Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
What is it about run down buildings that stirs the imagination? This crumbling facade inspired the poem Abandoned: No voices linger, not even the sound of shattered glass echoes, only bones shedding flesh, an unholy darkness within, a mystery shrouded in silence. This is the schoolhouse where my mother-in-law had her first job as a teacher, […]
Read More“It feels like my heart and my thumb changed places,” five-year-old Sloane says carefully guarding her injured digit. I can’t help but laugh. She can be a little dramatic, this one. “Can you get us a tissue?” I ask her older cousin. “I don’t need it! It stopped bleeding.” The blood has bubbled up on […]
Read MoreThe buzzer on the dryer startles me and I jump up, eager to change over the wash, only to find I have forgotten to start the washer load. I feel a tug of annoyance at myself. I am not functioning well today. Have been awake since well before 4:00 a.m. and am wired with non-sleep. […]
Read MoreMay 12th is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis awareness day. M.E. is a debilitating disease for which there is currently no treatment. 25% of patients are so severely ill that they are bed bound and in need of constant care. Awareness is needed to promote research into this little known disease that affects millions worldwide. M.E. does not […]
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She wears black slacks with a tiny white flower motif and a rose three-quarter sleeve top. The shoes on her feet glisten with rhinestone and an array of beaded bracelets on her arm rattle as she gestures while she talks. “I’m ninety-one-and-a-half, you know.” “I know Mom. It’s impressive.” She smiles and nods. Ric is […]
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“A big tree fell down,” two-year-old Auggie says, her little face scrunched in concern. We have just arrived at daughter #2’s. Last time I saw this granddaughter she was just eighteen months and barely talking. She shows no signs of knowing who Ric and I are, other than telling us her big news. Five-year-old Sloane […]
Read MoreThe familiar barren landscape of highway 402 confirms that we are home. It is clear that winter has lingered well past her time, and spring is only beginning to stretch her wings. We have just driven close to 1,000 miles to get here – partly to avoid the approaching storms, and partly pulled by the […]
Read More“How would you sum up Nebraska?” Ric asks me as we’re pulling out of the West Omaha KOA site. “Windy!” “Exhaustion,” is his response. We had committed to staying an extra night because of the winds. Yesterday an alert went out to advise drivers to stay off the roads. A multi-vehicle crash on I-80 was […]
Read MoreTwo goals are motivating us: staying ahead of the worsening weather and getting home. Strong gales announce our arrival in Nebraska. Ric is visibly worn out from trying to keep the rig on the road. We consider abandoning our plans and pull into a Cabela’s, thinking that we will wait out the storm, but the […]
Read MoreThe sign at the first rest area we come to in Wyoming welcomes visitors and suggests that we might want to slow down and enjoy the views that lie ahead. The landscape, it suggests, is much the same as it was in the time of early settlers – an untamed mecca for wildlife. Having never […]
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One Woman's Quest II 