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Relentless Goodwill (Ugh)
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I stood chit chatting with a lady at church. She was somewhat older than I, respected in the congregation, a well-liked person with a nice circle of friends both there and in the community. She explained to me why she and her family decided to…
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In the Light of Goldie
Louella Goldie Westmoreland lived 32 years, never married or became a mother, did not know the enjoyment of a good book or scintillating after-dinner conversation, did not attend school and was dependent on her loved ones to care for her. A high fever as an infant immediately changed her life and the lives of her…
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Hidden Pictures
On a strangely quiet Monday I took a photo of where I sat. It’s my desk in my “office.” It’s not really just an office. And it’s not really just mine. We’ll call it multifunctional. Jointly owned. In here I read, write, research, organize, study, pray, ponder, water plants, stitch, search the file cabinet for…
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Pen Pal Marty
When color TV came to our basement in the late 60s, it brought with it the bloody reality of the nightly news of Vietnam. The war had been safely gray up to that point. In 1968 I was just seven and in 2nd grade but “Hanoi” and “Saigon” were familiar words to me, though without…
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The End of Coco’s Tail
It begins long before the tale of Coco’s tail, way before my boyfriend introduced me to his own actual family. We start here. On 1st Street in Nampa, Idaho. In this old house. Once upon a time there was a skinny college boy who needed a place to stay during the summer. The boy had…
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Ebenezer
The smell of wood smoke rises from the old stone chimney of the Ramble In if my eyes are closed and my head held at a proper tilt. I can feel the thin Rocky Mountain air in my well-adapted young lungs and hear pine needle covered trails crunch under my feet as I scramble up,…
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Dominick and the Duck
Far far away, many many years ago in a Kindergarten classroom on the last day of school, five-year old Dominick gave me a little clay duck. Well, I’ve always called it a duck but truthfully its identity is a bit vague. You decide. To reveal the immediate thought that ran through my head might paint…
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A Whittled Goodbye
There were a lot of words on this page just a few minutes ago. It felt a little silly when all I really want to say is, “thank you.” So I whittled a tree down to a toothpick. Writing an occasional word to you has been a unique journey for me, a steep learning curve…
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Mrs. Farkas
On a narrow street in a small city in Idaho there lived an unassuming little lady who saved our family’s musical bacon. She really did. No two ways about it. Ruth Farkas of Koster Street. She was a missing puzzle piece we didn’t know we needed. At one point we had three kids in instruction…
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The Streets of Laredo
Question for you: What’s more important, striving to be the descendant that previous generations would be proud of? Or working every day to become an ancestor that future generations would want to claim as theirs? You think on that for a while and we’ll circle back. Very briefly I’d like to sum up what’s been…
Beyond Lashley Lane
Plain talk about life from a Christian perspective woven together with humor, practicality, and God willing, a bit of encouragement
