In fourth grade my back-to-school shoes were a hurried decision. With four of us to outfit on a single shopping trip to Wichita, my mom had her hands full. Toward the end of the day, at one of our last stops in the mall, I settled on a pair of tan suede oxfords with thick soles. I wasn’t in love … [Read more...] about The Prints We Leave Behind
ICD
Photos and Phones, Purses and Passports
A man at our church lost his wife to pancreatic cancer two years ago. It was a very short, difficult illness and her passing left many of us in shock. She was an amazing wife, and mother, and grandmother. Last week, this faithful man had a fire in a storage building and lost nearly all of his … [Read more...] about Photos and Phones, Purses and Passports
Ode to the Medical Professional
Weird fact I have learned through this journey: the only place on earth that the line to the men’s restroom is longer than it is to the women’s is at cardiac rehab. I remember being shocked as I walked past a queue of 80-year-old men during a break at cardiac rehab, straight into the adjacent … [Read more...] about Ode to the Medical Professional
Virgil & Ann
They’re surely gone now. The elderly couple from Enid, Oklahoma, we befriended just weeks after we were married: Virgil and Ann. We spent time in their home and in their garden. Mostly, we were admiring their marriage, though. We moved away, and in pre-cell-phone, pre-social-media days, … [Read more...] about Virgil & Ann
Messy Relationships
We were high school sweethearts. And my husband and I dated several years living in different states in the 1980s. Those years included a rotary wall phone, no caller ID, and no personalized ringtones. So when the phone rarely sounded, we never knew who was on the other end. If it happened to be … [Read more...] about Messy Relationships
Preparing for the Plan
I used to walk on an indoor track at a fitness center where they had inspirational quotes posted along the course. Once you’ve walked around it for a few years, you memorized them all, whether you wanted to or not. The one that stuck in my head was, “It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only … [Read more...] about Preparing for the Plan