Category: Culture

People celebrate Valentine’s Day in different ways. Whether you’re into roses or prefer protesting the mushy holiday by wearing purple, there’s no right or wrong way to spend February 14th. Some prefers the classic “conversation hearts” to share a sweet treat (and message) with friends and loved ones.

Also known as “Sweethearts” or “Love Hearts,” these cute candies are super popular for Valentine’s Day, right after chocolates. In North America, they used to be made by Necco until 2018, when Spangler Candy Company took over (they also make Dum-Dums, Candy Canes, and Canada Mints). But let’s go back a bit.

The whole conversation hearts thing started in a pharmacy. Back in 1847, Oliver R. Chase made a machine to cut medicine faster at his Apothecary. When they switched out the medicinal stuff for sugar and flavoring, they got the first candy-making machine. Those round sugar discs became the original Necco wafers, still around today! Then Oliver’s brother, Daniel Chase, added a machine to stamp red dye on the discs, putting messages on the candy. By 1901, these turned into the conversation hearts we have now: heart-shaped, pastel-colored candies with short lovey messages.

From Oliver’s candy machine to today, making conversation hearts is pretty much the same. Crush sugar into powder, mix with other stuff, shape, stamp, and enjoy! After stamping, the candies dry under heaters, and then they mix different colored hearts before packing. Nowadays, the factories are much bigger, with Necco making 8 billion of these treats every year at its peak.

When Necco switched to Spangler in 2018, we missed out on conversation hearts for a whole year! Even in 2020, when they started making them again, shipping issues meant a year of blank conversation hearts. But luckily, with Valentine’s 2024 around the corner, the candies will be back in action!

Arlette Gondree was only four years old when British troops liberated her family’s café in Bénouville, Normandy, in June 1944, marking them as the first family freed from German control during WWII. This momentous occasion is vividly remembered by Madame Arlette, who plans to honor the 80th anniversary on June 5th by offering champagne to veterans, continuing a tradition her family has upheld annually.

Her parents played a significant role in the D-Day campaign’s success, spying on German soldiers frequenting their café and passing valuable information to the British, thanks to their multilingual abilities and connections with the French Resistance. The café, situated by the Caen Canal bridge, was of strategic importance, and its capture by British airborne troops was a pivotal first step in the Normandy Landings, the largest land, air, and naval operation in history.

Madame Arlette recalls the kindness of the soldiers who, upon liberating them, provided her and her sister with chocolate and biscuits, symbols of warmth and freedom. Her family’s café later served as a field hospital, with her mother, a trained nurse, caring for the wounded and dying.

Now residing in Warwickshire and married to Theodore Pritchett, Madame Arlette remains a bridge between the British and French, honoring her family’s legacy and the veterans’ sacrifices. The Pegasus Bridge Café, now a site of historical significance, continues to welcome visitors and veterans, keeping alive the memories of liberation and the enduring friendship forged in the aftermath of war.

You can read the full story here. It is incredibly touching with much of the story recounted by Arlette Gondree. It is well worth the quick read.

Ann Meddin Hellman had pretty much given up on finding out more about her dad’s family, thinking she lost them all during the Holocaust. But then, about five months ago, she found out she has an 83-year-old second cousin and Holocaust survivor in Israel.

“We knew his family was wiped out in the Holocaust,” the South Carolina mom and grandma told NBC News. “That’s been the family story I heard forever.” Thanks to a MyHeritage DNA test, she found Shalom Koray and learned about his tough survival story, adding a new chapter to their family history.

“We would have never found him,” she said. “No way I could have looked him up in a phone book or found him any other way. … I bet there would have been no other way besides DNA.”

Koray, who moved to Israel in 1949, was found abandoned in a potato sack in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941 at 2 years old. Lena Küchler-Silberman, a well-known Jewish teacher and psychologist, saved him and around 100 other kids during the war. Now, more than three-quarters of a century later, a researcher digging into the history of those kids got Koray to take a DNA test, and Hellman got a second cousin alert.

“That’s pretty high up for not knowing who this person is. That’s a close relation,” she said. Hellman screamed when she heard about the discovery.

“My brother [Stuart] looked just like him,” she said. “He is definitely a Meddin.”

The plan is for them to meet in person, along with a bunch of other family members, this summer in Charleston. In a MyHeritage video, Koray said, “I was born into this reality and never knew anything else. I didn’t even know the concept of parents.” Now, Hellman is promising “the biggest hug” when they all get together, defying the odds that once seemed impossible.

You may have heard about the benefits of learning cursive handwriting. Well, it seems to be getting some more attention from researchers.

While previous research has shown that handwriting improves spelling accuracy, memory recall and conceptual understanding, recent research highlights the cognitive benefits of handwriting over typing, revealing a significant increase in brain connectivity, particularly in areas tied to learning and memory.

Published in “Frontiers in Psychology” on January 26, this study adds substantial evidence to the debate on the merits of handwriting, potentially influencing educational policies toward integrating cursive instruction more robustly, as seen in California’s recent educational mandate on teaching cursive.

This investigation, led by Audrey van der Meer and Ruud van der Weel from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, utilized a unique methodology involving electrodes to track brain activity in university students as they engaged in writing tasks. These tasks included writing words in cursive using a digital pen and typing them, with brain activity monitored throughout.

The researchers discovered that handwriting notably increased brain coherence in alpha and theta wave frequencies, areas not just confined to motor execution but also integral to learning mechanisms. This suggests handwriting fosters a deeper, more comprehensive brain engagement than typing, potentially enhancing learning and memory formation.

The implications of these findings are profound, suggesting that the act of handwriting might facilitate deeper learning and memory encoding compared to typing. Although the study did not directly link the increased brain activity to improved memory retention, the observed differences in brain connectivity provide a compelling argument for the unique cognitive benefits of handwriting.

Despite the convenience and efficiency of typing, the study’s results prompt a reconsideration of handwriting’s role in the digital age, especially within educational settings.

While the study didn’t directly link these neural activities to improved memory retention, it lays the groundwork for further exploration into how these distinct brain activation patterns influence learning outcomes. The findings advocate for a balanced approach to learning, where the choice between handwriting and typing is informed by the task’s objectives and the benefits each method offers.

Highlighting the importance of maintaining handwriting skills, Van Der Meer advocates, “[Writing is] so good for [young] brains, so we shouldn’t use [this generation] as guinea pigs to see how their brains end up without any handwriting.”.

This is something my mom emphasized a lot when when I was growing up. I am glad to see that it is not being ignored by researchers. Hopefully schools will continue to teach cursive, or will bring it back if they got rid of it!

The world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, is an imposing vessel, standing nearly 1,200 feet long and weighing 250,800 gross tons. Resembling a multilayered birthday cake, it features seven swimming pools, a striped carousel, tropical greenery, and colorful waterslides.

Setting sail from the Port of Miami on its maiden cruise, the ship garnered attention with a grand entrance, accompanied by fireboat salutes and a banner flag flyover. Soccer star Lionel Messi christened the ship on January 23, officially making it the largest cruise ship globally, surpassing Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas.

With a capacity for 7,600 guests and 2,350 crew members, the ship offers a plethora of attractions. Notable features include Category 6, a 17,000-square-foot water park with the tallest drop slide at sea, the first cantilevered infinity pool, the largest swimming pool, and the largest ice arena at sea.

Icon of the Seas aims to cater to a diverse demographic with eight onboard neighborhoods, offering amenities such as a swim-up bar, family-focused dining, and an exclusive suite neighborhood. Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, considers the ship groundbreaking, especially for families.

As the flagship of Royal Caribbean’s new Icon Class, Icon of the Seas sets the stage for future ships, with Star of the Seas under construction. The ship’s debut has generated significant interest, particularly for families and those seeking a resort-like experience at sea. With numerous dining options, diverse accommodations, and innovative attractions, Icon of the Seas aims to compete not just with other cruise ships but with a broad spectrum of family vacation options worldwide.