Table of contents for March 2021 in Reader's Digest

AS A TEENAGER in the 1990s, Melissa Blake was interested in fashion. Unfortunately, fashion wasn’t much interested in her. Blake, who has a genetic bone and muscle disorder and stands a little under four feet tall, couldn’t find jeans or dresses in her size. Paging through Glamour and Cosmopolitan, she didn’t see a single person who looked like her, and it hurt. “That would have been a game changer for me,” says Blake, who had 26 surgeries before age 17 to treat her Freeman-Sheldon syndrome. Because of her condition, she can walk short distances with difficulty but sometimes relies on an electric scooter. “When you’re a teenager—disabled or not—you deal with issues of self-esteem. If I had seen someone who looked like me, I would have felt really seen.” Blake,…

ON A FREEZING January evening, Ashley Austrew sat in her car in an Omaha, Nebraska, parking lot, working up the courage to go into a comedy improv class. For 20 minutes, the 33-year-old journalist and mom of two sat with swirling thoughts of self-doubt: “OMG, I can’t do this. I’ll be the worst one.” Then she turned off the engine, took a few deep breaths, and went inside. For Austrew, trying improv was the first small step to improve her self-esteem. “All my life, I’ve lacked confidence,” she says. “I didn’t have the courage to try anything new.” So she made a list of all the things she was afraid to attempt and then asked herself, What if I didn’t let my excuses win? Improv was her biggest target. Her…

Work’s like a Charm! Imagine being a spy right now, stuck at home trying to convince your family you have a normal job. —@_BillieBelieves Virtual meetings are basically modern séances. “Elizabeth, are you here?” “Is anyone else with you?” “We can’t see you. Can you hear us?” —@mcclellandshane Please quit telling me to “keep up the good work.” The good work was an accident and impossible to replicate. —@House_Feminist Super unprofessional when ventriloquists argue with their puppets over which one is the dummy. Figure that out backstage. —@ChrisStephensMD Now that my boyfriend is working from home, I’ve asked we liven things up by pretending we’re having an office affair. —@FernBrady My boss just called me into his office and told me I’ve been spending too much time on Twitter. Hold…

FROM BLOOMBERG.COM IF, LIKE ME, you have recently entered that period of life known as middle age, take heed: The building years of your life are over, and what you are now is pretty much what you are going to be. Soon it will be what you were. You can no longer tell yourself that you might move to Lisbon, learn Portuguese, and take up the guitar. But you can follow a set of simple rules to guide you the rest of the way. Best of all, these rules work no matter what your age and stage of life. First and foremost, be kind. Mean is easy; kind is hard. Once we reached eighth grade, many of us got the idea that the nasty put-down, the superior smile, and the…

Osa, an athletic 62-pound German shepherd with a long fluffy tail and a fondness for red bandannas, seems an unlikely superhero. She chews on the couch when she’s bored and isn’t above making a scene to get attention. On a recent day when her foster mother and trainer Annemarie DeAngelo stepped outside their New Jersey home while chatting with a visitor, Osa bounded up and barked for attention; when that failed, she leaped onto the patio table, stuck her snout in DeAngelo’s face, and began whining. “You are unbelievable,” DeAngelo growled before cracking a smile. But if Osa wants to play the diva, she’s entitled. After all, how many six-year-old pooches do you know who have mastered the art of sniffing out cancerous tumors and are involved in a research…

THE MODERN DRUGSTORE is a land of rainbows. The perky pink of Pepto-Bismol. The soothing green of NyQuil. From aisle to aisle, peppy purples and rootin’-tootin’ reds promise fresh this and happier that. But lest anyone be lulled into thinking it’s all fun and games, a familiar whiskey-colored face is still there to remind us that it’s still about killing germs. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the product America trusts with its dirtiest jobs: Listerine. Specifically, the brown stuff. Official name: Listerine Original Antiseptic Mouthwash. It’s the stuff you find in Pop-Pop’s medicine cabinet that tastes like an old shoe. The stuff that’s become an unlikely super star to teenagers, stand-up comedians, and beyond. And the stuff that was named the most trusted mouthwash in the Reader’s Digest annual survey of health…

WHEN I WAS 20, a man I barely knew proposed without a ring. I said yes. Our friends were alarmed about our fast decisions to marry and move from Tennessee to New York City. I got a handwritten letter from an elder at church suggesting I wait to get to know my fiancé better. His friends held a tearful intervention. One of our beloved professors questioned the decision. My mother referred to my fiancé not by his name—David—but by the nickname “rank stranger.” But we were in love. After refusing premarital counseling (we didn’t need it, we insisted), David and I got married and moved to the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan. We could see the Empire State Building at night, if we craned our necks while sitting on our…

1. luminary n. (‘loo-muh-nair-ee) A heat lamp. B brilliant person. C film projector. 2. gloaming n. (‘gloh-ming) A dawn. B noon. C twilight. 3. refract v. (rih-’frakt) A bend. B scatter. C dim. 4. parasol n. (‘pair-uh-sawl) A glowworm. B sunshade. C waxy glow. 5. translucent adj. (tranz-’loo-sunt) A allowing light through. B blocking light. C producing light. 6. scintillate v (‘sin-tuh-layt) A polish until glossy. B extinguish. C give off sparks. 7. beacon n. (‘bee-kin) A guiding light. B camera flash. C sunbeam. 8. sconce n. (skonss) A unit of electricity. B light fixture. C firework launcher. 9. incandescent adj. (in-ken-’deh-sunt) A white-hot. B candlelit. C reflective. 10. heliotropic adj. (hee-lee-oh-’troh-pik) A turning toward the sun. B tan. C near the equator. 11. diurnal adj. (dy-’er-null) A in a shaded area. B twice a day. C active in daytime. 12.…

See page 118. Quick Crossword ACROSS 1. MANGO 3. TREFOIL 5. CHIP 6. LEMONADE 7. MINT 8. THIN DOWN 2. ALOHA 3. TAGALONG 4. SAMOA 5. CREME Allergy Season Allegra is allergic to shellfish, Ben to bee stings, Clara to nuts, Flora to pollen, and Zach to cats. This, Not That She likes only things that are French (french fries, French toast, etc.). So Happy Together 5, including you Block Letters Caption Contest What’s your clever description for this picture? Submit your funniest line at RD.COM/CAPTIONCONTEST. Winners will appear in a future Photo Finish (PAGE 124).…

The Season for Family Miracles The story of the woman bonding with her new stepmom over the red coats they both wore around Christmas and inherited from their deceased moms brought tears. My daughter was four when her grandmother died. She always says she doesn’t remember much except she always wore her red coat. —KATHLEEN MCCARTHY Butler, New Jersey 2020 Holiday Shopping Guide I once gave my grandson a freshly oiled cast-iron pan that was my dad’s. He’d just moved into his own house, and I knew he loved cooking and corn bread. He’s used it for years. The next year, I gave more gifts from my home that are special to me. The joy on my relatives’ faces couldn’t have been bought. —JANE GREO Maplewood, Minnesota The Double Triple…

ON A MILD morning in November 1979, when a group of students clambered over the walls of the American Embassy in Tehran, I, the modest pistachio, might have been the furthest thing from everyone’s mind. As that day turned into an infamous hostage crisis, few were likely focused on the fact that Iran was by far the largest supplier of pistachios to the United States. Or that the sanctions imposed by President Carter, which included a ban on importing me, meant that you were going to need a new source. At just a nickel for a dozen of me, I had plenty of American fans back then. I started out as a popular snack among Middle Eastern immigrants in the late 1800s but eventually spread to snackers of all ilk…

BILL & GIOVANNI I met my best friend, Bill Cervenka, at work. I was 23, and he was 85, but it seemed I had more in common with him than with any friends my age. We were both really stubborn. He always had an umbrella, and whenever it was raining after work, he used to say, “Let me walk you to your car.” I would always decline the offer, but he would say, “I’m walking you to your car whether you like it or not.” Bill and I always took the same lunch break. He didn’t recognize many of my Mexican dishes and often asked what I was eating. I always offered him a taste, along with some of my Oreos. Eventually it became our tradition that every time a…

For the seventh year in a row, Reader’s Digest has teamed up with the global market research firm Ipsos to identify the product brands that Americans say they trust the most. The winners in 20 health and wellness categories include some new ones, including in the CBD and health insurance categories. And in this most unusual year, we expanded the criteria to factor in how well Americans think the brand has responded to the pandemic and also supported diversity and racial justice. Allergy Relief BENADRYL Body Lotion AVEENO CBD (cannabidiol) CHARLOTTE’S WEB/PUREKANA/NULIFE CBD/VERMA FARMS (FOUR-WAY TIE) Cold/Flu Remedy NYQUIL Contact Lens ACUVUE Cough Remedy ROBITUSSIN Eye Drops VISINE Headache/Pain Reliever TYLENOL Health Insurance BLUE CROSS/BLUE SHIELD Healthy Cereal CHEERIOS Heartburn/Antacid TUMS Herbal Supplement NATURE MADE Multivitamin CENTRUM Nutritional Drink/Meal Replacement ENSURE Pharmacy CVS PHARMACY Sleep Aid NYQUIL Sugar Alternative SPLENDA Sun Protection COPPERTONE Toothpaste CREST…

FROM PSYCHOLOGYTODAY.COM IN 1910, the Los Angeles Times ran a story about a boy who was charged with opening a valve every so often on a water pump powered by a steam engine to release the built-up pressure. His whole job consisted of staring at these whirring pieces of metal all day. Needless to say, the kid got incredibly bored. One day, the supervisor walked in and the boy was nowhere to be found. Yet the pump ran just as it should. The “lazy” boy had contrived a mechanized release for the pump and won his freedom from monotony. The first iteration of the automatic steam engine was born. Now, this story may be apocryphal, but the boy’s behavior reflects a deeper truth. When we are feeling lazy and disinclined…

✦ I believe my mother went to the same school of etiquette as Scott Turow’s. She taught me to always carry a handkerchief in my back pocket. My father taught me to always carry a good pocketknife in my front pocket. These practices became habits that have endured for over 70 years. Also, my mother always said that a lady carries two hankies, one for show and one for blow. —Wayne Christensen WENATCHEE, WASHINGTON ✦ I’m happy to know I’m not the only one who still carries a handkerchief everywhere. As a boy (almost 60 years ago), I got a new suit and asked my dad why only one back pocket had a button. He said the pocket with the button was for your wallet and the pocket without a…

Wise Beyond Their Years ✦ My granddaughter’s life philosophy, which she quoted in a third-grade essay: “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy cows. Cows can make milk, and milk can make ice cream, and ice cream can make you happy.” —JOELLEN TURNER Nucla, Colorado ✦ Wife: “The Romans were gluttons. They overdid everything.” Daughter, age 11: “You can’t overdo water parks.” —@ROBCORDDRY ✦ I asked my cousin’s four-year-old nephew, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” He replied, “Still me!” —R.M. via rd.com “Gorgeous night for a walk.” -Me, moving from couch to chair. —@ALYSSALIMP Prior to dinner, my 80-year-old mother-inlaw stopped off at the beauty parlor. “All the women did was complain about their husbands,” she said over our entrees. “Did you complain about your…

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine 2⁄3 cup finely chopped pistachios with 1⁄3 cup panko bread crumbs and 1⁄3 cup grated Parmesan. Melt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter with 1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves and 1 minced clove garlic over medium heat until foamy. Combine with pistachio mixture and stir until dry ingredients are evenly moistened; season with salt and pepper. Season four 4-bone frenched racks of lamb (about 3½ pounds total) with salt and pepper. In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat until nearly smoking. Add lamb racks and sear until browned, about 3 minutes each side. Transfer lamb to a work surface and rub 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard in an even layer on the fat side of each rack. Sprinkle pistachio mixture…

1. Defrost Frozen Meat Research published by the USDA indicates that your frozen strip steak might benefit from a nice hot bath. The study found that one-inch cuts of meat can be thawed in ten minutes without reducing quality. The trick: Use 102-degree water, seal the meat in plastic, and submerge it in a large pot, stirring occasionally to prevent a cold zone from developing and insulating the meat from the warm water. Researchers also found that water-thawing may lead to better-tasting steaks, as they leaked less juice than air-thawed ones. 2. Speed-Listen to a Podcast So many podcasts, so little time. Fortunately, most podcast apps have options to speed up the audio without distorting the pitch or quality beyond recognition. The 1.8x speed is a good place to start—it…

About 10 percent of Americans fill out a March Madness bracket for a pool at the office or with friends. Here are some signs you won’t be winning any prizes for yours: ✦ You think Gonzaga is a euphemism. ✦ Your Final Four includes the University of Phoenix and Hogwarts. ✦ Your top seed? Sesame. ✦ Your “Which mascot would win in a fight?” methodology yielded a showdown between the Long Island University Ninja Pirates and the Iona Chuck Norrisses. —HUMORLABS.COM…