Two small salmon swivel rockers sat in front of the family room window. For the last ten years of her life, I took up residence in one of those chairs, listening intently as she reminisced about the past and asking questions about her youth. That swivel seat afforded me time to know her not only as my grandmother, but as a…… Continue reading Front row seat
I pushed the heavy door open, slowly, and a bit reluctantly. The room was somber and devoid of sunlight. I could see my aunt caressing my grandmother’s thin white hand while gently cradling her face with the other. My grandmother appeared strained, tired, absent. I gingerly walked into the room finding my place at her bedside. She…… Continue reading Behind that door
Stop right where you are and look; what do you see? I am sitting squarely in front of a large picture window and in my view, twenty feet away, sits a sprawling Bradford Pear tree. A tree with no leaves emanating from its barren branches. So, is that all I see, or is there more? I…… Continue reading Right in front of me
Intermittent rain drops fell, and where winter’s thick white blanket once covered the ground, wilted dull blades of grass withstood the poking and prodding of spastic squirrels searching for buried treasure. The garden beds were littered with discarded and decaying branches. Scattered rusted relics, once supple and green, gathered in and around stubborn skeletal stalks of perennial plants, providing complimentary insulation through the cold winter months. The only…… Continue reading The Messenger
Remember when you were a kid and you didn’t care if a cold winter snowstorm made booger icicles hang from the end of your nose, because you had just one job to do and it was all you could focus on; PLAY OUTSIDE. Whether it was a desperately appreciated snow day, the hours after school before homework time, or a glorious…… Continue reading Remember when…
We were sitting near the electric fireplace in the lobby. I had pulled a chair close to his wheelchair. I opened the newspaper that he encouraged me to take home and read because, “there’s a lot of good stuff in there,” and found an interesting article about an artist who uses old wine barrels to make…… Continue reading A Few Quiet Minutes
~ “Right time right place” ~ “Meant to be” ~ “Divine intervention”~ “Coincidence” ~ No matter how you slice it…sometimes, things just line up perfectly. My husband and I frequent an eclectic restaurant for breakfast every weekend called “The Friendly Toast,” located in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It’s our go-to-spot located 30 minutes to our north. It is, by…… Continue reading Breakfast Bond
What if it was me lying in a hospital bed, staring up at a stark white ceiling; unfamiliar sheets and blankets pretending to comfort me, unfamiliar noises interrupting my sparse thoughts, unfamiliar smells taking me farther from home? What if it was me and my thoughts were jumbled, but sometimes they weren’t, and I felt alone and misplaced;…… Continue reading What if it was me?
Whether by accident or with malicious intent, every cat has undoubtedly experienced a pull of the tail. Think about it…cat tails seem to have a mind of their own, moving like whips or snakes depending on the cat’s mood. They play chicken with doors, rocking chairs, and small children; and then it happens…the tail gets caught…… Continue reading Past or Presence?
It’s truly amazing how talented we all are in our own God-given way! From my vantage point, I can see how many people it takes to care for family members in distress. I can see the advantage of recognizing individual gifts and pooling them together in order to provide ailing loved ones with the care…… Continue reading Puzzle pieces
