New York CNN — 

Restaurant industry icons where Americans went out for decades for wings, dinner, and celebrations are facing a crisis.

Hooters filed for bankruptcy this week, the latest casual dining chain to go belly up.

Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Buca di Beppo also filed for bankruptcy in the last year.

Meanwhile, sales at Denny’s, Applebee’s, Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Red Robin and Cracker Barrel’s are dropping, and they are shuttering hundreds of restaurants.

Casual dining chains typically cater to lower and middle-income families looking for a sit-down meal, but diners are abandoning these companies as their disposable income shrinks.

Wow! We have enjoyed those restaurants.

They will be missed!

2,500 people were working at their desks when their building collapsed!

This disaster recently occurred when an earthquake hit Thailand.

Thank God for an ordinary day!

Do we take our personal safety for granted?

With the many recurrances of climate change, we’re witnessing frequent calamities.

Think of the fires that hit beautiful California!

My message today is BE GRATEFUL!

If not today, when?

Sometimes it’s easy because both parties are proactive.

If it’s up to you to take the initiative, it’s easier if you two have some common interest.

Such as an athletic team.

It’s not unusual for one friend to take the initiative more often that the other.

So, if you are the primary initiator, don’t be discouraged.

You can also call your friend about a news item that will be of interest.

There is nothing more powerful, however, than an in person meeting.

We rely on text messages too often.

They are too impersonal!

If the friend is important in your life, take the time to call.

Friendship takes nurturing. That is why it is almost impossible to have many “good” friends.

You have to be willing to make a committment.

It is like the pig and the chicken being invited for breakfast. It was easy for the chicken but the pig had to make a commitment!

If not today, when?

Are we capable of it?

Especially when we’re still angry?

Many of us can’t or won’t overcome the anger.

And so the offender lives the rest of their life unforgiven.

It is obviously a major blow to their self esteem from which they may or may not recover.

This act of forgiveness is the highest kind of forgiveness with no strings attached.

I ask again; are we capable of a “no strings attached” kind of forgiveness?

If not today, when?

Reeling, perhaps even fearful, Europe may have finally come to its senses over its self-defense needs in the era of Trump.

“It is as if Roosevelt welcomed Churchill (to the White House) and started bullying him,” European lawmaker Raphaël Glucksmann told CNN.

In a month when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Europe “PATHETIC” for “free-loading” on defense in a group chat with administration officials (which inadvertently included a journalist for The Atlantic), the continent has been shattering decades-old taboos on defense.

Policies are on the table that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago.

The biggest change came in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.

After the federal election, chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz won a vote in parliament to scrap Germany’s constitutional “debt brake” – a mechanism to limit government borrowing.

In principle, the law change allows for unlimited spending on defense and security. Experts expect the move to unlock as much as €600 billion ($652 billion) in Germany over the next decade. (CNN)

Want to improve your chances for a good night’s sleep?

This idea could actually knock your socks ON, says behavioral sleep disorders specialist Michelle Drerup.

“It sounds counterintuitive, I know, but by wearing socks to bed and warming your feet, you may actually lower your core body temperature and fall asleep faster,” said Drerup.

Here’s how that happens.

“By making your feet warmer, you’re opening up blood vessels to help cool down the rest of the body,” Drerup said.

“So increasing the blood circulation to your feet results in a lower core temperature.” (CNN)

I hope this helps!

“DEAR DETROIT,

Even though I’m from a small town in Arizona,

we have a lot more in common than you might think.

As I’ve learned more about our city, it’s clear that Detroit has faced

its fair share of adversity,”

With March Madness in full swing, I remembered the tiny high school basketball team that won the State Championship in 1954.

Milan high school only had 161 kids enrolled that year.

Unlike most states, Indiana held a single class tournament in which all schools competed for the same championship.

Most small schools would never make it to the championship game.

In the 1954 State Championship game, Milan Edged out Muncie Central for a 32-30 victory.

40,000 people deescended on Milan (population 1,150) the next day to welcome the team home.

That’s why it was called the “Milan Miracle”.

I have a simple remedy with no pills!

2 Steps:

Take a warm, not hot shower before bed.

Turn the lights out and pray for everyone you know.

Ask God to bless many of the people in your life.

That includes those in need and those you love.

God knows what they need. You don’t need to explain.

Try it!

One of our grandsons is a roofer.

He came over yesterday to look at our roof.

They had their first child, a boy, a few months ago.

As he came through the front door he couldn’t stop talking about the baby.

He is so thrilled with this new child in his life.

And he is equally enthusiastic about the great mother his wife has become.

So, he is a happy guy who wants to tell the world about his fami,y.

There is a “feel good” story for you!