Writer, Speaker, Editor, Blogger
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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, […]
What does Thanksgiving look like for you this year? Is it merely another day of caregiving? Are you wishing you could skip this holiday altogether because of grief? Do you anticipate unpleasantness because of ongoing family squabbles? Will you celebrate the holiday alone? To be honest, I’m struggling a little with the idea of […]
This week, I had the joy of hosting my church life group in my home. As we filled plates, and found seats at the table, I realized we were a few chairs short. One of the men volunteered to bring chairs in from another room. Everyone shifted as we squeezed in the additional chairs. As […]
Last week, November 8, our anniversary, was a happy day for me. I played mental reruns of the joy of our wedding day and laughed as I remembered some of the funny parts of that day 44 years ago. I was proud of myself for not allowing it to be a day of sadness and […]
November arrived with a flurry of memories and waves of nostalgia. Forty-four years ago, November 8, was our wedding day. The day brought with it a herd of internal butterflies and the usual last-minute snafus. The caterer and florist battled for who had priority in the reception venue. One called, expecting me to choose. […]
As my process of cleaning out continues, I’ve moved into harder areas. I thought the garage was bad, but can now confirm that the attic eaves on either side of the bonus room are worse…much worse. Years ago, we had a problem with squirrels invading attic spaces and “partying down.” I’m finding, and having to […]