A Toolkit for Transition

Book Review: Dear God, He’s Home!You know how there’s always roon for Jell-o? This book is more like dense chocolate cheesecake swimming in a puddle of caramel sauce with candied raspberries and a healthy does of whipped cream on top. In other words, Dear God, He’s Home!  is varied and really, really rich. When I […]


Weekend Reflection: Hope

One Glorious Bloom From a Thanksgiving Gift Bouquet. 2012. A Fresh Leaf  Maybe 2012 was your best year ever. Maybe you can’t wait for it to end. Either way, the new year comes wrapped in hope.  Happy New Year!  21 This I recall to my mind,Therefore I have hope.22 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,For […]


Candy for Elaine. WordCandy.

Dear Elaine,  It’s all going to be awesome.  (And by “all,” I mean this part, this part–every part.)  With love and confidence,Mom Me, Daphne, Elaine, Sawyer, Cadence. Pumpkin Patch. October, 2012. ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.I will strengthen you, surely I will […]


Grounds for Humility

Surplus Vases.  Contingency Planning: The Coward’s “Virtue”“We need another vase,” I said to my sister-in-law. “I’ll poke around and see what I can find.” I scanned the cabinets in her mother-in-law’s kitchen, looking for a vessel that we could commandeer to hold flowers.   There. That glass pitcher will do.  Hmmm. We can use that […]


The Day I Forgot the Cheez-its

Cheez-Its. Mom Loved Them. Moving On. I knew the day would come when I’d forget the Cheez-Its. It didn’t come on Easter, when I contributed snacks to a Lagrand family gathering. Nope. On that day I prepared a platter of grapes, dried apricots, a carefully-curated collection of cheeses, various crackers–and a box of Cheez-Its. The […]