A dear friend texted me recently and taught me a word that I had never heard before but had long needed. She hinted that the word had something to do with the Christmas spirit. Because of her, I went to the library and checked out The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking. Hygge encompasses everything […]
Category Archives: Inspiration from Others
If you have never been to the Texas hills at the end of May, when they are cleansed with rain and music rings in the empty places between the trees, come with me now. “Welcome home, y’all!” a friendly woman calls from the ticket booth. We notice signs posted about the Kerrville cats—please take one […]
I recently had the pleasure of reading Martha’s Vineyard: Isle of Dreams. When the author, Susan Branch, buys a cottage on Martha’s Vineyard, she “inherits” all the possessions of the elderly woman who had lived in it for years until she moved to a nursing home and passed away. Susan sadly concludes that among all the woman’s […]
A group of us gathered, having spent more than a decade apart, to pray for our friend. Almost strangers, because of the stretch of years, we sat on her living room rug and began to pray. I was scared—scared of the shock of sadness from seeing my friend so frail, wearing a wig. Scared of […]
When I taught fourth grade, I assigned my students a nonfiction book report. To my surprise, one little girl did her report on Cinderella. When I told her Cinderella was fiction, she protested, “But I found it in the nonfiction section of the library!” Intrigued, I asked the school librarian. “Yes,” she informed me, “fairy tales […]
My sister, Amy, is a cosmetologist. She once had a boss at a barber shop who daily criticized the women who worked there. “You should wear more make-up,” he’d tell one. “You really need to dye your hair,” he’d tell another. Venting, one of Amy’s coworkers said, “He thinks his opinion is fact!” With that […]
Recently I passed a sign at a nearby recreation center that read: “BALLET BELLY DANCING CLASS!” A tiny remembering part of me lit up inside, whispering, “Maybe you should sign up.” Simultaneously, every other part of me screamed, “Absolutely not! You’d be miserable with embarrassment!” That wee whispering part of me was born the first […]
The first time I heard “Coat of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton, when I was just a girl, it struck me so deeply I began to cry. I ran downstairs, with urgency, to tell my mother how much I loved her. Do you remember that song? Dolly’s family was poor, so someone dropped off a […]
Dear Jess, When you asked me to send you a picture of “little Carol,” and one afternoon I looked through old photo albums to grant your request, I had no idea you were plotting to give me my own Kirklin/Tudor picture book. (I will treasure it always!) Your generosity, it seems, is limitless! A few […]
The hummingbirds have flown south, but their work here is done. This is home. We’ve been eating and sleeping, crying and dancing in this 1920’s cottage for only a year and five months, but it has already started to feel like my second body. There is a hint of a threat that my family, too, […]
A Children's Book World 