I am an ardent fan of trees, especially large, old ones. We searched for almost two years before we found a house with a yard full of mature oaks. My daughter was even married beneath their branches. It was my happy place. But like grown children leaving the nest, they have gradually begun ...
Somehow I always expected an easier trip. Traveling to grandma’s house seemed to take days in our 1977 Pontiac sedan. When I put it in my GPS now, it would only take 3-1/2 hours, tops. But back then it felt more like a covered wagon trek across those parched Kansas grasslands. With my father ...
“You are my hero,” she said. It echoed inside my head for months. I felt the deep inaccuracy in her words from the start. This vibrant woman full of life and grace and love, had no business looking up to me. But her enthusiastic rallying for others is part of her charm and ...
After we remodeled a house, we needed rain for our un-irrigated grass seed to sprout in the summer heat. The exterior door into the new mudroom was installed slightly below ground level. Every time we got a hard rain that summer, the mudroom flooded. And every time my husband and I would be in there ...
“Let go! Let go!” Our young adult friends yelled in unison from the swollen river’s bank, some reaching a panicked tone. The canoe my thrill-seeking new husband and I were floating in had taken a corner too fast, and capsized. He immediately let go, went under, and then popped up on the far ...
Late last week I finally shopped for a Father’s Day card. As I was checking out what was left on the racks, a woman about my mother’s age came up behind me. The lady reached for a card, frowned, and put back card after card. I assumed she couldn’t find the sentiment she was ...
“You’ll never survive without bug spray. They have giant mosquitoes,” my sister advised, tossing me a can of insect repellant. The summer following third grade, I reluctantly packed my small mod-flowered suitcase to join my older siblings for a week at the fabled site, Camp Wentz. I had seen a few grainy black and ...
My oldest child was enamored with her dad from the very beginning. They had a relationship I wasn’t sure I’d ever permeate. Everyone knew about their special bond. When she was just learning to talk and interact, our friend had a game he played with her. Designed to challenge that relationship. He would ask ...
(This is the second part of a piece that originally appeared on kindredmom.com.) Part I can be found here. ************ After a week of what I thought was the flu, I finally made an appointment with my general practitioner. I will never forget my doctor’s words as he prepared to read the ...
This week I am preparing for a speaking event and next week I will be at the Cleveland Clinic for a heart check. So I am taking this opportunity to post a piece that was selected and originally appeared on the Kindred Mom website a few weeks ago. It tells the story of ...
