Category: Home & Family

Love and Romance On the Spectrum

Love and Romance On the Spectrum When I was in my teens, and even into young adulthood, love and romantic relationships were something I did not understand, much as I tried. Love and intimate relationships were a...

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Homes in Elm Heights All Have a Story to Tell

Michelle Martin-Colman in front of her 1st Street home, featured on the cover of Bloom’s June/July 2016 issue. Photo by Kendall Reeves by Janet Mandelstam Michelle Martin-Colman was gathering information for the Monroe...

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Monstera Living: ‘Design–Decorate–Declutter’

It takes confidence and a leap of faith to launch a new business in the midst of a pandemic, but Andrea Connolly and Olivia Hall say they had an abundance of both when they started Monstera Living, a redecorating, staging, and downsizing business, in September 2020.

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The All Abilities Choir: Looking for More Gigs

LifeDesigns client Jake May, a lifelong singer, wanted to be a choir director, so about 2 1/2 years ago he approached Kristen King, LifeDesign’s community engagement coordinator and asked, “Why can’t we start a choir here?”

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Old Family Postcards Tell Poignant Stories

The framed images hung on her grandmother’s wall for as long as Rachel Betzen could remember. “She had these collages of old postcards,” Betzen says. Created between 1907 and the 1930s, the “real photo” postcards featured relatives’ portraits—and, as Betzen would soon discover, much more.

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Work-From-Home Tips From Work-From-Home Veterans

The pandemic has ushered the home office to the forefront of work life. Gallup, Inc., indicated last October that 33% of the U.S. workforce worked from home full time and another 25% did so some of the time. Three veteran Bloomington work-from-homers offer their tips for novices to the practice.

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Silver Linings Rescue: Old Dogs for Older Folks

When Suki’s owner was suddenly moved to a nursing home for rehab, the small West Highland White terrier was left alone in a house with only occasional visits from a friend. There, he developed inflamed skin and hair loss from serious allergies that needed treatment.

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The Bloomerang Effect

Bloomington has a way of keeping a hold on its residents, even those who have left. In fact, the phenomenon of leaving and returning to Bloomington is so common that it has its own name: the Bloomerang Effect.

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Hospice Offers Compassionate End of Life Care for Patients & Families

In the summer of 2018, nurses at the IU Health Bloomington Hospital Hospice House rolled a patient outside in his hospital bed. A horse that had been a part of his family for years awaited him, brought to the facility in a trailer. Nurses put feed in the patient’s hand, allowing the horse and his dying owner to connect one final time.

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Jordy the CASA Dog Helps Kids Through Tough Times

Jordy the CASA dog is something of a local celebrity. When the golden retriever celebrated his fifth birthday in October, it was a press-worthy event. But Jordy spends most days out of the spotlight, doing vital work at the Monroe County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) office, 201 N. Morton St.

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SCCAP: A Local Agency Helping Families Become Independent

Community Action Agencies (CAAs) are sometimes considered the best-kept secrets of the nonprofit sector, says Jessie Yeary, director of communications and development at the South Central Community Action Program (SCCAP). She hopes to change that. “I don’t really like that phrase because we don’t want to be a secret,” she says.

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InBloom: Be Sure to Choose A Fragrant Rose

Old rose varieties, such as alba, gallica, and damask, had wonderfully fragrant blooms but, sadly, bloomed only once. Thanks to David Austin (1926–2018) we have 230 modern hybrid roses that offer intoxicating, old-fashioned rose fragrances and that bloom repeatedly.

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December 2025/January 2026

Keep in mind that our flipbook version counts the cover page, so you will need to click forward one page to find the story you’re looking for. Happy reading! 14 Editor’s Message: “Will Our Shops Survive?”...

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