Wife of a Deployed Soldier: Lessons Learned

Tonight, as I enjoy my dinner of Strawberry Shortcake, I’m reminded of the perks of being temporarily husbandless and childless. Since neither status is by choice, the best thing to do is learn to laugh at oneself and the little quirks that are picked up to combat loneliness. My husband, Alan, was deployed to Iraq [...]

Grandma’s Needles and Threads

Grandma Nina can no longer see to thread a needle. That seems like a small thing, but to her it is monumental. Needles and threads have been her major life tools–well, not forgetting the thimble. She has earned her living by a threaded needle many different times during her life. When she was a teenager, [...]

Raising Kids: “Don’t Train Those Traits Out Of Your Children.”

My Response To Lynsie’s Post There are all kinds of manuals these days for raising children. There were many while I was raising my six as well. Instructions for raising kids have changed through the decades, but we all try to keep up with the latest “Best Guesses.” My first two children were girls just [...]

Stubbornly Me

When I was seven years old I went to school one day wearing my favorite dress. It was mostly white with light blue trim. I also wore a necklace with a little blue heart pendant to match. As I think about it now, I can still recall how the texture of the dress fabric and [...]

YARDS AND YARDS OF MEMORIES

As I begin preparing my gardens for spring, it occurs to me that the flowers I love the most come with memories from my happy childhood. I lived in a small town the first ten years of my life. I walked to and from school every day, as did most children in the fifties, and [...]

We’re on the Countdown…

Well, I am anyway! If all goes as estimated, Alan’s troop will be returning home in just two months! The reality of it hit me today and I just have absolutely no self control in expressing my excitement. Even if the Army is not exactly putting a big red X in each passing date on the [...]