Luann Tennant Coyne

Category: Family

More than a Teapot (Passing the Torch)

Men of my Uncle Barton’s generation did not cry in public, but his eyes were shining with tears as he stood in the restaurant parking lot and pulled a cardboard box out of the trunk of his car.  “Open this later… You’ll understand why,” he said gruffly, gave me a hug, and drove away. For… Continue reading More than a Teapot (Passing the Torch)

“Just Like My Love for You”

Monarch butterflies have had a special meaning for us ever since the death of my infant granddaughter Eliana.  The summer after she died, we saw Monarch butterflies everywhere, even though an unusual hard frost in Mexico, where the Monarch butterflies spend the winter, had killed most of the Monarch population only months before. When Eliana’s… Continue reading “Just Like My Love for You”

Letter to My Dad

Dear Dad— Twenty-seven years ago today Mom and I stood at your bedside in the hospital in Pensacola.  We read from the Psalms and Mom said, through her tears, “Joy comes with the morning, Wirth.  Joy comes with the morning!” I had just had sinus surgery, and Mom asked me how it had gone.  “It… Continue reading Letter to My Dad

Mother’s Blue Bowl (Follow the Wind)

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We all have them.

Memories tied up in wood, or glass. Physical artifacts containing invisible family stories of the people whose blood pulses through our veins. Stories that tie us to the past, but also give us vision and courage for the here and now. 

Such an item is my mother’s blue glass bowl.

Detritus

A row of American Girl dolls across the top of the computer desk in the guest room.  A lone girl’s sandal on the floor of my closet.  And the question that nags me. “Should I take it to Goodwill (where its mate undoubtedly is)?  Or throw it away? Have they already thrown away its mate, at Goodwill?  Or is it lounging at the bottom of some sale bin, waiting for me to do the right thing and complete the pair again so some impoverished girl can have a nice pair of sandals for the summer?”