Luann Tennant Coyne

Category: Mothers

A Little Bit of Magic

A little bit of magic goes a long way to relieve the long hours and hard work of being a working parent.
Once in a while, when my girls were young, I would stop the car at a park on the way to the sitter’s house in the morning, and we would spend twenty minutes on the slides and swings. We would have the park to ourselves, first thing on a weekday morning. And I got a little extra play time with my girls… The best present in the world for me.

You Just Get Through It

Once I asked my mother what it was like to live through really hard times, like Pearl Harbor and WWII. Mom was a young woman in nursing school when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Mom told me that they gathered around, listening to radios… She said it was hard to believe it had happened, that it didn’t seem real.

Waiting . . .

Waiting has its gifts. Waiting has taught me patience. Humility. Waiting has knocked the top layer off my ever-present and arrogant assumption that I know what’s best for myself and for everyone else in the world. Best of all, waiting has brought me closer to an always loving, always compassionate God.

Grandma Time

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.

What I Love about Women and Punchbowls

What I love about women is the way we gather as a community to celebrate other women. We seem to do it almost instinctually, at every major milestone. Recently we gathered here at my home near Chicago for a baby shower for my daughter Shannon.

God’s Refrigerator

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

“Changing Direction”: The Art of Positive Distraction 

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 

Thanks, Aunt Pat

Abstract artistic watercolor painting sunshine colourful background

Recently my husband and I traveled to East Jordan, Michigan, for the celebration of life of my mother’s sister, Aunt Pat. Patricia Vance Schloop was several months past 100 years old when she passed on, vibrant and beloved to the end. *** Dear Aunt Pat: Thanks for thousands of hot dogs and s’mores, served on… Continue reading Thanks, Aunt Pat

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

Joy Comes With the Morning

Strong confidence young woman standing alone and open arms under the sunrise on top of the mountain. She was delighted and happy to come and see the sunrise from the top of the mountain.

When my father was dying and Mom and I were standing at his bedside in the hospital, Mom asked me to read Psalm 35 aloud to Dad. When I got to verse five, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning,” Mom repeated it, raising her voice because Dad was hard… Continue reading Joy Comes With the Morning