Recently a friend of mine who went through a life-saving operation shared her thoughts on how this experience has changed her. Another friend of mine, rather young but in poor health, had two heart attacks in the past month. Earlier this week, a stranger shared with me the experience of losing her childhood. And a friend shared the very private loss she has struggled with just this past year. Each of their circumstances are very different, yet they all seem to - perhaps even unknowingly - share a common wisdom. They know what matters. One of those nuggets of wisdom was to stop discussing things you'd like to do, and just do them. So rather than talking about having lunch, my friend and I dropped everything we were doing today to share a meal and catch up. I can't even ... View Post
Dishes, Hugs, & Biscuits
The top shelves in my cupboards are empty. Well, at least they were empty two weeks ago. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I've been in this season of giving everything away. I can't reach up there anymore and it's just me here in my home. I don't need all this "stuff," I've reasoned. And my friends are getting tired of me continually asking them, "Do you want this? How about this? This?" Guess what. My top shelves are full again. I couldn't help it! You see, it seems my mother is in the very same "giving everything away" season and she has sent me away with a box each time I've left her house. On the top shelf of my kitchen cupboards are now several beautiful tea cups and saucers that date back to more than 100 years ago. I don't even drink tea, but I'm ... View Post
End-of-The-Year Pondering
My foot with its broken, swollen, purple toe propped up on the coffee table - coffee cup in hand, still sporting my Christmas pajamas, I live-streamed our church service today. Ten minutes after the closing prayer, my doorbell rang. My grocery delivery arrived. I timed that perfectly! I texted a close friend and she stopped by and picked up something that needed to be dropped off for a friend. I paid my bills on the laptop and scheduled an appointment for the end of the month on their web site. None of this would have been possible without technology. Technology is good. Right? This week my son introduced me to an app for keeping track of screen time on my phone. YIKES! Even with a recent agreement with a close girlfriend of mine to avoid FaceBook for the month of December, ... View Post
Kicking Walls & Stubbing Toes
Twenty years living in my home, and I still managed Christmas Eve morning to walk right into the wall on my way to shower before church. It's been there all along. The furniture hasn't been rearranged or anything. I knew it was there, but somehow I still managed to walk right into the doggone thing, stubbing my toe so hard that it stuck straight out - in the wrong direction. I mean sticking straight out like - my foot was going left, but my toe was going right. Yes, that kind of sticking out. When I finished scolding my wall for being in my way..... And yes, I most certainly did scold my wall..... (Pray for me)....... I knew what I had to do. This was not my first rodeo. Long story short, I basically put my toe back in the right position, and went about my ... View Post
Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams
My sister Nancy and I drove to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak tonight to participate in Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams. She'd been wanting to do it since last year at this time, and tonight we finally got the opportunity to do it together. Along the way while driving down 16 Mile Road, we saw an unusually bright light in the sky, and both of us immediately started laughing and yelling, "It's Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer!" No explanation was necessary. When we were little girls, our Dad used to say he saw him in the sky, and we would get so excited! We now know he was only seeing an airplane, but back then - we really believed it was Rudolph. Anticipating Christmas when we were young was easy, and our Mum and Dad always made it so fun. Each night at Beaumont during the ... View Post
I’m Right Here – Can You Hear Me? See Me?
Nearly a decade and a half ago, I called a childhood friend I'd grown up with to let her know of my Dad's passing. Immediately upon answering the phone, she began talking. She told me about her children, about her career, about her home, and about herself. There were no opportunities for me to jump in and tell her my father had just died. I thought she'd want to know. Then suddenly she had to hang up. Her life was a busy one, and she was no longer able to talk. Or listen. Although I'm sure by now she knows, I never did get to actually tell her myself. This happens a lot, doesn't it? Say good morning to someone and they return the greeting with a grunt? Or you ask them how they are and they answer, but never ask how you're doing? Sometimes, on my more feisty ... View Post
Amber’s “Neighborly Casserole”
No sooner did I finish publishing "Cheesecake & Mason Jars," and a very long-time neighbor knocked at my door, brought me a small casserole, and we sat at the kitchen table for an hour. She ate a piece of cheesecake and took two slices home to her husband. (I love my neighborhood!) Her casserole was SOOO GOOD, so she gave me the recipe and we agreed to call it "neighborly!" Ingredients: 1 pound of ground sirloin, 1 small onion, 1-1/2 chopped green bell pepper, 1-1/2 red bell pepper, 1 clove of garlic, one 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, a cup of ketchup, 2 T of brown sugar, 1 tsp yellow mustard, salt & pepper to taste, 2 cups of frozen corn, one 16-oz package of penne pasta, 1-1/2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese. Directions: Heat the oven to 350. Then ... View Post
Cheesecake & Mason Jars
There was this little get-together at my kitchen table this week. A couple of my closest friends came, one lady I'd never met before, and one of my co-workers. We ranged in age from 24 to 77. Yep, you read that right! You're probably wondering what in the world women from all these different generations could possibly have in common- but women are women, no matter the age. Deep down inside, we're just the same. And we all love a slice of cheesecake, a good story, woman-to-woman wisdom, and some encouragement! Each of us prepared a dish, and the perfect meal came together. We sat and chatted at that table for over an hour and listened to one another tell fun stories, played charades and had a blast laughing at ourselves - and each other! We encouraged one another ... View Post