the beauty of an ordinary life
Brief, sincere, and tactful. If you remember nothing else from what follows, below, then just remember these three words and you'll do fine. One of the things I've learned from having a small stationery business is that people often are reluctant to write notes because they don't know what to write, or how to express … Continue reading Something about writing condolence notes.
I was at a party recently to celebrate a friend’s milestone birthday. It was a wonderful, multi-generational gathering of adults and children of all ages, and being with them in person, during this COVID reprieve, was a true joy. One of the guests was a mother who had a toddler with her. The child was … Continue reading Something about impermanence.
This may seem disjointed; that's simply the way things are. My friend Harriet, the Harriet who is very much alive, is a quilter. She sews the most beautiful quilts (and other things, too) and has the best sewing adventures to tell, stories I would share except that they are hers and not mine. I mention … Continue reading The living and the dead.
"Women - particularly Southern women - can't really come into their voices until they lose their mothers," a writer friend said to me recently over lunch. This particular friend, who also was around 40 when she lost her mother and with whom I often discuss mothers and mothering, is the same friend who said, "you … Continue reading Materfamilias.
It was Ella, and not I, who first fell in love with Bernard. It happened this way: We were walking along the snowy trail next to the Snake River, in January, a few months after we met. Bernard was throwing sticks for Ella to retrieve. She was a puppy, full of energy and mischief. She … Continue reading Of dogs and men.
jenny's lark 