I was helping my mother-in-law sort books in the library in her house. Each book that Dad had read had his initials in the front. While it was interesting to see Dad’s comments written in the books, I had no use for radio and tv repair books. There were two sets of encyclopedias in the […]
It was the last day of school. The weather was hot, and my children were anticipating summer vacation. It was time for the fun to begin. I filled water balloons, loaded them into a bucket and headed up the sidewalk toward the elementary school. When the first child came into view, I launched my attack.
The water in the small pool was calm and clear. Small pebbles were scattered along the bank. My two teenage daughters picked up flatish rocks and tried to skip them across the pond with somewhat limited success. My six-year-old son was content to watch for a few minutes. Then he picked up a rock and
I Wish it would splash Read More »
My mother and my oldest sister Agnes both gave birth to boys at about the same time. Although they were the same age, Mark was actually David’s uncle. One day the two boys got into an argument. “He’s my Dad!” “He’s my Grandpa.” “My Dad!” “My Grandpa!” They were both right. I am right. Of
My oldest daughter was away at school. When she called to wish her younger sister a Happy Birthday, she lamented, “I didn’t get any birthday cake.” I cut a slice of cake as thin as I could. I put it in a Ziplock plastic bag and squished it as flat as I could. The sandwich
Downsize. Get rid of clutter. I was determined. I opened a box that I hadn’t looked at in over 30 years. The items inside were covered with soot. After the fire that destroyed our living room and after we moved back into our home, I had set this box aside to sort through later. Later
The Shoe that wouldn’t stay found Read More »
“There’s a scary noise,” she said. “It goes ker-thump, ker-thump, ker-thump. It’s on the stairs.” Agnes drug herself out of bed. She put a finger to her lips as a reminder to her daughter that they needed to be quiet. It would not be a good thing if she woke her father. They tiptoed out
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The green tissue paper had faded to an ugly greenish- gray. It had been a bright green when I folded it around the small milk carton. Fluffy white feathers were glued around the top. I remembered making this when I was in fifth grade. I saved my milk carton from school lunch and gathered the
Visiting my Grandmother Dudley was easy when I was four because she lived with us. I would take my orange (or an apple) to her. “Grandma, please peel this for me?” I watched as her knife went around and around and a long spiral of peel appeared. She could peel my fruit, keeping the peel
Fluffy Yellow Bath TowelsHer shelves were full of small, worn bath towels.I gave her large fluffy yellow towels, the kind I love to use. When next I visited her shelves were full of thin, worn bath towels, the yellow towels absent from her shelves and my memory.
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