My past life has now been shredded. I've sorted and purged my multitude of banker's boxes and file cabinet drawers. I'm starting over with a clean slate! What is not in my memory is no longer retrievable. When Marie Kondo came out with her book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up," my husband and I …
Tag: retirement
Psalm 71 – a comfort for older folks
I recorded my reading of this Psalm for my church's website. My hope is that it may be a blessing to you as much as it's been to me in these uncertain times. Click below: http://www.youtube.com/watch
With Gratitude to God…
One of our brothers-in-law passed away suddenly last week, and, just like that, many lives stopped to mourn, and we found ourselves traveling across Wisconsin to attend his funeral. We were comforted by the muted colors and tranquility of the changing leaves, splashing across the forested backdrops of fields at this time of harvest. As …
Aging in Chicago: An Unexpected Anniversary
The other day I discovered I was having an anniversary this month, or maybe I should call it a birthday. I’m not sure, the only thing I’m sure of is that I’ve not celebrated this date ever, and it’s been nineteen years. Nineteen fairly good years. Oh, a few downs, but many more ups. I’ve …
Continue reading Aging in Chicago: An Unexpected Anniversary
U.S. Health Care: Are you happy with your plan?
Before you answer yes or no, did you know that the foundational moral principle of all developed countries (around 40 out of world’s 200 countries) is to provide health care coverage to all of their citizens, irrespective of age and financial status? All developed countries, that is, except us. In the past few years, I’ve …
Continue reading U.S. Health Care: Are you happy with your plan?
Going Home to the Farm
I've always been a city gal, but I married a guy raised on a farm. And fifty-some years later, the farm lives on in him. My married life has meant yearly trips back to his hometown of five hundred people, two hours SW of Minneapolis. This years' trip was last week. Imagine riding for hours …
A Grandma’s Camel Ride
“Do you want to do a camel ride,” my daughter asked on a recent visit to her city’s zoo. “No,” I said. “I have no need to ride a camel.” “Oh, come on, isn’t that on your bucket list?” “Nope. Never has been and never will be,” I said, knowing a safari was never an …
My work is my retirement.
“My work is my retirement, “ I said recently in a conversation with younger people about their jobs. “And,” I added, “I’m very busy.” They laughed. I’d never thought about my retirement as “my work” before. But now that I’d said it, I realized it’s true. And, unlike some who dread retirement or complain about …
Grab…Sermons, this Time
Grab. Grab. And grab some more. Last time I talked about the “grab” of first sentences in short stories. Today, it’s about the “grab” in first sentences of sermons. I’m saving a collection of both for when I get to “the home” someday. Following my mother’s example, I want a collection of reading material ready. …
Grab. Grab. Grab. How grabby are your first sentences?
“The convent was gone, burned to the ground in a kitchen fire years ago.”1 Would you like to read a short story that begins with this sentence? Writing courses and journals stress the importance of first sentences. They have to have “grab." They have to make the reader want to read on. Every Sunday, I …
Continue reading Grab. Grab. Grab. How grabby are your first sentences?
Write Along with Me 