ROCKWALL, TX – Dec. 22, 2020 – In the days after the latest presidential election, with the outcome still uncertain, folks were wringing their hands. As the week dragged by, a large percentage of the populous drooped like Super Bowl attendees wearing the losing colors. There is more at stake in an election than in […]
ROCKWALL, TX – October 8, 2020 — We sat on the floor hugging our knees to our chest for protection, wide-eyed at the scene before us. Several people with the same ghastly appearance stumbled forward— not in living color but in half-dead black and white. That was my first encounter with zombies, when Mom allowed […]
ROCKWALL, TX – August 24, 2020 — The wheels on the bus go round and round after nearly six months of sheltering in place. Two of my grandchildren – sporting colorful new masks – are hopping aboard. Attending school may well become the most notable event of Fall 2020. To open or not to open? […]
(ROCKWALL, TX – June 22, 2020) My usual Saturday morning phone call to my elderly parents opened with a question I’d never before asked them: “Do you have plenty of toilet paper?” Isolated in the early months of COVID-19, they depended solely on my time-challenged sister’s weekly visit and grocery run. My father answered and eased […]
(ROCKWALL, TX — May 5, 2020) Out for a walk one April morning, I stopped to greet a neighbor from a safe, COVID-19 distance. When I inquired about her well-being during these trying days, she burst into tears. Her daughter, she explained, is a high-school senior—was a high-school senior. Everything is upended in their world. […]
(ROCKWALL, TX – April 5, 2020) My heart beats faster as the clock strikes midnight in the fairy tale movie. Cinderella is running down the castle steps with the awful realization that her beautiful clothing will soon return to rags. I recall two episodes of real panic, and both involved the same child. Our son, at […]
The year 2020 arrived with more than a bang: a US embassy attack followed by ballistic missiles and the resulting loss of a passenger plane. Meanwhile, as Australia battled wildfire, several other countries experienced either earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Closer to home, we watched a troubling impeachment trial and grieved the death of a beloved […]
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. –Song of Solomon 2:4 Heart-shaped chocolate boxes abound for Valentine’s Day, and some can be found even in senior-living communities, though romantic couples are hard to find. But one residential center I have visited was abuzz for months over a pair […]
I heaved a sigh of relief as my husband, Jim, pulled a chunk of splintered wood from the palm of my hand. A small piece remained behind, and weeks later, though I couldn’t see it, the splinter still smarted if I touched the right spot. Jim’s own little splinter was more elusive. He’d rubbed one […]
(ROCKWALL, TX — Dec. 2, 2019) The familiar melodies arrive around the same time as poinsettias. Like cough medicines and Menthol lozenges we purchase this time of year, their lyrics may soothe us: What Child is this, who, laid to rest/On Mary’s lap is sleeping?1 Though the nations may rage and winter weather behave likewise, […]