I stand here by a wall of metal file cabinets—three in a row, four drawers each—a nursing career of memories nestled in the southwest corner of my study. My life’s work written on hundreds, maybe thousands, of pages hanging neatly in file folders. After twenty-two years in our three-bedroom house in suburban Chicago, I am …
Continue reading S is for Saying Farewell to My Nursing Files
Did you play the alphabet game on car trips as a child? I vividly remember someone shouting START and then peering out the window to find the letters on signs. We couldn't get them off anything that moved, so signage on cars and trucks were not allowed. Who ever found a letter first would smugly …
An entry for the Blogging from A to Z in April Challenge Finding a word (or words) for the letter O was a no-brainer. From childhood, these attributes of God have lived in my heart. Having this vocabulary to describe God's presence in my life has grounded me and given me comfort all these years. …
Continue reading O is for Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent
They started in my church parking lot. When I turned in, off of 26th Street, an older masked man motioned for me to veer right. Then a second older masked man signaled for me to open my window. He leaned over and told me to follow the car in front of me. I did. And …
Ten years ago this month, the completed copies of Caring Lessons: A Nursing Professor's Journey of Faith and Self arrived in Chicago. I began the writing in 2000, after retiring as professor emerita of nursing from Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, IL. After many revisions, I finished it, finally, around 2008. Then the publishing process took …
Continue reading Caring Lessons Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
Have you ever had your writing critiqued in a writing workshop? If not, you’d be in for an experience like none other. My first encounter was in one of the first writing workshops I took in the year 2000. The piece was my first attempt at writing poetry; in fact, it was one of my …
On this second anniversary of my husband's death, I've made an unplanned purge of his belongings. Our church's rummage sale, first canceled due to the virus, then reinstated a few months later, prompted me to do it. Just two years and two days ago, Marv directed our daughter to take his cords to our church's …
Continue reading Grief at Twenty-four Months: A Rummage Sale Made Me Do It
Unprecedented! When you saw that word, what came to mind? I don't know about you, but I'm wearying of that term. Seems everything that's happening around us is "unprecedented" and, along with that, some not so good news follows. But something that's unprecedented that's really turning out good is my Sundays online. Some Sundays I've …
Surprises happen most days in my newish-widow life. Fun things like trying to shovel thick sheets of ice off the driveway when no amount of pushing and grunting will dislodge an inch. Or trying to get excited about making dinner when I don't yet know my way around a grocery store. Or trying to keep …
Continue reading Grief at Nineteen Months: Blindside Wipeout and Surprise Mochas
“Here I sit by a fire pit at a lovely resort in Arizona contemplating...” Three years ago this month I wrote that opening to a blog post. Today I can write the same thing; I’m at the same place. But much of my personal life has changed, mostly related to the loss of my husband …
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