My first year of retirement brought abundant blessings. The spring had been tough—covering Aaron’s job for Steve’s speaking business, cleaning out my classroom, going to retirement celebrations, and moving Kelsey from her dorm for the summer. But that summer was great! I’d never felt so free and comfortable. I treated it as a usual summer, … [Read more…]
I knew this Queen as Aunt Juanita, for whom I was named (and for my Aunt Lola.) She was born Vivette Juanita Ralph on a farm named Vertical Plains near Goodlettsville, Tennessee, and married Tom Gilliam Hawkins not long before I was born. She was the second oldest of nine children, but was the oldest … [Read more…]
Post #23 in the Blog Every Day in May Challenge, 250 words or less. Prompt for May 23: Things you’ve learned that school won’t teach you. Forty-six years after I gave Mother the punch bowl, I attended my Aunt Juanita and Uncle Gilliam’s fiftieth anniversary. There was the punch bowl in all its glory, brimming with golden … [Read more…]
