June 25, 1955 Dear Jane Louise, Hi! I was so happy when I got your letter this week especially since you have graduated and are now working full time. I’ll never be as smart as you and graduate at sixteen, but I can imagine how excited you must be to…
The women often talk about how seeing a red bird is the sign that a loved one is visiting from heaven and often times with a message. My granny was particularly convinced that a pure white butterfly, which she had seen on occasions, were visits from her mother. And I…
I sat attentively listening to this young excited woman sitting with me and tried not to shame myself nor her as she amused me with the details of her first solo adventure here. I thought at some point that I would likely break from holding in my laughter because it…
[Author’s Note: This story is true but is what I call “faction,” in that every branch of our family has been told of it so we know it to be true. The details vary, however, depending on whether the story teller is an older family member & closer to the…
Us three were hunting today, Abraham, David and me, and as ready as we’d ever be! More importantly, we were free as birds to enjoy the quiet companionship & freedom that only the company of men understood. We had practiced all of yesterday when Papa had agreed to let us…
I saw the first ones when the little girls began picking them during recess, and joined them by collecting my own handful. The bright yellow dandelions make fairy-like necklaces or princess crowns for the hands patient enough to weave them together. I’ve watched small groups of such little ones bent…
It had been a long night followed by a demanding morning but the sequence was really no different from my usual routine. The prior evening kept both my husband & me busy beyond sundown with the day’s last chores of caring for our stock and securing the barn. I took…
(In Honor of Mother’s Day) We knew to expect it but had almost forgotten the warning we experienced several weeks earlier. We had been enjoying the first signs of spring as the bitter winds eased and the lengthening days allowed the sun to warm up the morning chill. There was…
“Ohhhhh!! Brighten the corner where you are! Brighten the corner where you are! Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar; Brighten the corner where you are!” The singing from our little church could be heard long before it came into my view and was fairly resonating with…
In the movie Jerimiah Johnson, the old man said, “I loves the Wimmen, I shorely do.” I will second that. There is a saying, behind every good man is a woman. I will change that a little and say, beside every good man is a woman. One thing I have…
