Dad on the left — Mom on the right On August 26, 1943 — the day after their wedding — my parents John and Clara Schmidt were at the Newton, Kansas train depot, on their way to South America. They were ‘called’ to serve as doctor and nurse for a new settlement of Russian…
Aberacadabera This week’s topic has been disappointment, and the yucky feeling we get when someone we care about says, “I’m disappointed in you.” I try to lighten my writing up a bit on Fridays, but lightness and disappointment don’t seem to go together all…
I am pleased to bring you the thinking of today’s guest, Jackie Shannon Hollis. Jackie is a writer, storyteller, speaker and the author of the memoir, This Particular Happiness: A Childless Love Story. The book…
One face of my ‘Now Normal’ is that of a serious author, being interviewed about my life and my writing. Another face of my ‘Now Normal’ is that of a silly Nani chasing my grandsons with a water hose. …
My Mennonite Ancestors Evicted from their Homes in Russia – Makes Me Angry! In 1965, during a time of deep divisiveness and wounding in this country, Hal David wrote the lyrics to Burt Bacharach’s seminal song: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love It’s the…
I can’t really do anything other than be here — now This pandemic has at least temporarily ripped apart any illusions of permanence. But I find myself already trying to identify and claim the quasi-permanence of the next ‘new normal.’ Normal is that…