Category: Domestic Life
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A Way Home
Ashesmore like sand in a plastic box inside a cardboard cartonwith his name printedon the label.That’s all.Ninety minutes of brake! andaccelerate!on the four-lane,again at the four-ways and traffic lightson the snakingdetours.I watch my estimatedarrival timetick past the appointment time and inchtoward the 4:00 closing time. I call,shouting into the car speakerthat I’ll be late. She…
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Reconstruction Diary Meditations: Weather Delays
On Wednesdays, I try to share passages from the 1866 diary of my third great-aunt, Mary Jane Edwards, whose journal has inspired my first novel: “Tuesday, May 8, 1866 This morning we undertook washing and during the day we succeeded in gathering the clothes into the rinse. As it was rainy we did not put…
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Guest Post: “What Good” by Sally Shideler
Earlier this month, my husband, Jerry Miller, passed away unexpectedly. In the ensuing chaos, confusion, and grief, I’m turning over my blog space this week to a guest post. Please enjoy the poem “What Good,” by my daughter, Sally Shideler, as she processes the loss of her stepfather and second dad: What good isa handmade…
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Carrying On
Carrying on Morning devotionsMorning Bible readingMorning prayer I’m keeping theroutine. But Lord,I’m hurting:I’m lonely, I’m sad,I’m afraid. I hear that frog croaking,the spring peeper outsidemy back window,and I wonder howI’ll do the hard stuff.How will I removeanother dried-upfrog stuck in thedoorjamb, likelast year? Last year, when Jerry did it. My lists seem overwhelming.I cross off…
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My Go-To Stress-Busting Strategy
Simple knee pain that resulted in a week’s hospitalization, nights of pseudo-sleep curled into a hard, narrow futon, and protracted, increasingly urgent advocacy. A nagging fatigue that turned into a two-week-plus hospital stay, featuring an invasive test, major surgery, and endless observations. A subsequent heart-wrenching death in the family. And then the endless waiting… No…
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Stepping Back Into My Superhero Shoes
Last week I needed my superhero shoes. What began as knee pain recently resulted in a nine-day hospital stay for my mom. It was a surprise: At 90, she’s still mobile, interested in our activities, and busy with her own. At least, she was. On Monday, after my piano lesson, she told me that she…
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Bring Back the Benton Bugle!
While I am away this week, please enjoy this throwback piece which ran on the Honor the Journey Substack in November 2024! My husband bemoans the lack of local newspaper reporting. There are still a couple of reporters, but our print news now comes mostly from the USA Today Network. As a former newspaper employee,…
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From double-sided cabinets to persimmon pudding: Four generations in and out of the kitchen
When my mom was a girl, children weren’t exactly welcome in the kitchen with the grown-ups. But I love having my granddaughter as sous-chef!
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Reconstruction Diary Meditations: Remember our farming ancestors in winter
We think we have it bad this weekend with the snowfall and frigid temperatures. But a massive winter storm – idyllic though Currier & Ives make it appear in their 1868 “American Homestead Winter” – would have been a huge challenge for my ancestors, Mary Jane and Lizzie Edwards and anyone who lived on a…
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Would sage help my American Girl clothes?
I may have to light some dried sage and waft its smoke over the little red-striped cotton pajamas! I’m afraid they’ve absorbed a lot of negativity.
