Luann Tennant Coyne

Category: Children

Farewell to Aunt Dorothy

Defocused sunset sky and ocean nature background with blurred panning motion.

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

A Day for Gratitude

Begonia with red flowers, isolated on white.

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

The Christmas Spirit

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

God’s Mailbox

At the top of Nine Mile Mountain on the Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA of the Rockies property in Colorado is a mailbox labelled “God’s Mailbox”. Anyone can climb the mountain and leave a letter to God there. We climbed Nine Mile Mountain last week and peeked into the mailbox.  There were several sealed letters there. … Continue reading God’s Mailbox

The Gift of Hope

People think that only the elderly, living single, forgotten lives, can feel lonely and despondent.  People do not realize that the young, invisible in a crowd, can feel just as lonely, and just as miserable. When I was in sixth grade, I felt terminally different. I felt like a total misfit, a permanent ugly duckling… Continue reading The Gift of Hope

Growing Peace

Peace is something that we humans have to work at, if we want it.  We have to cultivate it, in our families, our relationships, and our communities. My grandmother did all those things. She even grew peace in her garden. It was a hot summer afternoon at my grandparents’ farm in Northern Michigan, in the… Continue reading Growing Peace

Rescuing Baby Fire Monsters

It is not only sheer fun to enter the pretend world of a child, but sometimes it gives us a glimpse of a better world. “These are our bear cages,” Hanah announces. (Hanah and her brother Elijah are visiting us, and playing inside on a rainy day.)  “We are safe from bears and monsters when… Continue reading Rescuing Baby Fire Monsters

The Job of a Grandmother

The job of a grandparent is to make a grandchild feel beloved, special, secure.  My grandmother did that for her grandchildren. Now I try to do that for my own grandchildren. World events can and do storm around us, but as grandparents we put aside our fears and concerns to give our grandchildren time and… Continue reading The Job of a Grandmother

Self-Care is Not Selfish

I found becoming the mother of a newborn terrifying. I was completely responsible for this helpless mite.  What if I screwed up?  What if I forgot to do something crucial? How could I possibly think of myself when this little one needed (and demanded) everything from me? I went into hyper-caretaking mode. Every moment (and… Continue reading Self-Care is Not Selfish

A Crater in My Life

It is Autumn, when a new batch of teenagers go away to college and a new batch of “empty-nester” parents learn to live a childless life, one no longer consumed by the ticking clock of responsibility for another human being. What do you do when a role that has kept you busy for 18 years,… Continue reading A Crater in My Life