Life changes. How do you read those words? Do you see them as a sentence—pointing out that life is continually changing? Did you see it as a prediction that this piece would detail changes in my life? Obviously, it can mean either or both. A couple of years ago, Steve and I started talking about … [Read more…]
I was deep in slumber when the phone beside my bed rang. I picked it up instantly, as alert as I could be when awakened like that. An emergency? One of our children or grandchildren suddenly rushed to the hospital? A friend with urgent problems? A death? All this rushed through my mind as I … [Read more…]
My sweet, funny, helpful, kind friend Holly has passed from this life into the hands of God. I weep not for her but for myself, for this life was not kind to her. She was always so much more than she realized and yet so much less than she wanted to be. She was influenced … [Read more…]
Solitude or loneliness. Which is it for you when you are alone? I hardly ever recall being lonely. Even as a child, I enjoyed solitude. I loved to read, to think, to look at the clouds. I especially loved it when I was old enough to be left alone in our house, even for a … [Read more…]
Last week we had a lovely time visiting with friends Jim and Louise in Frisco, Texas. I thanked Louise for having a box of tissues in every room. I’m used to that at home (three in the kitchen, actually) but sometimes when I’m in someone else’s home I have a hard time finding a tissue. … [Read more…]
At lunch recently, a friend said that her adult children will sometimes look at her condescendingly and say, “You didn’t know that?” That makes her feel foolish and inadequate because of not having a college degree when they do. But that happens to all of us at times—not knowing something everyone else seems to have … [Read more…]
What happens to my time? I make a plan and try to stick to it. I don’t surf. I don’t spend over ten minutes on Facebook to check for personal messages. I answer enough emails to maintain relationships, send enough to submit articles and keep wheels turning. Specials. That’s what takes up my time. No, I don’t … [Read more…]
Only yesterday did I realize that I have a disabling condition, though I’ve worked to correct it for years. I’ve labeled it merge anxiety. When I am driving, I cannot, without great effort, simply stay in the lane that merges. No, I am afraid I’ll be squeezed out like the car in this picture. Instead, … [Read more…]
When we’d been married two or three years, I remember hearing an Earl Nightingale radio broadcast where he suggested that we think of someone we wanted to be like and then study that person to become like him or her. That was the first time I’d considered how much I admired my husband’s sister Nancy. … [Read more…]
I just found a notebook from twelve or fifteen years ago with the impressive title, “Lanita’s Lists.” The first entry says “100 Things I’ve Learned in My Life.” Wow! I thought when I found it–my life wisdom from years ago. So it turns out that the list I started so optimistically has only 21 items … [Read more…]
