Today is much like the day in this photo. The sun shines brightly and fiercely. The sky wears its best blue. Winter grips us tightly enough, teasing those of us who live in the South with its power to turn into a deathly reality. The difference in today and the day of this photo is… Read more
For good or bad, those “first times” we do many things are etched into our memory bank. I have such a memory. The first time I was paid for my writing. It was in the mid-1960’s, the beginning my college career. I knew I wanted to “major in journalism.” To date, I had written for… Read more
It was the early 1980’s. I quit my job of 11 years and headed home. Home to work. Starting my own communications business on a slim budget, I set up shop at home. Our new condo had just the spot—an upstairs room with a door that could be closed. We purchased a state-of-the-art computer that… Read more
You see them in every thrift shop, junk store and consignment store you visit. Boxes, baskets, trays filled with photos, and not just any photos but personal ones from years gone by. They fascinate me. With something of a compulsion, I stop and rummage through the current offerings. What am I expecting when I do… Read more
“Jennifer reads too many library books” wasn’t the only comment my elementary school teachers regularly wrote on my report cards. The other was “Jennifer talks too much.” I absorbed these comments as failures. But, through the intervening years when these comments resurfaced, I gradually decided what they wrote was not what they meant. One can… Read more
It was the day before Thanksgiving. She introduced herself, and with a startled look said, “You don’t look XX-years-old.” Then she locked her huge brown eyes onto my small hazel ones. “It’s a baby tumor.” The oncology surgeon let that sink in and repeated it several times. With that, I was ushered into the world… Read more
My local Kroger delivered yet another blog post for me. Readers probably think all I do is shop at Kroger. I don’t. I try to go once a week, on Wednesdays, which used to be senior discount days. Shopping at my neighborhood Kroger is a treat; no matter what day I go. Interesting people are… Read more
Her voice grabs me as soon as I roll the grocery cart into the store, her life stories wafting up and down the aisles mixing and mingling with the aroma of fresh baked pies, cookies and cakes. No matter where she is in this vast store, I recognize her voice. I work to avoid her…. Read more
“You have a pretty smile,” said my husband as he hugged me and walked out the door. (As great first line for a novel, but not where this is going.) His comment was not unusual for a husband to say to his wife. But it’s notable to me for two reasons. My normal facial expression… Read more