In going through the mementos my parents kept, I’ve discovered another way in which my mother and I were alike. We both wrote poetry to our families as children. Here’s a poem I wrote for Easter as a child. I can’t date it exactly, but because I referred to “grandmother” […]
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My Father’s Bookcase: A New Family Heirloom
When I was a very young, my father made a bookcase. It’s made of a pretty wood (maybe oak?), and it is solid. It has a curved lip on the front facing at the top of the bookcase. I thought that made it a fancy piece of furniture when I […]
Continue readingMy Grandfather’s Clock
When I was in second grade or so, my class sang the old song, “My Grandfather’s Clock,” by Henry Clay Work. The lyrics to the first verse are My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf, So it stood ninety years on the floor; It was taller by half […]
Continue readingMy Mother the Librarian . . . And How Libraries Have Changed!
February is Library Lovers Month. I come from a family of library lovers, and I am one myself. When I was a child, we could only check out six books from the library at a time. My mother took my siblings and me to the library almost every week during […]
Continue readingA Fireplace and a Chair Across Two Generations
Please forgive me for posting another Christmas snapshot, even though we are now in a new year. This is a photograph of my mother and her older brother from 1937. It’s a happier picture than another one I posted of these two siblings, and it brought back many memories for […]
Continue readingTrue Christmas Story: A Visit from St. Nicholas
In some families, Santa Claus comes to call ahead of Christmas Eve every year. Other families take their children to see St. Nicholas at the mall every year. I only remember one time Santa came to see my brother and me, and one later visit to the mall to see […]
Continue readingHand-Me-Downs: The Little Blue Coat
As the oldest child, I didn’t have to wear many hand-me-downs. Occasionally, I wore clothes from the daughter of my mother’s friend. When I reached junior high, I sometimes had to wear something of my mother’s. I hated that, because styles meant for a thirty-something woman in the late 1960s […]
Continue readingHappy 50th Birthday To My Sister!
My brother and children seem to think they get treated unfairly in this blog, so this time it’s my sister’s turn. She turns fifty this week, so she is fair game. My sister was born when I was eight and a half. Too much younger to be a friend when […]
Continue readingBack to School Across Two Generations
In recent weeks I’ve been following all my Facebook friends’ pictures of their children headed back to school—from the kindergarteners to the college-bound. I’m glad those days are behind me, though I have good memories both of my own back-to-school days and my children’s. When I was young, school never […]
Continue readingA Picture I Wish I Had: A Baby and Huckleberries
A friend of mine in Washington State recently posted a picture of huckleberries she had picked. Now those of you who don’t live in the West may not even know what huckleberries are. You’ve heard of Huckleberry Finn, but did you ever wonder where the Huckleberry in his name came […]
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