A close friend of mine, told me once that life was better in the country. That is, of course, if a person enjoys solitude and wildlife that occasionally wanders by. One evening, not too long ago, this very thing happened. A curious critter decided to do just that, wander by. Some people bless a new house with a housewarming party- not the Howard’s. We prefer to let a smelly skunk spray his ominous odor on our house. I was sitting […]
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Growing up, the only thing I ever really dreamed about was being a wife and a mother. I loved teaching so, playing school and dress up came very natural for me. Most of the time, I pretended I was my mother, always wearing her dresses, heels, and jewelry around the house, or I would pretend to run errands in her car as if I was going somewhere under the carport. To me, she was perfect in all her imperfections. She […]
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I have heard it said many times that it is only after a person is gone that we share what they mean to us. Why we do this, I do not know. I, for one, do not want that to be the case in my life with people that I love. I want them to know how much they mean to me while they are living. My cousin, Lindsey, and I were talking on the phone one day this past […]
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No one should ever see a grown woman driving through town slurping down a child’s squeezy applesauce. No mother should ever have to lock herself in the closet in order to eat the last slice of cheesecake in peace and quiet. And yet, I am embarrassed to say, I have done both. I never knew growing up on a small ranch would help me in the child rearing arena. When Eva was a baby, changing diapers felt more like branding […]
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Traveling from place to place can be so exciting. There are always new sights to see and sounds to hear. At every turn, there are new people to meet. This is exactly what my folks did in their early years. Home was hitched behind them as they traveled the United States as Evangelists. At one point they had two babies riding in the back seat of the pickup truck. Brittney and I were very young during those years but I […]
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It was 5:15 pm. A mile wide tornado was heading straight for us. It moved like a combine tractor out harvesting wheat. Only in this case it was harvesting lives, possessions and property. It was impossible to see one end from the other. Dad had called to warn us when the newscasters realized this deadly tornado had turned and was now headed straight for the heart of Tuscaloosa. It was headed for my mother and father’s heart as well. On […]
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When my sister and I were little girls, our dad would wake us up each morning to a peppy little medley he had creatively added lyrics to. Picture Frank Sinatra swaying to the tempo of Big Band music, singing these words… “Good morning, it’s a beautiful day. Good morning, time to start on your way. Good morning, I’ve got something to say. Good morning, good morning to you…” It is quite comical looking back, but growing up it used to […]
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I was in town one day and saw a familiar face. I waved and greeted her. I asked her how she was doing. She responded with a heavy sigh and closed eyelids, “I’m just living on borrowed time.” I just stared at her. I wanted to laugh, but I held it back. There was nothing wrong with her at all. That was simply how she responded to life in general. She reminded me of Mariah Popham in “Summer Magic,” where […]
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It was Sunday morning, Palm Sunday. I knew we would tune in to our church service online of course, but my concern wasn’t for my spiritual walk. My concern was for my little girl who could not understand why we no longer were gathering together at Church. She didn’t understand not going to Sunday School, with all of her friends, to praise and learn about Jesus. That settled it. I had made my decision. I called Eva to me and […]
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My parents never did for themselves what they didn’t do for the whole family. If one night a week was set aside for date night, then rest assured, one night a week was set aside for family night. It was Thursday night, to be exact. We had a coffee cup that had little strips of paper in it. It was full of fun ideas like going for ice-cream at Zesto’s, swimming at the YMCA, watching a movie, bike riding or […]
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