Category: On Life and Writing

Defanging Death

 October 24, 2024

Chances are you’ve had a dream like mine, one featuring a snake or other reptile. Snakes are one of the most common animals in dreams, counting among the top three to five dream animals. What do they mean? For me, defanging death! Snakes in dreams There was a snake in the dream, a small one […]

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The Gift of Forgetting

 October 3, 2024

Over the years I have frequently reflected on the importance of memories: how they are roses in December, precious gifts to brighten our years as we age. With my mother’s Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnosis, I’ve also been reflecting on forgetting, how terrible it can be. But recently I have found myself recognizing that there is […]

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Waste Not – Want Not

 September 13, 2024

Since my mother’s death, I’ve been reflecting on her life lessons. Another life lesson I learned from my mom – waste not – want not. Some call it being cheap. I call it being fiscally responsible, a lesson well worth learning. Waste Not – Want Not – Financial Lessons Waste not – want not meant […]

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Always Leave a Place Better

 August 30, 2024

I remember sitting in our station wagon with my dad, brothers and sisters, while we waited for mom to finish cleaning the cottage we had rented for the week – cleaning the refrigerator, sweeping the floors, dusting, wiping down the counters. When asked why she bothered, after all we didn’t own the place, my mom […]

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On Sucking Thumbs and Biting Fingernails

 August 12, 2024

While watching the Olympics this past week, it occurred to me that if worry were an Olympic event, I would definitely be a contender. In fact, I would expect to win a medal. After all, I learned from a gold-medal worrier, my mother. I was also recently struck by an article saying that biting your fingernails […]

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Summer Reading Challenge

 July 12, 2024

What’s better than reading a good book over the summer? How about reading twelve good books? If lounging on the beach or by the pool or curling up at night by a fire with a good book sound awesome to you, then join my Summer Reading Challenge. Summer Reading Challenge! If you follow me on […]

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It’s Complicated – Civil Discourse

 June 20, 2024

How do we promote civil discourse in our contentious society? One way is by recognizing that it’s complicated – civil discourse that is. One of the Presentations I attended at the Festival of Faith and Writing was a presentation by Marilyn McEntyre, Writing Through a Fog of Fear: Finding Life-Giving Words in an Alarming Time. […]

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Rediscovering the Beauty of Words

 June 2, 2024

Somehow over the years, I’ve lost some of my delight in words. Gratefully now, I’m working on rediscovering the beauty of words. History with Words In high school, I used to play with words, at times seeing how many pages of description I could write for something familiar. I mean, how many ways can you […]

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Lessons from Madeleine L’Engle

 May 2, 2024

Recently, as part of the Festival of Faith and Writing, I attended a presentation by Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter entitled, Rejection, Revision, Repetition: Lessons Learned from an Unpublished Novel by Madeleine L’Engle. It was precisely what I needed to hear. There were so many ways that L’Engle’s story was helpful. Below are my lessons from Madeleine […]

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The Many Faces of Alzheimer’s

 February 26, 2024

Chances are you are familiar with the stereotypical faces of Alzheimer’s – empty gaze, lack of recognition of friends and family, incontinence. But there are so many more faces of Alzheimer’s, each as unique as the person behind the face. Personal Experience with Alzheimer’s In my twelve years as chaplain at a retirement community, I […]

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