‘Ode to Joy’ on Our Wedding Anniversary
I always assumed I would walk down the aisle at my wedding to the strains of the Bridal Chorus from Wagner’s opera “Lohingren” (also called the “Wedding March”). You know the one: “Here comes the bride, All dressed in white, . . . “ So imagine my surprise when I got to our wedding rehearsal […]
Meet the Parents and The Circle of Life
No, my dad isn’t Robert DeNiro, but we did have our own version of “Meet the Parents” just before my husband and I were married. As I’ve mentioned before (see here and here), my husband and I are about to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We got married on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 1977. […]
My Gratitude List, 2012
Gratitude journals are a tool used in many disciplines. Psychologists prescribe them to combat depression. Writing and creativity coaches encourage them as inspiration. Religious leaders recommend them as a way to focus on the blessings in our lives. There is even a Wikipedia entry on gratitude journals, and for those who want a special place […]
Celebrate The 10th “I Love To Write Day” On November 15, 2012
Delaware author John Riddle established “I Love To Write Day” in 2002. According to the I Love To Write Day organization’s press release, the day is now celebrated in over 28,000 schools across the United States, with bookstores, libraries, community centers, and just plain writers also joining in the fun. “My goal for I Love […]
The Travails of Elizabeth Dixon Smith Geer
As I wrote in my last post about the Oregon Trail, the emigrants wanted to get to Oregon before the winter weather set in. Most travelers arrived by the end of October, but some were not so lucky. One of the unfortunate travelers was Elizabeth Dixon Smith Geer. Elizabeth kept a diary of her family’s […]
Family Recipe: A Good Christmas Present
It’s about time to start Christmas shopping, if the store windows are any gauge. Have you enjoyed this blog? Then consider buying my book, Family Recipe: Sweet and saucy stories, essays, and poems about family life, for the people in your life who might also enjoy my stories. The book would make a good stocking stuffer, […]
Family Read Aloud Month: Building a Community of Readers in Kansas City
As I wrote recently, reading has always been very important to me. I didn’t know when I wrote my post two weeks ago about my mother reading to me that November is Family Read Aloud Month, nor that the Kansas City Public Library is working with Mayor Sly James on an initiative called Turn the Page Kansas City, […]
Haunting Book: Turn of Mind, by Alice LaPlante
The last book in my October series of haunting books is Turn of Mind, by Alice LaPlante. I would not have known about this book, except that it was a Stanford Alumni Association Book Salon choice for September 2012. When I learned Turn of Mind was the September selection, I knew I had to read […]
Happy Halloween Stories
Many of my posts over the last couple of months have been dark and dreary – about haunting books and family losses. So here are a few family pictures and stories that show the zany side of Halloween. My parents in bunny costumes when they were in high school: And here is my sister as […]
Haunting Book: Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
I’m turning now from haunting books that deal with violence and man’s inhumanity to man on a global level (The Hunger Games trilogy, The Sandcastle Girls, and Unbroken) to a novel that haunts because of the violence and inhumanity within a family. Gone Girl, a bestselling novel by Gillian Flynn, focuses on a most unfortunate […]