“Women who stepped up were measured as citizens of the nation, not as women. This was a peoples’ war, and everyone was in it.” – Olivia Culp Hobby, engraved on WWII Memorial in DC With pride, thousands of women signed up for military service after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But, millions of women […]
Category Archives: Memories
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“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” – John Steinbeck Time for the winter quilts. The icy season descended upon the Midwestern States with a Halloween snow storm. Mercury lies in the lower end of the thermometer for days. Instead of shivering or turning up the […]
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The realization of the power of story began in my childhood. I lived in the rural areas of Iowa and Wisconsin where I attended one room school houses. The sparse collection of books on the tiny wooden shelf included a series with an orange cover called “Childhoods of Famous People.” I read every volume from […]
“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” – TV show, The Wonder Years Bill carried in a box of neatly folded t-shirts and started to lay them out on the long table. The women gathered for the Stitchers’ meeting gazed […]
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“You were unsure which pain is worse – the shock of what happened or the ache for what never will.” […]
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“Headlines don’t sell papes. Newsies sell papes.” -Jack Kelly Newsies were the toughest kids on the streets of New York City during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Their plucky, can-do, ambitious attitudes have gained these newspaper hawks respect in today’s pop culture. But those kids on the street corners in knickers and slouch caps […]
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“A child born to another woman calls me mommy. The magnitude of that tragedy and the depth of that privilege are not lost on me.” -Jody Landers Another parent-teacher conference ended with the stars twinkling in the night sky, and me scuttling to my Saturn in a nearly empty school parking lot. Invariably, the […]
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“He’s twenty years old, and my wife still tucks him in at night, offering a little prayer, making sure that a comforting weighted blanket covers him, and always getting his biggest smile for her effort.” -Timothy Fountain, Raising a Child with Autism At age twenty-five, it should have been easy. But it wasn’t. When the nurse […]
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“The family of God is the choir, and God is their audience.” – Keith Getty On any given Sunday morning, the congregation is filled with people with hearts that are aching. Some face joblessness and debt. Others struggle with pornography or opioid addiction. Alcoholism. Unfaithful spouses. Rebellious children and prodigal youth. Unexpected pregnancy. Medical issues. Lost […]
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough. – Melody Beattie Photo by smorielorrie on flickr with Thimbleberries pattern The proverbial glass is always half full for me. Some say, “Cleo can find the good in even a garbage pile.” That’s true. For an art project in college, I water-colored a pile of overflowing trash cans […]