It’s Christmas Eve! I LOVE Christmas Eve! Growing up, in our house, Christmas Eve was the big event. It was when all the magic and wonder and excitement happened. Christmas Day was about turkey dinner and visiting. But Christmas Eve! With our children, we tended to do more on Christmas Day, in the tradition of […]
Turning around a bad day…
Thursday night I fell into bed utterly exhausted. I had struggled to stay awake until 9:30, admitted defeat and trudged off to bed. No sooner did my head hit the pillow than my eyes popped open. I tried, oh how I tried to go to sleep. At 12:30, I got up and went to find […]
When good is better than great…
A couple of days ago I heard the story of a volunteer firefighter. He lived in a town where there were regular firefighters, but if the emergency required extra manpower the volunteers were called out. He wanted to serve his community, but he also had dreams of rushing into a massive blaze and saving a […]
Light from the dark places
“Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering. There’s a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen died this week. While I may not have cared for his vocal stylings, you cannot deny the man was a gifted poet. The words above are lyrics from his song Anthem […]
Thoughts on being kind
I woke up early this morning. My eyes popped open at 4:28am. That’s pretty specific, I know, but the first thing I saw was the glowing face of the clock beside me. I knew in an instant, with absolute certainty, that I wouldn’t be going back to sleep because my mind was already focused and […]
A letter to a young girl…
Dearest girl, I saw a photo of you the other day. You were at the lake with your grandparents and your Papa was taking pictures because that’s what he loves to do. You were sitting on a driftwood log on the beach with the breeze lifting your hair just a bit and you were looking […]
Looking through a new lens…
“Look at that sign across the street! I can read that sign!” I said excitedly. Tugging on My Sweet’s hand I exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, can you see that? That little sign down the street? I can see that! I can READ that!” If I was a ‘dancing in the streets Mary Tyler Moore-esque twirling, […]
No power? No problem.
“Quick, flip the eggs. There’s still enough heat in the pan to cook the tops.” This was my comment to My Sweet this morning when the power flickered twice and then the house went dark. He was already on it though, he’s smart like that. You had to know it was going to happen. The […]
People keep asking…
Not quite two months ago we became grandparents again and people keep asking me if it’s different this time. No. That beautiful baby does what all babies do: eats, sleeps, and dirties diapers. Nothing out of the ordinary really, at least not yet. So why do people keep asking if this time is different? Because […]
For the girl in the Harry Potter hat…
I was standing in the children’s section of a bookstore the other day when I first saw her. A young girl with her back to me was in earnest conversation with one of the clerks. I was guesstimating her age at about 10 maybe 11 years old. I’d had to edge past her to get […]
