Sunday, October 23 We have to say goodbye again. Nobody wants to talk about it. I bake giant blueberry muffins and take short orders– scrambled eggs for one, oatmeal for another. How do I always end up in the kitchen? We sun. We swim. We play. We laugh. We grill. We eat. We pack. […]
31 Days of Moving Reflections – Day 21 #SouthFloridaBound
Friday, October 21 Today we’re facing down danger in Florida– not alligators nor sharks nor fireants nor mosquitoes nor Nile crocodiles nor Burmese pythons. Today we’re going to get our kicks not on Route 66 but on what many deem to be the most deadly or at least second deadly stretch of highway in the country, Interstate 95 heading […]
Where is Home?
“I know it’s morbid, my daughter says, “but I’ve been thinking about it, and so I’ll ask. If you and Dad die, is there enough life insurance to fly you home and bury you?” She asks him the same question over the phone, and he assures her there is plenty and more. I tell her I don’t […]
When Hospitality Is Caked With Dust
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. (1 Peter 4:9 ESV) My dad’s told the story a quadrillion times. How I overheard him say he’d like fish and fried potatoes for breakfast. So one morning I rose early (Dad says I was probably only 10 years old), grabbed my fishing pole and a can of […]
The Worst–and Best–Cruise Ever
I don’t remember where I found the deal, but life had gotten a bit stressful, and it seemed like a good idea. My husband wasn’t so enthusiastic, but for me there are (almost) no bounds to bonding, and his objections gave way to assent. So in the spring of 2001, we delivered our heart-sick-just-discharged-getting-better-and-much-beloved […]
her father’s joy
“You’re just waiting to get pregnant,” my doctor assured me. But days of thermometers and planned lovemaking and monthly disappointment tore at thinned emotions, feelings also frayed from too much doing, too much identity seeking in serving. Adoption doors hid behind lines that flowed into forever. “The company wants us to move,” my husband told […]
the heart work of eviction
My in-laws finally realized their dream. They moved out of the old farmhouse into a smaller home built at the edge of Big Creek. Mom still had plenty of room in the new garage to set up her “museum” of old calendars, photos, farm implements, and antiques. Dad stacked stones in the creek so […]
Crossing the Bridge
Mom’s illness caused her fall and ultimately her death. Her younger sister passed on before. I don’t know when. I don’t know why. Theirs was a shattered relationship. Sometime after Aunt Lucy died, my cousin sought to reconnect with my parents. That’s how it is sometimes, I think. When we lose, we ache to […]
Black Friday Fellowship – A Repost
I am a member of the Black Friday Fellowship. Or maybe it’s the Sisterhood of Silliness. Whatever it is, it’s tradition. This dark rising to set forth into the land of cold and crowds. Slushing through snow in tennis shoes and unbuttoned jackets. Gloveless. It always begins with a coffee stop. Sometimes there’s a plan, […]
31 Days on Coming to Terms with My Age ~ Day 18: Legacy of the Garden
“It is astounding to consider that Abraham personally knew Noah (Abraham was 58 years old when Noah died), and undoubtedly Noah told him of his father Lamech, who had seen and spoken with Adam who was created by God alone. Later, Abraham’s son Isaac personally knew Shem, Noah’s firstborn son, and the legacy of the […]
