We had to quarantine for another COVID case last week. The good news is, now everyone in the house also has natural immunities. It’s still pretty easy to manage. I’m not talking about the virus itself, but dropping off the face of the earth. The forgiveness to cancel last minute, free grocery pick up and the ease in rescheduling appointments. I think everyone I know had it or had a family member with it this past month. Since it was my husband who felt horrible, not me, I was out of excuses, trapped at home and compelled to finally mop the floor. I’ve been trying to let the robot and the floor work things out, but they were at an click to continue reading…
Category: Family
Parents, kids, war of the sexes and all the other strife that is better than being alone
Living second-date-able
This post will need a few clarifying statements at the beginning and end. First, it is for unmarried as well as those in a relationship. Second, it is not for guilt toward rocky marriages. When my husband and I took part in premarital discipleship with our church, I didn’t know about clarifying statements. I would say things like, “Try to make your home a shelter for your husband.” Isn’t that lovely? Isn’t that sweet? I’ve since learned, like with inclusive language, sometimes what you don’t say is as important as what you say. So, make your home a safe place—unless there’s abuse. In that case, don’t suffer alone in shame, hiding what goes on and calling a petri dish for click to continue reading…
The story of a testimony snippet
I recently tried to define story. I know there are probably thousands of succinct descriptions of “what is a story” already waiting to be quoted, but for the sake of my conversation at the time we were trying to agree upon a common vocabulary so we could then talk about the meaning of story. (The conversation stemmed from the two latest books from Jonathan Gottschall .) We needed the simplest description before we could go further. Most conversations benefit from taking a minute to verify vocabulary. Especially in our house, we’ve been known to argue the same thing on both sides with different words. I finally landed on, “A story has a beginning, a middle and an end.” I’m sure click to continue reading…
Matriarchal Wisdom
Things my grandmother used to say: You make a better door than a window. It simply means please get out of the way. I heard it every time I stood in from of the television. Always add as many eggs as you want, and one for the pan. This is for scrambled eggs in a cast iron skillet. Since she was raised in the dust bowl close to the Great Depression, I’d consider it luxurious generosity. When you get married, everything should be new inside and out. Buy new panties. You can’t tell on galloping horse. This is in reference to uneven stitches on homemade clothing for children who spend most of their time running. But remember it for any click to continue reading…
Sharing Margin
I have a dear friend and long-time writing partner who told me she felt an unexpected physical response when her grandson cried. Since I’m in Hawaii, I asked her to share her story today: By Heather Woodhaven I didn’t know I wanted grandchildren. I’d raised three children and was ready to live footloose and fancy free. And then my married daughter called us and said, “We’re pregnant.” Other grandparents told me I would love having grandchildren. They spoke of getting to love on babies and being able to hand them back when they were tired. I laughed, imagining it to be similar to the experience of watching my nieces and nephews while their parents went out on dates. And then click to continue reading…