Foundational Elements of Love

Often, we use the word “love” loosely. We tie “love” to a certain food, a coffee brand, a song, a clothing line, and many other things. Then, we use the same word when we refer to people. But love is deeper than things, attraction, or passion. Love is based on foundational elements that allow love […]

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Life’s Brief Sojourn

I found last week’s helicopter and plane crash upsetting and disturbing, followed by a second crash and more lives cut short. The reality of the instantaneous loss of that many lives clung to me all week like a cold, wet blanket, heavy and oppressive. Perhaps, the fact that the emotions felt so familiar factored in. […]

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Names and Labels

Many years ago, our church choir was invited to sing at the county fair. Most people go to the fair to ride rides, take a chance on winning a cheap prize, and eat food that’s bad for them, so as expected, when our time to shine arrived, our audience was sparse. Back then, we were […]

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Lost or Found

Jim and I spent the first part of January 2023 in Israel, while the situation there was less volatile than it is now. Jim had a penchant for getting lost in thought (or absorbed in photography) while on this trip. At one stop, the bus pulled away from the curb with me yelling, “We’re not […]

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What Now? What’s Next?

Having completed the first year of widowhood, it seems like I should feel lighter and eager for the next step in my journey. Instead, I think I turned a corner and hit a brick wall. The remaining tasks on my to-do list loom, large and insurmountable. I should be brimming with thoughts and plans that […]

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The Gift of Contentment

I’ve never been one who randomly chooses a word for the year. Instead, I’ve noticed a word usually finds me. Last year, near the end of January, my word for the year materialized when a friend asked me to give her a word to include in a watercolor she was painting for me. Immediately, the […]

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Beyond a Year of Firsts

Friday of this week marks the one-year anniversary of the day I found Jim’s lifeless body at the top of the back stairs. It’s not really the kind of anniversary you want to acknowledge, yet there it is on the calendar, the “3” pulsing with emotion and memories. For many months after Jim’s death, I […]

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Christmas-Colored Memories

Christmas brings to mind many things: sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and memories. For some reason, this year, my memories hark back to childhood. I remember looking at the myriad delights in the hardback Bennett Bros. catalog toy section and dogearing pages, scratchy petticoats under velvet dresses, squinting into the overly-bright headlight attachment on Daddy’s movie […]

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The Music of Heaven on Earth

Sunday, I had the joy of singing in our choir Christmas presentation. This year was different. Jim wasn’t sitting in the men’s section. Unlike last year, when Jim remembered his music was still at home halfway there, I got to the church on time. After the presentation, I hugged my family, who were in attendance, […]

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Hard Happens Despite the Holidays

Here we are, two weeks before Christmas, and life’s hardships haven’t slowed down for many. In the past week, these are situations of which I’m aware, two unexpected deaths, a death after a years-long decline, hospitalizations, those who’ve had surgery, those caring for loved ones with cancer, and several people near death. Life marches on, […]

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