writing when inspired about the often overlooked
“Maylie, what would you like to know about Grandma Carol when she was a little girl?” Without missing a beat she replies, “Did you get splinters?” She’s been telling me about her splinters. It makes sense she wants to know. My current writing project centers around questions my grandchildren and their parents have chosen for…
She gingerly steps out of the shower, reaching for the towel on her side of the towel rod, making sure she does not slip on the wet floor as she dries herself off. She threw the bathroom rug away the weekend her parents came to visit, because experts say throw rugs are one of the…
From my journal May 22, 2020. it is now August 22, 2020 as I write this post. Often over the last three months as confusion reigns in our world, I return to these scenes and remember God is present with me. He is present with you ***** A two week stay-at-home order has turned into…
Starting in their teenage years, my husband began taking our three sons on annual getaway father/son weekends. We have since grown to a family of eighteen with the addition of three much-loved daughter’s-in-law and ten grandchildren. As the family grew, so did the size (and participants) of the getaways. Our first all-inclusive getaway, 20 years…
There I was – a blond-haired four year old living in the deep south community of Dixie, Alabama in the early 1950’s. My family, consisting of me and my parents, had just moved from a modern upstairs apartment in south central Pennsylvania with running water and a bathroom, to our “new” southern house, without running…
He loves his blankets. all five of them. Waking up, he points to a blanket saying “it,” over and over until his Grandma gathers all of them Then, and only then, does he melt into her lap, uncharacteristically quiet while he wakes up slowly to his world. Grandma loves these rare, quiet times all of…
Up to her usual shenanigans, April plays with us once again. She dusts our neighborhoods with snow while we sleep, chuckling at our dismay as we peer out the window in the morning. It doesn’t seem to matter to her we have the hammock and the swing in the yard. She tells us its sweater-time…
My phone rang late one evening. Seeing it was my young friend, I answered with a smile in my voice “Good evening, Bridgett.” (not her real name.) A small voice, said “Do you have time to talk?” Hearing “Of course,” the small voice became even smaller as the “little girl” inside my very grown up…
rounding a curve on rt. 205 the air traffic control tower looms above the horizon on the way to Portland International Airport (PDX), home of the iconic teal blue carpet (or is it teal green) where we take pictures of our feet the carpet that says “we’re home” or “we’re leaving.” today we are leaving….
I entered the second half of life with a sturdy bucket load of dreams, brimming with possibilities. In addition, that bucket held the resources I’d need in order to make them happen–things I thought I would do, who I thought I would become, places to which I would travel. Besides the writing classes and conferences…