WARNING: this is a longer-than-usual read but I don’t think you’ll mind. This is quite a story. Last Friday on a quick trip to New Orleans, Jim and I were in the French Quarter, trying to catch a streetcar over to the Garden District. The corner stop was crowded, and a woman in a wheelchair was telling nobody in particular that the streetcars were full by the time they arrived at this particular stop. The way to actually get on one was to walk down the street and go around the corner to catch it at the end of/beginning of the line. Nobody paid much attention to her. Then, when…
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The Legacy She Left
It’s been one year. Every morning as I get dressed and ready for whatever my schedule has in store I look at this picture, which is hanging on the wall in my closet. On some days it’s just a quick and meaningful glance as I walk out to my bedroom: I do the mental equivalent of football players jumping up and smacking a motivational sign on their way out of the locker room. On other days I stand under the picture, which hangs just above my eye level, and think about a conversation she and I once had or silently let her know that she’d love what I’m doing that…
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A Gratitude Story, 40 Years Long
Part 1: June-July, 1982 and 1983 Starting in the summer after 8th grade, I was part of a student interchange program from CISV International. (“CISV was founded in the belief that peace is possible through building friendship and mutual understanding, starting with children.”) In 1982, a delegation of about a dozen German kids from the Frankfurt area came to America and stayed for a month in the homes of about a dozen Knoxville-area kids. The following year, we Americans went to stay with our interchange partners in their homes for a month. The idea was that the hosting families would both participate in large group activities as well as take…
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Forsythia
Every year at this time, I see explosions of yellow-flowered branches springing from forsythia shrubs. The bright color alone is enough to bring a smile to my face; spring is coming, after all. More than that, I go back in time with these particular blooms. Years ago when I walked my little boys to the little elementary school around the corner from our house, a line of forsythia shrubs lined the fence between the school playground and the backyard of the home next door. Often the dog that lived there would bark and run along the fence as kids walked by, something that adds even more texture to an already…
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On Occasionally Persisting
I am not a quitter. My therapist would say that this is due to my unrelenting standards and sure, she would be correct, but I am who I am. In spite of that personality trait, over the years I have gotten much better at releasing things (and tasks) that no longer serve a positive purpose in my life. Today I’m talking about in-progress craft projects. After having worked at Lee Wards Craft Store (a precursor to Michael’s) and using my employee discount with gusto for a few years and after Jim and I moved from a two-bedroom townhouse to a three-bedroom townhouse before we ever had children just so I…
