Survivors!

Twenty three homes is a lot for any child to adjust to. That is how many my eldest child went through and her siblings experienced many of those moves along the way too. Different schools and teachers, sometimes even two different kindergartens. The hard tasks of having to make new friends after leaving beloved ones…

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Living Generously!

I sidled sideways through the thick throng crowded into the warm drinking establishment. Laughter joined the voices raised above the bedlam of the room. Cheerfulness seemed to be the emotion of the day. An unaware person would think the reason of such a gathering on this bitterly cold winter afternoon must be the celebration of…

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Into the Winter Night

In the cold crisp night I searched my backyard for my fat runaway bunny Clover. She had taken advantage of a not quite closed door to make her slippery escape. Taking a quick look around I noticed that the newly fallen snow glistened just like diamonds. The only sound I could hear was the jingle…

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Rejoice in the Ride

Amid the tons of Christmas totes was a new wine glass that said “Santa’s Little Helper.” Taking this as an omen, I filled it part of the way with sweet cheap wine. Vintage 2018. I only partake in the best! The fruity smell invited me to take a seat, a hint I shouldn’t listen to.…

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Do Over Button

I have look everywhere for it, but I can’t find it anywhere. That “Do Over” button. When I was younger, it never occurred to me to want one. But now sometimes the question enters my mind of what would I do if there was such a thing as that button? I had my first child…

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Home Is What You Make It!

Frost lined the windows that cold winter day. The morning sun sent its bright rays through the door. The ice crystals made rainbow prisms across the wallpaper. The children had etched their names deeply into the windows icy surface. Cold, crisp air made me catch my breath as I opened the doors into the front…

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Take a Moment…

As I lifted my foot off the front door steps, the heady aroma from the phlox filled my head. I could hear the bees buzzing as they covered the brilliant pink buds. The smell never fails to evoke fond memories of a vase filled with flowers on my grandmother’s table. All summer a mixture of…

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Lessons Learned at a Corner Store

Jimmy’s store was just a block away. It was the kind of neighborhood store that carried groceries and a little bit of everything else. I was told that as an infant, I would be left in my stroller just outside by the door while my mother shopped. Of course, I wasn’t alone. I had my…

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Walk…Don’t Fly!

The wind swirled through my back yard. The sound through the tall, swaying pines echoed differently that day. I tied the back door with an impromptu rope of an extension cord to the post of the stairway hoping that would stop the wind from blowing the door open again. The air felt strangely eerie at…

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Mary Joy

A small town nineteen year old girl, I was far from home and about to have my first child. A small, cramped trailer was to be our baby’s first home. It had a tiny step up kitchen and an avocado carpeted frontroom. Money was very tight then, but we did our best to make it…

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