Archive for May 2023
Memorial Day Address 2021
I apologize. I just posted the address I gave in 2022, but then found this one and wanted to post it, as well. Obviously, I feel strongly about recognizing the humanity of our heroes. As Mayor, I should be writing about what we are trying to accomplish for the town. That is my plan. Because…
Read MoreMemorial Day 2022-2023
The following is taken from the speech I gave last year (2022), as Mayor of Urbanna, at our Memorial Day celebration. Thank you all for being here this morning. It fills my heart with hope and joy to see you all here today, to remember and honor the men and women who over the years,…
Read MoreIs Music Important?
Once upon a time, I was a music teacher although I was never a particularly good musician. My heart was in it at a much higher level than my technique would ever reach. But I could get youngsters off to a nice start and infuse the love and spirit of music up to the point…
Read MoreDream Scream
I found myself at a large outdoor gathering of people, but cannot remember why we were there. Maybe it was some kind of fair or maybe we were waiting for someone or something to arrive. I was standing there with my father, and I think also my husband, when Dad began speaking in a voice…
Read MoreGeezers
The day my granddaughter turned 10, she declared herself “a pre-teen.” “Gwen,” I responded, “You were BORN a ‘pre-teen.’ Between 13 and 19 you will be a ‘teen.’ At age 20, you will henceforth be a ‘post-teen.’” What I did not tell her about were all the stages of adulthood, including pre-geezerhood, geezerhood, and post-geezerhood.…
Read MoreCulinary Arts and Other Requirements of a Worthy Woman
My father-in-law is so fixated on food that wherever he travels in the world, he must take scads of photos of the food (pictures that never get printed, by the way) either as served on the table or in neat stacks at a market. Meals with my late husband, or anyone in his family, always…
Read MoreMy Worst Friend
May 13, 2023 I never experienced the luxury of growing up with cousins in the same town, or friends with me from toddlerhood through high school and beyond. I was blessed with many wonderful friends, but each had a window of time, maybe one year, maybe four, that we shared daily contact. Because I have…
Read MoreAwkward Moments
May 11, 2023 When you are lactose intolerant, it is necessary to rate the worthiness of certain foods. Is the delight in the mouth worth the inevitable outcome elsewhere? For me, milk is entirely unworthy unless it is loaded with Nestle’s Quik, or better yet, Swiss Miss, or in the form of a milkshake. Sherbet…
Read MoreHousekeeping
May 9, 2023 I am regularly surprised at the different styles of housekeeping. When it smacks me how absolutely unlike my style someone else’s home is, I start wondering what are the underlying causes for such monumental differences? I am very fortunate to be included in a wonderful and disparate group of mostly bionic ladies…
Read MoreFirst and Last Time
It’s funny, but even now, I can remember encounters with “mean girls” from decades ago. When I was in 7th grade at McPherson Jr. High, I recall encountering my first viscerally mean girls. I was a natural target, a pre-menstrual late bloomer, flat as a surf board, with limp dirty hair and only occasionally brushed teeth.…
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