Disaster
Sports franchise names that make
their fans want to call a mover
By Victor Mather
from the new york times
rd.com 49
Reader ’s Digest Department of Wit
50 april 2020
Reader ’s Digest
Humor in
UNIFORM
Diabetes Drug
May Help Treat
Breast Cancer
In a new study,
researchers treated
certain types of breast
cancer cells in the lab
with metformin, a
medication used to
help lower the blood
sugar levels of people
with type 2 diabetes.
News From the With less sugar to
WORLD OF
feed on, these cells
developed a sugar
MEDICINE
“addiction,” which
made them work
harder to break down
the sugar. That extra
effort in turn made
THE RISK OF NOT the cancer more vul-
nerable to treatment
TRYING NEW FOODS with anticancer drugs.
There’s actually a scientific term for the Researchers found
that when metformin
fear of tasting unfamiliar dishes: food was combined with
neophobia. It’s not just the name that can a cancer treatment,
be scary. A study from Finland and Estonia the cancer cells’
found that people with this trait eat lower- growth slowed by
76 percent. This new
quality diets overall and have an increased approach is particu-
risk of type 2 diabetes—regardless of their larly promising for
age, sex, or weight. To add more variety treating triple-negative
to your diet, you’ll need to be persistent. breast cancer, an ag-
gressive form of the
“An individual may need to try a new food disease that doesn’t
10 to 15 times before getting accustomed to respond well to exist-
it,” says study coauthor Heikki Sarin. ing treatments.
G
ot coronary artery disease? Think twice 74, those who had the
before opting for a stent or bypass surgery to most intense pulses in
improve your blood flow. Confirming the re- the blood vessels in the
sults of a smaller study in 2007, a recent one found neck (as measured by a
that for people with stable heart conditions, these five-minute ultrasound)
procedures are no better than medication were up to 50 percent
at reducing the risk of having a heart more likely to suffer
attack or dying from heart disease. symptoms of dementia
Researchers followed 5,179 men over the next 14 years.
and women in 37 countries, all More intense pulses
of whom had stress-test results might damage blood
indicating they had clogged ar- vessels in the brain,
teries. Participants were given leading to Alzheimer’s.
lifestyle advice and prescribed
medication such as aspirin, When REM
cholesterol-lowering drugs, or Sleep Hurts
blood pressure–lowering drugs to
improve heart health. According to a recent
Once dangerous blockages were experiment, people
ruled out, half the participants were become even more dis-
asked to continue with their lifestyle changes tressed about upsetting
and medication alone. The other half were assigned experiences if their REM
to undergo either bypass surgery (in which doc- sleep is fragmented. Re-
tors reroute blood flow around blockages) or an searchers believe that’s
angioplasty (in which doctors inflate a tiny balloon because REM sleep is
and/or place a stent in the artery to help widen it). the only time the brain
Contrary to what many in the medical commu- stops producing nor-
sciepro/getty images
www.frankincensemyrrh.com
3.00
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BLACK DAHLIA?
children on bikes. “It just didn’t seem
right,” she said later. “I thought I’d bet-
ter call somebody.”
A former Los Angeles police Within an hour, the overgrown lot
detective is sure he knows was crawling with cops and report-
who the murderer is, and the ers, all gaping at a dismembered
suspect is too close for comfort. corpse. The body of the victim—a
small woman, about 118 pounds, dark
inter mornings in Los hair, five foot six—had been meticu-
rd.com 57
Reader ’s Digest
Hollywood.
new york daily news archive/getty images (george hodel), rd photo studio
what distant figure. The son of Russian sible.” But as a police officer, he knew
emigrants and a musical prodigy with that only one thing mattered—the
an IQ higher than Albert Einstein’s, evidence. “We go through life with
58 april 2020
Cover Story
Short’s body—an unusual, delicate for the brass,” says Steve. In an in-
technique known as a hemicorporec- famously corrupt era when would-be
tomy, in which the body is cut in two starlets such as Short counted for little
without breaking a bone. or nothing, it’s entirely plausible that a
◆ The killer sent letters and some well-connected man like George Hodel
of Short’s possessions to the news- could have made a murder investiga-
papers soon after the murder; the tion disappear.
handwriting was a close match to Many agree with Steve’s hypothesis
George’s. about the Black Dahlia—“I have no
George initially came to the cops’ at- doubt,” says one senior LA prosecutor.
tention in 1949, after being charged in Others have their own theories, one
the sexual assault of his own daughter, being that a bellhop murdered Short
Tamar. Witnesses claimed to have seen because she knew of his schemes to
George molest the teen, but defense rob hotels. As Los Angeles newspaper
attorneys argued that she had made
it up to get attention. The jury acquit- “SUPPOSIN’ I DID KILL
ted him. By 1950, Steve learned, police
were investigating George for the Black
THE BLACK DAHLIA.
Dahlia killing. They bugged his Laurel THEY COULDN’T
Canyon mansion and recorded hun- PROVE IT NOW.”
dreds of hours of conversations. At one
point, police heard what sounded like
an unidentified woman being beaten columnist Steve Lopez puts it, “Once
to death and buried, though they never you step inside the cloud of mystery
acted on it. Later, police heard the doc- surrounding the Black Dahlia murder,
tor come close to confessing to Short’s there’s no way out.”
murder: “Supposin’ I did kill the Black Today, Steve Hodel toils on in Los
Dahlia. They couldn’t prove it now.” Angeles, trying to uncover the unde-
But, Steve learned, instead of ques- niable facts about his twisted father.
tioning George about Short, the police “I loved Dr. Jekyll, the good part.
tatiana/getty images (blood drip)
suddenly quit the hunt. And nobody He could have cured cancer, done so
tried to stop him when he left the much for humanity,” he says. “But Mr.
country in 1953 to spend the next Hyde was the stronger character.”
40 years in Southeast Asia. Hodel realizes that he carries some
Why did the LAPD let him slip away? of his father’s traits—the better ones,
Steve has a simple theory: His father he hopes. “What my dad gave me was
had dirt on practically everybody, and the strength and the doggedness,” he
he used it. “He’s performing abortions says. “Those genes that served him in
for the rich and famous, for the cops, darkness serve me to pursue the truth.”
rd.com 59
CAPITOL MURDER
What did the
congressman know?
60 april 2020
Cover Story Reader ’s Digest
police whether he’d had an affair with By then, Condit’s career had dis-
Chandra, Condit replied coyly, “I don’t solved. Two months before Chandra’s
think we need to go there, and you can body was discovered, he lost his Dem-
infer what you want from that.” ocratic primary in a landslide. To this
On May 22, 2002—386 days after day, no evidence has surfaced linking
Chandra Levy had gone missing—a him to her death, and he has stead-
man walking his dog near a wooded fastly refused to say whether he had
trail in Washington’s Rock Creek an affair with her.
shutterstock (capitol)
rd.com 61
THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS
The question lingers: Who killed the 24?
F
or two years, from the sum- “Every day, every night, it seemed
mer of 1979 to the summer of like they were finding bodies,” Sheila
1981, African American parents Baltazar, whose stepson, Patrick Bal-
in Atlanta were terrified. During that tazar, 12, was killed in 1981, told the
span, at least 24 black children and New York Times. “And we were just
teens vanished from the streets only to trying to hold on to our babies.”
turn up later as corpses. The first two, President Ronald Reagan ultimately
14-year-old Edward Smith and 13-year- sent Vice President George H. W.
old Alfred Evans, were found by a Bush to Georgia to be briefed on the
woman rummaging through roadside murders. But the killer has never been
woods for aluminum cans and bottles. found.
Seven-year-old LaTonya Wilson, one At least, not officially. Many Atlanta
of six children who disappeared over residents believe they know who the
the summer of 1980, could be identi- killer is—and he is already in prison.
fied only from her teeth and clothing On May 22, 1981, police were staking
when her remains were found nearly out the James Jackson Parkway bridge
four months after she went missing. when they heard a loud splash in the
62 april 2020
Cover Story Reader ’s Digest
CIA
person driving across the bridge at desperate to quiet the whole affair,
the time was a 23-year-old failed mu- lest it tarnish Atlanta’s rising fortunes
sic producer named Wayne Williams.
The officers stopped and questioned SOME RESIDENTS
bettman/getty images (williams), rd photo studio (photo border).
carpet fibers and dog hairs on Payne Bottoms, who was a frightened nine-
and Cater that matched those on ten year-old at the time of the last killing,
of the murdered children. Perhaps has ordered the police department to
most telling of all: Williams was jailed reopen the case. “This is about being
on June 21, and no more children able to look these families in the eye,”
were killed after that day. Atlanta police chief Erika Shields told
So did Williams murder some, or the Times, “and say we did everything
even all, of the children? The authori- we could possibly do to bring closure
ties thought so, but they saw no need to your case.”
rd.com 63
THE TOWN THAT
SAW NOTHING
A man was murdered in
broad daylight. Why isn’t
anyone talking?
64 april 2020
Cover Story Reader ’s Digest
candy. An enraged McElroy sought McElroy turned the key in the ig-
border). domnicky/getty images (blood drip)
out Bowenkamp and fired a shotgun nition. But before he could put the
round into his neck. The 70-year-old pickup in reverse, someone—or
survived, and McElroy was arrested maybe it was several someones—
and tried. The jury convicted McElroy started firing. The truck’s rear window
of second-degree assault. He was sen- shattered. McElroy slumped over,
tenced to two years, then released on dead. Everyone on the street that day
bond pending appeal. Two years for claimed to investigators not to have
shooting a man? Released on bond? seen a thing.
The people of Skidmore felt betrayed While some would call what hap-
by the legal system yet again. This pened to McElroy justifiable, McFadin
time, they’d had enough. echoed what others believed when he
On the morning of July 10, 1981, told the New York Times, “The town
a mob that allegedly included the got away with murder.”
rd.com 65
JONBENÉT RAMSEY
Did she know her murderer?
66 april 2020
Cover Story Reader ’s Digest
that outside of
the family or the
business. Most
ominously, a
practice ransom
note was found
elsewhere in
the household.
The Ramseys proclaimed their in-
nocence, and police found evidence
that could arguably point in other di-
rections. In the basement, there were
two windows left open, a third that
was broken, and an unlocked door.
Police went on to discover a string of
The tabloids chased the Ramseys for robberies in the neighborhood in re-
years, but they were never tried. cent months. There were also 38 reg-
istered sex offenders living within two
Patsy had killed her daughter in a fit miles of the Ramsey’s house. Maybe
of rage over some kind of imperfec- JonBenét’s pageant career had at-
ric feld/ap/shutterstock (ramseys), rd photo studio (photo border)
tion, such as wetting the bed. Maybe tracted a predator. Or maybe the killer
JonBenét’s nine-year-old brother, knew the family. For a time, suspicion
Burke, was consumed by jealousy fell on a former housekeeper and a
of his beautiful sister. Maybe John neighbor who played Santa Claus.
had been abusing his daughter in Still, the spotlight never moved far
some way. from the Ramsey family, and in 1999
When the police searched the Ram- a grand jury indicted John and Patsy
seys’ stately Tudor home, they found on two counts of child abuse that re-
a potentially telling piece of evidence sulted in the death of their daughter
resting on the kitchen staircase: a ran- (though not murder itself ). But the
som note. Written in neat but slightly Ramseys were never tried: The dis-
rushed print, it began: “Listen care- trict attorney believed the charges
fully! We are a group of individuals were unprovable. Separately, the DA
that represent a small foreign faction.” announced that JonBenét’s brother,
The writers demanded precisely Burke, was not a suspect either.
$118,000. Suspiciously, $118,000 was After a long struggle with ovarian
almost exactly the amount of cancer, Patsy Ramsey died in 2006,
John Ramsey’s year-end bonus. at age 49. She is buried next to her
Not many people would know daughter in Marietta, Georgia. RD
rd.com 67
Reader ’s Digest
HEALTH & MEDICINE
Old
advice: Pain
pills, high-tech
tests, shots, and
surgery. The latest
science: Harness your
brain, lace up your
sneakers, and
go low-tech.
By Sari Harrar
70 april 2020
Health & Medicine Reader ’s Digest
your brain to lessen the pain. I’ve never for example, 342 people with chronic
spent another whole day on that sofa!” lower-back pain were randomly
Could the cure for chronic and divided into three groups. Patients
short-term back pain start with sim- in one group got “usual care”—
ply changing your attitude? The idea whatever treatment and advice their
sounds crazy. Back pain causes real ag- individual doctors provided. Along
ony for 58 million Americans and fuels with receiving any medical care
an $87 billion treatment industry of needed, a second group practiced
high-tech scans, spinal cord injections, mindfulness meditation and yoga
opioid painkillers, and surgery. And yet and the third went to CBT classes
the evidence continues to mount that for eight weeks. About 44 percent
these approaches may not help—and of people in both the meditation
could even make things worse. and the CBT groups had significant
In the first study of long-term opi- pain improvement after six months,
oid use for back pain, published compared with just 26 percent of the
in March 2018 in the Journal of the “usual care” group.
American Medical Association, par- “Mind-body therapies and physi-
ticipants who took opioids had higher cal therapy are often as effective as or
pain levels a year later compared with more effective than surgeries and in-
those who took acetaminophen or a jections, despite seeming less ‘medi-
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. cal,’” says Dr. Jimenez. “They’re also
safer.”
COULD THE CURE They’re not recommended in every
case, of course. Some pain does re-
FOR BACK PAIN START quire more invasive, and immediate,
WITH CHANGING treatment. If your back pain comes
YOUR ATTITUDE? with bowel or bladder problems, or
if you have progressive muscle weak-
ness in your legs—for instance, if your
“Long-term use of opioids can knees keep giving out or you keep
actually worsen pain, along with tripping—call your doctor right away
causing dependence,” says Xavier or go to the emergency room.
Jimenez, MD, medical director of the “If the pain radiates down your
Cleveland Clinic program that helped leg or causes numbness and tingling
Huggins. Meanwhile, the latest re- in your leg or foot, see your doctor.
search from prominent pain experts It could be a compressed nerve root
is revealing how surprisingly effec- that needs attention,” says back pain
tive low-tech strategies can be. In a researcher Anthony Delitto, PhD,
2016 University of Washington study, PT, dean of the School of Health and
rd.com 71
Rehabilitation Sciences and professor or spinal problems that need to be
in the Department of Physical Ther- addressed,” says pain scientist Beth
apy at the University of Pittsburgh. Darnall, PhD, an associate professor
Back pain that lasts 12 weeks or in the Department of Anesthesiology,
more is considered chronic. If the Perioperative and Pain Medicine
cause isn’t obvious (a fall or a car at Stanford University School of
accident, for example), don’t just treat Medicine.
the symptoms with, say, an NSAID If your back pain is new, continue
such as ibuprofen. It’s important to your daily activities, but take it easy
work with your doctor to figure out when exercising. Most of the time,
what’s going on. “Pain can be a signal you’ll start feeling better within three
of ongoing tissue or nerve damage days. Once you’re on the upswing, talk
72 april 2020
Health & Medicine Reader ’s Digest
rd.com 73
Reader ’s Digest
74 april 2020
Health & Medicine
rd.com 75
NATIONAL INTEREST
WHY ARE
MILITARY Desirée
Mieir
Desirée had no
ON FOOD
would be. “When
the twins were
born, there were
times we would
D
esirée Mieir has four children under the age of
ten, including a set of eight-year-old twins, and
a husband in the Navy who has been deployed for
seven months. She knew life as a military spouse
would have challenges, but she never imagined
that the biggest one would be feeding her kids.
“Today was not a good sale day,” wouldn’t say we’re check-to-check,
Desirée says as she and the kids leave but pretty darn close,” says Me-
their local San Diego supermarket. lissa Carlisle, whose husband, like
When you’re on a tight budget, she Desirée’s, serves in the Navy. “If a tire
adds, “you kind of have to get creative. blows, that’s it. We don’t have much
Some days we go to a food pantry.” in the bank. People have this illusion
That’s right: To put food on the ta- that we [in the military] are rolling in
ble, the Mieirs, along with thousands dough, but we’re not. We’re just really
of other military families around good with the little bit of money that
the country, rely on the kindness of we get.”
strangers. Data from the 2017 annual Cen-
At Dewey Elementary School, a sus Bureau survey shows that 16,000
truck full of fruits and vegetables
arrives every two weeks, courtesy of
a hunger-relief organization called “I WOULDN’T SAY
Feeding San Diego, a member of Feed- WE’RE CHECK-TO-
ing America. A team of volunteers CHECK, BUT PRETTY
quickly sets up a distribution line in
the gym where families—military DARN CLOSE.”
folks, the newly unemployed, the
homeless—will pick through non-
perishable items such as beans, rice, active-duty service members received
and flour along with the fresh produce, food stamps that year. But that num-
all of which are free to those in need. ber doesn’t include the thousands of
“I knew we wouldn’t be wealthy,” military families around the country
Desirée says about life in the military. who are not eligible for food stamps
“But I thought it would be a lot more because they make too much money
manageable. I didn’t know I’d have to to qualify and yet routinely rely on
try this hard.” charities or loans from family to get
Her one solace: She’s not alone. “I by. In fact, a survey from Blue Star
AT DEWEY
ELEMENTARY, 70% OF
THE KIDS GET A FREE
OR REDUCED LUNCH.
82 april 2020
National Interest
but she wishes more Americans knew sleeveless dress and holding a sign
that food insecurity among the lower that reads, “Hey Sailor, after 212 days,
enlisted ranks of the military is a this Missus Needs Kisses.”
problem. “We’re giving 100 percent to Later that day, Dan sneaks into
the country, and the country doesn’t his twins’ classroom at Dewey El-
give it back.” ementary. The second they spot their
On the morning of May 20, the USS father, they leap up from their desks,
Stockdale, a guided-missile destroyer, run past their schoolmates, and
slowly docks at Naval Base San Diego. jump into his open arms, shrieking,
Jubilant sailors disembark. One of “Daddy’s home!” Two beautiful
them is Dan Mieir. Among the throng words, which, for today, push away
of loved ones waiting is Desirée, wip- all the worries. RD
ing away tears of joy, anxiety, and ex-
nbcuniversal archive (july 12, 2019), copyright
citement. She’s wearing a flaming-red © 2019 by nbcuniversal archive, nbcnews.com.
rd.com 83
84 april 2020 Illustrations by Nomoco
HUMOR Reader ’s Digest
SPRING
It’s not the calendar that alerts me. In my small town,
the telltale signs are the ones that melt my heart.
By Philip Gulley
from the saturday evening post
rd.com 85
very year, I circle the vernal equinox on our refrig-
erator calendar so the first day of spring won’t slip
by unnoticed. I’m not sure why I depend upon the
calendar to announce spring’s arrival, since it has so
little bearing on the matter. Spring comes when it’s
good and ready; sometimes well before its appointed
day, sometimes well after.
For years, spring in our town was Queen to an out-of-town outfit who
heralded by Leon and Jo Martin, who kept it open year-round, it threw off
owned the Dairy Queen. Every year, our town’s circadian rhythms some-
after their winter sojourn to Florida, thing terrible. We’re still not sure
they would post the words “Now Hir- when spring begins.
ing” on their sign. I would walk past, Well, that’s not entirely accurate.
see the sign, see Leon and Jo ready- When the implement store on the
ing for their spring opening, and feel west edge of town, where Johnston’s
winter’s icy veil lift from around me. IGA grocery store used to be, stops
It was as accurate an indication of selling snowplows and starts selling
spring as any calendar, and when they lawn mowers, that’s a pretty good sign
died and their children sold the Dairy winter’s grip has loosened.
86 april 2020
Humor Reader ’s Digest
If they should drop the ball, Frank takes a week off in February to treat
Gladden is sure to stand at our his wife to a cruise, you can bet he’ll
Quaker meeting and announce that still be wearing his coat while float-
volunteers are needed for our spring ing around the Caribbean. No matter
fish fry. Frank’s announcement is as where he is, his internal thermostat is
reliable as any clock and invariably set for Indiana.
tinged with worry and regret that this There are other signs of spring if
might be the last year of the fish fry if one is watchful. The deer lighten in
volunteers aren’t forthcoming. color, the dog sheds, the buds swell,
“We’re not getting any younger,” he the snow melts on the south hillside,
announces to the congregation. Frank and the bloodroot in our woodlot
is 82 years old, but he’s been saying pushes out its petals. The calf ap-
that since 1961, so we Quakers aren’t pears, tethered to its mother by bonds
alarmed. The Fairfield Friends Fish of hunger. The farmer casts the ma-
Fry is as constant as sunrise. If Jesus nure upon the field, thoughtfully pro-
were to return on the clouds the day vided by the aforementioned calf and
before the fish fry, the men would sol- mother. Who needs a calendar when
dier on, undeterred. a calf is nearby?
But let us suppose both the imple- Nothing seems impossible in
ment store and Frank Gladden neglect spring—a cure for cancer, wisdom in
their duties and we are cast adrift, Washington, weight loss. Anything can
oblivious to spring’s arrival. We would happen, and often does. I proposed to
then have to look and see whether Bill my wife a dozen times in the winter
Eddy, our town’s plumber, was wear- and was denied each time, so I waited
ing a coat. until spring and popped the question
When the first leaf withers and falls a 13th time, an unlucky number. But
to the ground in autumn, Bill pulls even superstition takes a back seat
on his tan Carhartt coat and doesn’t to the glories of spring, and she con-
remove it until spring. I’ve known Bill sented. Engaged one spring, married
since we were in first grade together, the next. Between that and the Dairy
so I am well acquainted with his Queen, what more could one want? RD
habits. He wears that Carhartt every-
saturday evening post (march 21, 2018), copyright
where, inside and outside, and if he © 2018 by philip gulley, saturdayeveningpost.com.
rd.com 87
Reader ’s Digest
All
in a Day’s
WORK
At a loss for words? So
were these employees:
✦ I forgot the word ar-
ticulate in an interview
and instead said, “I’m
good at saying things.”
— @kathy_hirst
✦ I couldn’t remember
the term lab coat so
had to go with
“science blazer.”
— @Rustmonster
✦ I am a librarian, and
I forgot the word book.
So I told a new patron,
“We have a diverse of clean clothes and tea and then spill it in
selection of thingies.” didn’t feel like doing the lap of whoever’s
— @DunsLibrarian laundry.” bugging you.
—Lauren Emily ✦ The only thing worse
A coworker once on Facebook, via than seeing something
showed up to the office buzzfeed.com done wrong is seeing it
mark parisi/offthemark.com
88 april 2020
Spotted on a business marquee in THE CUSTOMER IS
Tacoma, Washington: MY BOSS TOLD (NOT) ALWAYS RIGHT
ME TO CHANGE THE SIGN, SO I DID.
✦ The Outside-the-Box
—K.H. North Platte, Nebraska
Thinker award goes to
the customer who called
a travel agency asking
few breaks, he went The first doctor had about legal requirements
to the hotel restaurant read the EKG upside while traveling in Eu-
to grab a bite. down. rope. “If I register my car
When his food —Suzanne Clarke in France and then take
came, Billy, his mind Brownsville, Oregon it to England, do I have
in a fog, bowed his to change the steering
head for the blessing Our booking office had wheel to the other side
and whispered these three phones. One of the car?”
words to God: “Good day during lunch,
evening, Holiday Inn,
how can I help you?”
—Bob Cook It was a constant
Ashland, Kentucky repeat of “May
I help you?” or
Feeling ill, my super- “Will you hold?”
visor went to a nearby I guess I got confused ✦ The Gutsiest
doctor, who ordered because I surprised Customer of the Year
an EKG. Upon reading one man on the other award goes to a woman
the results, the doctor end of the line when in Texas who pulled a
declared that my boss I answered his call cake off a Walmart shelf
was suffering a cardiac with, “May I hold you?” and devoured much of it
tanya constantine/getty images
rd.com 89
Reader ’s Digest
HH E R O
90 april 2020 | rd.com Photograph by Adam Murphy
SPECIAL REPORT
OES IN THE
HEARTLAND
It has been 25 years since a truck
bomb ripped through a federal
office building in Oklahoma City.
The tales of courage and survival
amid the horror that day are as
searing and inspiring as ever.
By Henry Hurt
opening spread: charles porter iv/zumapress.com (inset). this page: jim argo/getty images
pulled the yellow truck up to a park-
ing spot on the street in front of the
Murrah Building. The truck was just
east of the center of the north-facing
building. Thirty feet away, above
the entrance, the children of the
America’s Kids childcare center were
playing. Some of them had parents
who worked in the 18-year-old
glass-and-granite-clad building,
which housed 16 federal agencies.
Among those heading toward the Just a few minutes before 9 a.m., the
building that day was a man driving man lit the fuse and walked away. In
a large yellow truck, its sides em- the day care center, the smallest chil-
blazoned with the black-lettered logo dren had been placed in their cribs to
Ryder. settle down for naps. The older chil-
Inside the 20-foot truck were dren sang their favorite songs, then
4,800 pounds of a ghoulish, volatile had free time to play.
mixture of diesel fuel oil and gray The fireball that hit the Murrah
ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which Building seven thousandths of
filled as many as two dozen 55-gallon a second after detonation put
blue plastic barrels. The entire truck 1,000 pounds of pressure on every
was a lethal bomb. square inch of the structure’s surface.
Shortly before 9 a.m., the man It lifted all nine floors upward,
92 april 2020
More than 500 people worked in the the floors collapsed, sandwiching
Murrah Building (facing page and together and funneling thousands of
above). The rescue and recovery effort tons of debris down toward a giant
lasted for 16 days. crater blasted out by the bomb.
A few minutes after the blast, a
breeze lifted the smoke and dust,
shearing off the connecting steel and sunlight flooded the groaning
reinforcing bars (called rebar) and carcass that the Murrah Building had
demolishing three of the building’s become. Its cheerful face was gone—
major support columns. completely ripped away. The cav-
Desks, file cabinets, and chairs ity carved out by the bomb reached
became deadly shrapnel. Chunks of almost to the rear of the structure.
concrete—ranging from fist-sized to Daylight shone clearly from the other
bill waugh/ap/shutterstock
wall-sized—were tossed about. Mil- side. Twisted cables spilled from the
lions of shards of glass, as well as plas- top. Grotesquely contorted rebar jut-
tic from the bomb, became sharpened ted wildly in all directions. Fire and
daggers that sliced through the air at burglar alarms shrieked from nearby
the speed of bullets. buildings, which took some of the
In violent undulations, whole brunt of the explosion.
floors were ripped loose from their Within minutes, a rallying cry
moorings. Then, yielding to gravity, spread through the confusion: the
rd.com 93
Reader ’s Digest
childcare center. It was obvious that For some reason, Hull stopped just
those children were the highest pri- a moment to pick up the dead baby
ority for rescue. With sirens drowning and straighten out its arm. “I heard
out the crescendo of screams, rescu- a huge gasp,” Hull says. “And blood
ers by the hundreds began to arrive. burst from the wounds, as if jostling
They struggled into the jagged heaps the body somehow started the heart
of rubble, seeking America’s Kids on going.”
the second floor. Hull pressed the infant against his
But soon they realized there was chest, holding the mangled arm in
no childcare center. There was no place, and began crawling upward
second floor. through the heavy rubble. He and
What rescuers did find as they his fellow officers had been handing
clawed through the wreckage was off living victims in a sort of bucket
what had been left behind by the brigade to the outside. But Hull was
children: pieces of clothing, shred- afraid the baby’s arm would fall off if
ded books, a small crumpled shoe, he did that. So he struggled on.
a crushed toy, a stilled mobile. Most When the baby stopped gasping,
horrifying, however, was the almost Hull began to administer rudimentary
unspeakable human evidence of the CPR, breathing into the child’s mouth
powerful evil that had descended and nose. This happened twice on the
upon this place: a baby’s arm, a bat- way out. As Hull broke from the build-
tered torso, a chubby finger. ing and headed for the closest triage
One of the first into the building was area, he found himself screaming over
Det. Sgt. Don Hull of the Oklahoma and over, “Breathe, baby, breathe!”
City Police Department. He and fel- As he reached an ambulance, Hull
low officers crawled through mazes saw a couple running toward him—
of twisted rebar and shifting concrete the woman screaming that it was
slabs. The air was so thick with dust her baby in his arms. Hull swiveled
that rescuers—many of them, like Hull, away, not letting them see the child.
dressed in business suits and with no “I couldn’t let them look,” he says. “It
special equipment—were forced to was too horrible. The baby probably
take breaths as shallow as possible. wasn’t going to make it, and I didn’t
Early on, Hull saw a baby in the rub- want that to be the last sight they had.”
ble he thought to be dead. A massive “Hold the arm tight!” he yelled to
gash marked the side of its face, but a paramedic, finally handing the
there was no blood, and no movement. baby off.
The baby’s arm was twisted around so It was 9:30 a.m., and Hull, like
grotesquely—nearly wrung off—that so many others, would be there for
bone protruded from the biceps. hours—until he quit from exhaustion.
94 april 2020
Special Report
FIRST RESPONDERS
The initial response of local medical
1. The building’s 2. The explosion
teams was as impressive as that of the
nine collapsed occurred 30 feet
floors made from a childcare police, fire, and rescue units. Melissa
the rescue center. Webster, a manager at an ambu-
treacherous. lance service, was at the scene with
an ambulance 90 seconds after the
1
blast. Fearing that her own trembling
building was about to collapse, she
had fled from her desk to the street
and had seen the black smoke rising
six blocks to the south. She and a col-
league leaped into an ambulance with
six other paramedics.
Within an hour, her paramedics—
only one team of dozens—had sent
2
from top: roman bas/afp/getty images. david longstreath/shutterstock
rd.com 95
Reader ’s Digest
more than 200 of the wounded to hos- husband tapped on the door to see
pitals and managed to treat hundreds whether she was OK.
of others. By then, all the company’s Quietly, a few days later, Webster
ambulances had arrived, and they checked on the young woman she had
were loading as many as five injured refused to declare dead. The woman
people into each vehicle. had horrendous injuries that would
Eventually, Webster came face-to- take months to heal. But she was alive
face with the worst dilemma to con- and would get well.
front paramedics in triage. A young Scenes like this were common-
woman lay before her with terrible place as one of the best-organized
neck and head injuries. “She’s not rescue efforts in history went into ac-
breathing,” said one of Webster’s as- tion. Within hours, search-and-rescue
sociates. “You’ll have to call her”— teams were en route from California,
meaning that Webster needed to tag New York, Washington State, Arizona,
her as too far gone to help so they Maryland, Florida, and Virginia. In
could move on to assisting people addition to support from K-9 search-
with better odds of survival. dog teams, the most sophisticated
Webster felt for the woman’s pulse. technical equipment in the world was
She wasn’t breathing at all, but her brought to the scene—tiny television
heartbeat was strong. Webster knew at cameras that could peer into remote
that moment she could not “call” her. crevices, infrared devices that could
“Her pulse is as strong as mine,” she detect body heat.
said. She would see that the woman
was given a chance.
“Put her in the ambulance and get RESCUE FROM THE
her on a ventilator,” Webster told a RUBBLE
colleague. She turned to minister to Priscilla Salyers saw bright stars. An
others. investigative assistant for the Customs
She remained at the scene for Service, located on the fifth floor, she
12 hours. Later, at home, Webster had been talking to her boss, Paul Ice,
fell into the arms of her husband at 9:02 a.m. when a thunderous, gale-
and their son and daughter. Covered force roar of wind whooshed past her
in soot, she retired to take a shower. head. Then silence. And blackness.
She had managed not to break down, Salyers tried to move but could not.
but when the hot water hit her body, She sensed a tremendous pressure.
for some reason all the experiences Something seemed to be crushing
of the day cascaded upon her. There her head.
in the shower, she cried uncontrol- I’m having a seizure, she thought. Is
lably for the next hour—until her it a stroke? Am I paralyzed?
96 april 2020
Special Report
But her mind was too clear, she Salyers’s greatest terror was that the
thought, for her to have had a stroke crushing pressure on her head was
or heart attack. She told herself, If I becoming greater and greater. She
can just get my head up off my desk ... prayed for calm and wisdom, realiz-
Nothing. Salyers realized there was ing that if the men began working on
little she could move except for her top of her, it could push the pressure
left wrist and hand. Her mouth was on her head to a breaking point. She
filled with earthy-tasting powder. also wondered why the men thought
There was a powerful pressure on her
head from something that seemed to SOMETHING SEEMED
be slowly crushing her skull.
She was facedown with her rump
TO BE CRUSHING HER
higher than her head, which was HEAD. SHE THOUGHT,
twisted toward her right. Her right IS THIS A STROKE?
arm was pinned under her, and her
left arm splayed outward. With the they were at the day care center, three
fingers of her left hand, Salyers be- stories below her office.
gan trying to dig into the dirtlike sub- But then the voices were gone.
stance of the powdered concrete. She Eerie silence returned. Her breath
also began to pray for God to give her was coming much faster now, and
the strength to survive. she began to feel sleepy. But I’ve got
Oddly, her most immediate annoy- to pick up Josh at school, so I need
ance was a piece of chewing gum in to stay awake to do that, she thought.
her mouth that had become an irri- Salyers had continued to rotate her
tant. The gum was infused with a foul left arm and hand. She prayed that
grit, and Salyers desperately wanted her hand was visible and that she
to get rid of it. But her mouth and jaw would be able to wave it if she again
were so tightly constricted that it was heard voices.
impossible for her to spit it out. It was Suddenly, she heard a shout off to
all she could do to breathe. her left: “Hey! Here’s a live one!”
About 30 minutes into her entomb- Then Salyers felt someone take her
ment, Salyers heard the far-off voices left hand and hold it and rub it. Her
of men. Then, suddenly, close by, she muscles first went limp with joy and
heard a man speak sharply: “OK, this relief—then she squeezed the hand
is the day care center. We have a lot of as hard as she could. When the man
children in here.” asked her name, she summoned all of
Salyers tried to speak, to scream, to her strength to say, “Priscilla!”
let the man know she was there. But The man realized how hard it was
she couldn’t make her mouth work. for her to talk, so he did most of the
rd.com 97
Reader ’s Digest
talking—the sound of his voice flow- it was her colleague Paul Ice and that
ing into her brain like a glorious perhaps he was in the same situation.
symphony. She squeezed the hand, but it was cold
Salyers indicated to the man that she and unresponsive. For the first time,
didn’t know what had happened. “The she began to weep.
building blew up,” he said. “We don’t Then, out of nowhere, a loud voice
know why, but we’re checking it out.” boomed, “Hey, over here!” The scene
By this time, others had crawled into was just like the first time—though the
the cramped, cavelike area to remove voices were different. A man took her
the rubble piece by piece. At every mo- hand, and she squeezed back.
ment, someone held Salyers’s hand. “Get me out of here,” she pleaded.
Then, as her hope rose, the man Then she closed her eyes and waited
holding her hand spoke gently: “Pris- and prayed. The men explained each
cilla, we’re going to have to leave now. step they took, the most danger-
We’ll be back, but we have to go get ous one being to remove a massive
a tool.” What he did not say was that metal-and-concrete column virtually
rescuers were being evacuated be- resting on her head. It was a miracle
cause of a bomb threat. that it had not slipped a single centi-
She gripped the man’s hand with all meter more. Above her were the awful
her might and found new breath as she sounds of circular saws and pneumatic
begged him not to leave, wondering tools. The rescuers worked fast, know-
why they all had to go. She wouldn’t re- ing that at any instant the groaning
lease the man’s hand. She felt him gen- building might shift at this location.
tly pry her fingers loose. “I’m so sorry,” Salyers’s legs and body were freed
he said, his voice cracking. “We don’t first, and then both arms. The rescu-
have any choice. We’ll be back. I prom- ers told her the hardest part would be
ise.” Then they were gone, and Salyers last—getting her tightly pinned head
was alone in the terrible silence. free by trying to lift the monstrous
Her first reaction was a mixture of column crushing her and, at the same
terror and anger. Because of the rub- moment, whisking her out from under
ble that had been removed, her body it. When she was dragged free, terrible
was not as tightly constricted, though pain exploded in her—she had broken
her head was still in a viselike grip. ribs, a collapsed lung, and countless
As she writhed, she realized there nasty puncture wounds all over her
was something poking her in the body. Four hours and 15 minutes had
stomach. She worked her hand around passed since the bomb exploded. She
so that she could feel the protrusion. was so shaken, she hardly heard the
It was a hand—a man’s hand, judging cheers from rescuers and bystanders
by its size. Her heart leaped, thinking as she was carried from the rubble.
98 april 2020
Special Report
rd.com 99
Reader ’s Digest
Little Nekia McCloud, age four, that she had to virtually start her
who was probably putting her doll young life over—learning to talk, to
down for a nap when the bomb shat- walk, to understand what was going
tered America’s Kids, seems to have on around her. She was in a coma for
been blown out of the building. It is
unclear exactly where she was found, “I COULDN’T IMAGINE
but medic Jason Skaggs, whose unit
reached the scene at 9:07, says some-
THIS CHILD COULD
one thrust her into his arms minutes LIVE. SHE WAS HARDLY
after he arrived. BREATHING.”
“I couldn’t imagine that this child
could live,” Skaggs says. “She was a month. That is why the family was
hardly breathing—just torn all to so overwhelmed at what Nekia said
pieces.” There was every reason to when she was starting to speak again.
“call” the child and move on to some- The family had sought out medic
one with better odds of surviving. But Jason Skaggs, now a police officer, to
Skaggs refused to deny the little girl a thank him for not giving up on their
chance for life and pumped her chest child. Upon meeting Skaggs, the little
as he ran with her to an ambulance. girl first looked at him shyly, then
Nekia was in such horrible shape turned to her mother and grandmother
when she reached the hospital that and said quietly, “He’s my angel.”
her family was not allowed to see her
at first. Doctors asked them to bring
photographs so they could try to iden- BRAVE TO THE END
tify her in that fashion. According to Hope of finding others lay in the
Faye DeBose, Nekia’s grandmother, ghastly ruins of the Murrah Build-
the little girl’s skull was crushed. Both ing that first day when hundreds of
legs were broken, and her lungs were people were listed simply as miss-
filled with debris. ing. In the absence of solid informa-
The doctors told the family that if tion, people grasped at whatever they
she could survive for 72 hours, she could find for sustenance.
would have a chance. And on the third One of those missing was Michael
day, as her grandmother sat holding Loudenslager, 48, who was in his office
the unconscious child’s hand and at the General Services Administration
praying, she felt a squeeze. “Sooner on the first floor when the bomb ex-
or later,” says DeBose, “I knew Nekia ploded. For two days, his wife, Bettie
would be OK.” Loudenslager, and their two children
But it would be later rather than heard nothing. But their hopes bright-
sooner. Nekia’s injuries were so grave ened when one of Michael’s friends,
rd.com 101
The
Oklahoma
City National
Memorial
and Museum
opened five
years after
the tragedy.
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FIRST PERSON
TA K I N G
THE
LEAP
By Eva Holland
from the book nerve: adventures
in the science of fear
ILLUSTRATIONS by Cornelia Li
I
took a deep breath. “My name’s the little Cessna rattled its way down
Eva,” I said, speaking to the cam- the gravel runway. Matthew looked
era lens, “and I’m here to face my elated. I knew I was supposed to be
fear of falling from heights.” excited, too, but I couldn’t get there.
The small crowd that had gath- For the moment, I existed in a bubble
ered around me oohed and cheered of cold calm. That, I figured, was pref-
as I crawled into the tiny plane, awk- erable to the likely alternative: wild,
ward in my elaborate harness. Only hair-tearing panic.
maria amador (plane and clouds)
the pilot had a seat—all the others I was acting on a very popular idea:
had been removed—and I sat on the the notion that facing one’s fears is
floor behind him, facing backward, the key to conquering them. In their
spooning with my divemaster, Barry. third year at Hogwarts, Harry Pot-
Another pair climbed in beside us: ter and his classmates are taught by
divemaster Neil and his charge, Mat- Professor Remus Lupin to face down
thew, a first-time skydiver like me. their fears by laughing at them. In
They sat by the open doorway, The Sound of Music, the abbess tells
and Matthew and I bumped fists as Maria she must confront her feelings,
not hide out in the abbey. And in the gather in a jumble of tents, U-Hauls,
novel Dune, in the iconic Bene Ges- cars, RVs, and trucks loaded with
serit “Litany Against Fear,” Frank Her- campers. Barry is their patriarch.
bert wrote, “I will face my fear. I will When I met him, he’d been jump-
permit it to pass over me and through ing for 39 years, including more than
me ... Where the fear has gone there 2,000 tandem jumps with clients.
will be nothing. Only I will remain.” He had gray hair and a gray mous-
Fear, Herbert wrote, was the mind- tache, a big belly and a bigger voice.
killer. I wanted my mind to live. He’s not what you picture when you
think “professional thrill-seeker,”
’d arrived at the small airstrip in but I found his age and experience
Desert, billed as the world’s small- are bold pilots, but there are no old,
est, a tiny collection of soft, rolling bold pilots.
dunes surrounded by snow-etched When I pulled up, just before
mountains and boreal forest. Every 10 a.m., most people were gathered
summer, a skydiving outfit based in in camp chairs around a fire. I was
British Columbia caravans up here for invited to sit down, offered tea and a
a couple of weeks and offers people hunk of fry bread. I was here because
the chance to jump out of a plane, my three most potent physical fears
plummet through free fall, deploy a are of heights, speed, and falling.
parachute, and eventually land in the And there was nothing, I figured, that
forgiving embrace of this tiny patch of combined all three as effectively—or
sand. as horrifically—as skydiving. My no-
The pro skydivers live by the air- tion was to take a blitzkrieg approach
strip, just outside the village. The vibe to facing my fears. I would force my-
of their encampment is somewhere self to do the scariest thing I could
between summer weekend campout think of, in a full sensory assault on
and itinerant circus troupe. They my fear response, and if I came out
rd.com 107
Reader ’s Digest
the other side, I would be ... changed, Barry showed me how we would en-
right? Empowered. That was the idea. ter and exit the Cessna. The plane was
So far, I just felt sick and scared. tiny, and when we launched ourselves
through its low doorway, we would be
arry introduced us first-time harnessed together. There was a care-
falling I was worried about. I tried to Barry, behind me, sensed my grow-
breathe deeply and focus on the scen- ing tension—no surprise, since we
ery. There was the train bridge. There were pressed together like a pair of
was the beach. There was the highway lugers on a sled. He squeezed my
leading home. shoulder periodically and pointed
The ascent to 10,000 feet seemed out landmarks below. As we neared
to take hours, and as we climbed, the jump height, the Cessna circled a large
weird out-of-body calm I’d felt on cloud, skirting its edge.
takeoff seeped away. “You might be a lucky girl and get a
It was like coming out of shock, cloud jump,” Barry said. I did not want
losing that numbed protection and a cloud jump.
feeling the full pain of an injury for The pilot announced that we
the first time—only instead of pain, were nearly in position for Neil and
I felt a terror that rose through my Matthew’s jump. They shimmied to-
body until it reached my lungs and ward the gaping hole where the plane’s
my throat and my brain and threat- door should have been and nudged
ened to choke me. themselves awkwardly into a spooning
rd.com 109
crouch on the lip of the doorway. behind me. I tried to unfocus my eyes
Seeing them inch toward open space so I couldn’t see the opening and the
was nauseating, and I looked away. I endless air next to me, the ground far
couldn’t watch them vanish into the below. Over the roar of the wind and
sky; I stared at the plane’s riveted the plane, Barry shouted last-minute
metal wall instead. The pilot dipped adjustments to the pilot, getting us
the plane slightly to the right, tipping lined up just right. “Give me five left! ...
Neil and Matthew out the door, and Five right!” The seconds stretched out
then, liberated of their combined 270 while I fought the urge to quit. I had
pounds, the Cessna sprang back sud- the sensation of trying to hold up
denly to the left. My stomach clenched some massive weight, my strength
and jerked, and I swallowed hard. ebbing away, moment by moment.
Now it was our turn. Barry directed Finally Barry put his right foot out
me to roll over and scuttle into posi- on the narrow metal step fixed to
tion as the pilot got us lined up for the plane’s fuselage below the open
another jump. My breath came fast; door frame and yelled for me to do
I struggled for control. I desperately the same. It took me three tries—the
wanted to shout, No, no, I changed wind first blew my foot behind, then
my mind. I don’t want to do this. I in front, before I lodged it against his.
clenched my jaw. I knew that if I said Next I had to scooch around so my
the word, they would take me back left knee pointed out over the lip of
down to the ground, keep my money, the doorway and lock both my hands
and let me walk away. The whole day on to my harness, gripping a pair of
would be for nothing. handles at shoulder height. I was glad
Eventually I got myself in place, to have something to hold on to. Ever
hunched over with my kneecaps level since Barry had promised to snap
in the front of the door frame, Barry my finger bones if need be, I’d had
Barry had urged me to keep an eye I would learn that we had reached a
on the Cessna as I somersaulted out peak speed of 101 miles per hour.)
of it. Watching the plane appear to I screamed those same two words
fall away from you when you were over and over through our entire
the one plummeting was, he as- 37 seconds of free fall. Once I got
sured me, one of the coolest parts of started, I couldn’t seem to stop. My
a jump. But I had no desire to watch voice got hoarse, my throat raw. I
the earth and the sky spin around kept hollering. Dimly, over the sound
me. I kept my eyes shut hard until I of my own swearing, I heard Barry
could feel that Barry had stabilized say something about our chute, and
us in free fall. then a force seemed to pluck at us
I felt him tap me on the shoulder, from above—not a hard jerk, but now
then again, and yell something in my my feet were dangling below me and
ear, and I peeled my hands off the I could feel my weight pushing down
harness handles and thrust my arms on the crotch straps of my harness.
out wide like I was supposed to. I I stopped yelling. Barry reached
rd.com 111
Reader ’s Digest
forward and offered me the straps long, leisurely parachute descent af-
that controlled the parachute, to let ter free fall as “relaxing.” But I couldn’t
me steer. It took me a couple of tries relax—I was too aware of my weight in
to put my shaking hands through the the harness, my feet dangling, the fa-
loops, and I was too weak to pull ef- miliar landmarks far below me. There
fectively. I could feel him pulling the was the train bridge. There was the
cords for me from above. beach. There was the highway lead-
Other jumpers had described the ing home. Barry spun us around, and
I felt sick, hated him for a moment, chasm of fear I carried inside me.
and quavered that I didn’t like that. Later, after I’d stripped off my har-
The fall went on and on. Finally we ness and helmet and jumpsuit, after
neared the desert, and Barry took over I’d calmed down enough to attempt
steering entirely. the drive home safely, I did find some
He twisted us from side to side, pride. I had done it, after all. I hadn’t
tacking like a sailboat to shed speed backed down, pulled the plug at the
as we came in over the dunes. Then last minute, and forfeited my money
he gave me the signal to pull my and my dignity. I hadn’t clutched on
knees up (I did my shaky best) and to the airplane as we rolled out of it,
pull down hard on the chute straps. I killing us all. I hadn’t screamed the
braced for impact, but my feet never entire way down.
touched—suddenly I was on my belly These were small victories. But
in the sand, Barry on top of me. He re- I knew now that if I was going to
leased the right waist clip so he could achieve a real transformation, to re-
roll off of me as the ground crew ap- arrange my relationship with my
proached, cheering, and freed me fears, it would not be through shock
completely. and awe. One $400 skydive was not
The crew and other jumpers clus- going to solve my problems. I needed
tered around; someone helped me to to be smarter, more systematic, more
my feet. I tried to smile, but my cheeks scientific.
and lips felt as wobbly as my arms There was more than one way to
and legs. I stared at the sand and dug face my fears. If necessary, I would
around inside myself, trying to find try them all. RD
some pride in my accomplishment, from the book nerve: adventures in the science of
some kind of silver lining with which fear by eva holland. reprinted with permission
of the u.s. publisher, the experiment, theexperiment
to cover up the apparently bottomless publishing.com.
rd.com 113
Reader ’s Digest
THE
GENIUS
SECTION
9 Pages to sharpen
Your Mind
PIECE
OF MIND
Jigsaw puzzles aren’t just fun.
They can also relieve anxiety, especially when
you put them together, well, together.
By Caitlin Agnew
W
hile out shopping holiday get-togethers have a way of
for Christmas pres- putting any personal shortcomings at
ents in 2018, I bought center stage. This cheery pink puzzle
myself a jigsaw puz- had everything I felt I needed to dis-
zle on a whim. It was tract myself in one box. And at $20, the
an unusual buy, one that I now recog- price was right. Why not?
nize as an attempt at dealing with that As soon as I started on my puzzle,
particular stress many of us experience I knew I’d found exactly what I was
during the holidays. Don’t get me looking for. Instead of my usual late-
wrong—I love seeing my family. But night Netflix binge, I was sorting its
rd.com 115
Reader ’s Digest The Genius Section
Supersize Me!
“You like mayonnaise? Prove it.” —Costco
@seethenare
BRAIN GAMES
April Fools’
easy To get in the spirit 1
of April Fools’ Day, place 2
these terms in the grid.
3 4 5
SPOOF MISCHIEF
PARODY QUIP 6 7
JOKE STUNT 8
COMEDY JEST
SATIRE CAPER 9
10
Hidden Produce
easy The names of five different fruits are hidden between consecutive words in the
silly story below. Can you find them all?
Example: Washington, DC, and Lima, Peru, are on the same longitude. (melon)
A man goes to a lumberyard. He has little money, so he’s looking for cheap lumber.
But the prices are too high. Suddenly feeling really cheeky, the man decides to steal
the wood he needs and, like a skilled escape artist, manages to slip away without
arousing suspicion.
the noun project (4)
Sum-thing Special
difficult Each letter from
A to I has one of the nine
values listed below. No
two letters have the same
value. Match each letter
to a number to make the
equations work.
Fickle Friends
1 4 5 medium Kristen’s friends want to buy her a wedding
gift. Originally ten friends were going to chip in
8 12 16 equally, but then two of them dropped out. Each of
the remaining eight friends had to chip in another
17 18 21 dollar to bring the total back up to the original amount.
How much money did they plan to collect?
F = A +B
marcel danesi (sum-thing special and dominoes). the noun project (money)
C = B +B Dominoes
medium
One of these
D = B +C dominoes is
not like the
G = B +D others. Which
one is it?
I = A +E
E = D +F
H = F +G
For more Brain
Games, go to
rd.com/crosswords.
rd.com 119
Reader ’s Digest The Genius Section
9. snifter n.
WORD POWER ('snif-ter)
a small goblet.
b nightcap.
c hip flask.
After Prohibition went into effect in 1920,
10. Nebuchadnezzar n.
Americans suffered through a long dry spell— (neh-byuh-kud-'neh-zer)
save for the occasional dip into the bathtub a enormous wine bottle.
gin. We’re toasting the 100th anniversary b tequila-based drink.
c Egyptian chalice.
with some spirited vocabulary. Take your best
11. aqua vitae n.
shot, then turn to page 122 for answers. (ak-wuh 'vy-tee)
a sparkling seltzer.
By Sarah Chassé b medicinal syrup.
c strong liquor.
1. speakeasy n. 5. distill v. 12. sommelier n.
('speek-ee-zee) (dih-'still) (suh-mull-'yay)
a expert bartender. a purify a liquid. a wine expert.
b chatty drunk. b add a mixer. b tasting room.
c illegal bar. c flavor with bitters. c sweet vermouth.
2. swill v. 6. wassail n. 13. rathskeller n.
(swil) ('wah-suhl) ('rot-skeh-ler)
a smuggle. a hot spiced beverage. a drinking game.
b age in barrels. b headache cure. b basement tavern.
c drink freely. c public house. c dark ale.
3. aperitif n. 7. bootleg adj. 14. repeal v.
(uh-pair-uh-'teef) ('boot-leg) (ree-'peel)
a apricot brandy. a made in small batches. a put an end to.
b predinner cocktail. b produced unlawfully. b garnish with lemon.
c swizzle stick. c watered down. c legalize.
4. blotto adj. 8. katzenjammer n. 15. dram n.
('blah-toh) ('kat-sun-jam-er) (dram)
a with a splash of water. a beer garden. a barstool.
b intoxicated. b corkscrew. b small drink.
c bubbly. c hangover. c brewery.
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5. distill (a) purify a liquid. 11. aqua vitae (c) strong Vocabulary Ratings
Most rum is distilled from liquor. Lakshmi has sworn 9 & below: rotgut
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make
BRAIN GAMES us !
ANSWERS l ugh
a
See page 118.
April Fools’
across down
2. quip 1. mischief
3. caper 4. parody
8. joke 5. stunt
9. satire 6. spoof
10. comedy 7. jest
Hidden Produce
mango (man goes),
lemon (little money),
plum (cheap lumber),
lychee (really cheeky),
pear (escape artist)
Sum-thing Special
a = 1, b = 4, c = 8, Caption Contest
d = 12, e = 17, f = 5, What’s your clever description for this
g = 16, h = 21, i = 18 picture? Submit your funniest line at
Fickle Friends RD.COM/CAPTIONCONTEST. Winners will
$40 ($4 each split among appear in a future Photo Finish (PAGE 124).
ten friends or $5 each
split among eight
friends)
Reader’s Digest (ISSN 0034-0375) (USPS 865-820), (CPM Agreement# 40031457), Vol. 195,
Dominoes No. 1159, April 2020. © 2020. Published monthly, except bimonthly in July/August and
julia christe/offset/shutterstock
December/January (subject to change without notice), by Trusted Media Brands, Inc., 44 South
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Reader ’s Digest The Genius Section
PHOTO FINISH
Your Funniest captions
Winner
“Jonah will be right out!”
—David McCleary Warsaw, Indiana
tim clayton/corbis/getty images
Runners-Up
“Marco!!!”
—Carolyn Davis Hillsborough, North Carolina
Forty-five years later, the remake of Jaws seems to lack some real teeth.
—Brian Sagar Fairfax, California
Always Discreet Boutique underwear. Fits closer. Keeps you drier, too.*