This year, I pray, may I focus on the goodness and kindness I see every day in my life, no matter how small.
What does it feel like to be 70? What it feels like to be 70 is to be living in a kaleidoscope, where past memories and present experiences and glimpses into the future all come at once.
Little Lucas Alexander, born July 19th, is our latest grandchild, and our latest joy. Watching him, I see all over again how very powerless newborns are. He cannot move his arms and legs consciously. He cannot lift his head, although every day he gets a little closer to that goal. He cannot even turn over.… Continue reading Staring at the Angels
Six-year-old Hanah is back with her family now and me, I want to be more like her. I want to see the wonder in ordinary things. I want to realize how lucky I am, to have all the good things that I’ve never noticed before.
The parade was to come right by our rented cottage, so my husband Frank and I attended… and stepped into another world. Being near the end of the parade route, we spent an hour waiting, walking up and down the street, being baptized by the last of the rain, enjoying the pre-parade festivities. Families and… Continue reading The Ocean Springs Mardi Gras Parade
One of the most difficult spiritual lessons I’ve ever had to learn is that God loves me unconditionally, no matter what I do or don’t do. It is so much easier for me to think that I can at least partially earn God’s love and approval through my good works. After all, my thinking goes,… Continue reading God’s Refrigerator
When I was sick with Covid, doing pretty much nothing but aching, resting, and sleeping more than I’ve slept in years, I got a call out of the blue from a young mother I had met months before. She needed to talk. She told me that the call helped her, but I know it really… Continue reading “Changing Direction”: The Art of Positive Distraction
Earlier this month, Frank and I were in Marlborough, MA to attend the funeral of my husband’s aunt, Dorothy Francis. Last time Frank and I were in Marlborough, we were caring for our baby granddaughter Hanah while her mother Elizabeth was working on the East Coast. It was 2017, and Frank and Liz and I… Continue reading Farewell to Aunt Dorothy
In 1961, in a small town in rural Michigan, a first-grade teacher helped her students fill paper cups with dirt and plant a begonia seed in each cup. I was in that class. We set our paper cups on the sun-drenched windowsill of our classroom and, in between learning East from West and North from… Continue reading A Day for Gratitude
I used to measure my Christmas seasons by how much I could “get the Christmas spirit,” that is, feel the joy of Christmas. I would feel cheated and mildly anxious if that “Christmas spirit” and “Christmas happiness” didn’t show up on time and in the appropriate quantities. I have learned better, by now. I have… Continue reading The Christmas Spirit
