Frederick Buechner is well known for many of his quotes. Perhaps you’ve heard this one but didn’t know where it came from. It relates well to my posts of the last few days on LIFE. “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” I …
Life at 82: O is for Oliver
I've rarely been able to understand poetry--the mystery of the meaning of the words and their fragmentary arrangements. But I've learned in several classes since I retired, that I don't have to understand every word. That sometimes reading for the feel, sounds, and rhythm is enough. For someone like me who is left-brained, logical and …
Life at 82: N is for Nothing
Nothing. When I woke up yesterday, I decided to do nothing. After a packed and scheduled week, I rationalized that I owed it to myself to do nothing. I almost succeeded. To do nothing, I soon found out, I had to do something. I could not just lie in bed with my eyes shut. Keeping …
Life at 82: M is for Marv
Who or what else could M be for? None other than my late husband. Especially since I’m writing this at O’Hare on my layover home from Michigan. It’s about a 3000-step walk from where we landed to the distant concourse and gate that will take me home to SD. I’ve picked out just three of …
Life at 82: L is for Love
Spending three session-packed days at the Calvin Festival of Faith & Writing has left my body buzzing as though I've eaten an entire chocolate cake and washed it down with a pot of caffeinated coffee. From this sentence, how would you describe what this conference was like for me? Dull? Boring? Waste of time? Or …
Life at 82: K is for Kinship
Being back in Grand Rapids, MI, this week elicits several feelings of kinship--an appreciation of similar origins. Like visiting my sister-in-law, Kay, yesterday. We are the oldest and youngest of my sibling clan, and the other eight have passed away. So a special visit for sure. Then stopping at my parents' cemetery yesterday brought tears. …
Life at 82: J is for Joy
Here I am with two of my sisters, Rose and Esther, during happier times. They have both passed away. It was Rose, as an experienced widow, who told me when Marv died that I must find joy in my life every day. She said Joy would not come looking for me. I must look for …
Life at 82: I is for I
I is for I as in me. I may have begun to learn that I must curtail my traveling a bit at 82. Yesterday I endured an 11-hour day flying day with one nearly three-hour layover at O'Hare. The day included three gate changes, including a concourse change, at O'Hare, a $24 lunch of a …
H is for Heavy
Participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge This week I'm at the Calvin Faith & Writing Festival. Calvin College (now University) is where I met my late husband. In this poem, Mary Oliver speaks about grief and laughter, both of which are present in a widow's journey. It's been almost six years …
Life at 82: G is for Grrrr…
Participating in the Blogging from A to Z in April Challenge Just when I think I’m on a break concerning finances, on my way to church yesterday, a fraud alert dinged on my watch. The watch face is too small to read, especially when I’m driving, so I planned to check my phone once I …
Write Along with Me 