When I spotted this photo of a 1970s mom holding a glass of green Kool-Aid I knew I had to buy it! I discovered it on Etsy, one of my favorite online marketplaces. It reminded me of that Kool-Aid slogan, which first appeared in 1979: "Moms depend on Kool-Aid like kids...
Three Graces
I don't remember the day my mother left my father and siblings and the sea-green stucco house on Sigman Street. I don't remember the fight that drove her to leave. There were so many fights every day, all day long. I don't remember arriving at my grandparents'...
#EXTRAOrdinary: Ride the Waves and Share Your Story (Book Review)
#ExtraOrdinary Book Review My copy of #ExtraOrdinary marked with sticky notes. Also, my friendship pins! Book Details Authors: Carleen Matts-Behrends and Lisa Shaffner Sohn Publisher: Wise Ink Creative Publishing Pages: 216 Category/Sub-Category: Women’s Biographies;...
Back When I Was 19 [Old Polaroid of Mom and Me]
This is my mom and me, back when I was 19, and she was 52. We had 31 more years together. I'm grateful for each and everyone.
Keeping Watch
Why did my mom have to die? That's a question a kid would ask, not a 52-year-old woman. I'm supposed to be too old to be this grief-stricken. My mother died in 2017. I'm never, ever going to get over it. I'm just going to get on with it. Get on with life. Keeping...
Gladewater
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair; When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. --James M. Black, 1893 I spent most of...
Wintertide
Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be...
A Year Without My Mother
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 A year ago yesterday, my mother passed away. Today, I have lived a year without her. No hell I've gone through in my life can compare to this loss. I...
A Time To Be Born
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die... --Ecclesiastes, 3:1 Yesterday, my sister drove to the small retirement village where my mother lived, and parked outside her apartment. The person...
Sprinkles
"Mama, just for a moment we're happy. Let's really look at one another." --Thornton Wilder, Our Town Tonight, on the way to Bridgy's baton twirling class, I stopped and got a frozen iced coffee from McDonald's. I guess I forgot you're not supposed to drink caffeine...
Dearest Mom,
Dearest Mom, Happy Mother's Day, Momma. You were my mom and always will be. And what a precious mom you were. It was so sweet coming to your place in the evenings. I marveled at how you sat in your chair and rolled your hair. At 83, you still wanted to look pretty and...
Withholding Love
The other day, I heard my late mother's spirit tell me to write from my heart. That the secret to my success as a writer would come from being honest. I need to excavate the truth to the tip of my tongue, and no longer second-guess the Spirit that flows through me. I...