Part 2 in a 3-part series Breakfast table surprises greeted my brothers and me each Valentine’s Day of our childhood. My mom either served heart-shaped pancakes with bacon and strawberry syrup or pink grits with sausage and heart-shaped toast. Pink grits, you ask? Yes, what fun! She also sprinkled valentines…
Storing Treasure: Thoughts from a Jewelry Box and Psalm 119
Once my daughter and nieces claimed their favorites of my mother’s rings, the dark green satin-and-velvet-lined jewelry boxes that sat on Mama’s dresser for decades held only valued memories and a collection of inexpensive pieces. When I study the contents of the jewelry boxes, I recall bits of Mama’s…
Quieting the Sounds of Distraction
Welcome, reader friend. Come on in and make yourself at home. We’ll sit six feet apart, of course. You haven’t had a fever in the last 48 hours, have you? (Wink, wink) Would you like coffee or hot tea to sip as we visit? Help yourself. Ready to chat? We’ll…
Pre-Christmas Heart Check
Why, oh why did Dr. Jones schedule an appointment in mid-December? Who has time for that? My heart is fine. As holiday prep time grew shorter, my to-do list grew longer. My peace meter registered closer to frayed-at-the-seams-frantic than to Christmas card-perfect. “This appointment is a waste of…
Think on These Things
Who’s that singing? I peered through the glass of the storm door and discovered a little sparrow belting out an aria on the deck. The sight beyond the sparrow quickly turned my smile into a frown. Thin-stemmed, summer plants drooped over the edges of pots and cried for replacements. The…