The Silver Lining

She was his girl before we ever met. When I met him, I met her as well.  She was a beautiful girl, jet black hair and big brown eyes that could see into your very soul.  Full of energy and good humor, her antics kept us laughing throughout our very first visit together.  She wore a jaunty red bandana tied around her neck.  I suspect her approval of me was in my favor when we continued to see each other. Her name was Scarlett, and she was David’s black Labrador Retriever.  She was a little over a year old the first day the three of us met back in 2005.  She was his sidekick, and was our “best pal” when we became a couple. I heard the story of how he found her many times.  Walking through a flea market in Columbia, he spied a box full of squirming black puppies.  Reaching down into the box among all the black noses, pink tongues and wagging tails, he discovered one puppy beneath all of the other ones.  He scooped her ...

Hopefully, you have already read my Nov. 14, 2016 post, “If You REALLY Know Me” – about my decision to participate in the Women’s March on Washington.  If not, you might want to scroll a couple of posts back and refresh your memory. I was excited about participating in such an event!  I’ve never been very politically active (aside from voting in every election since I was registered to vote).   This was new territory for me and I felt it was important to take a stand for my belief in equality. During the weeks prior to the March, I received a lot of information about what I needed to carry with me, the route of the March, and safety precautions.  I began collecting a few items, though I knew I wanted to travel light.  I packed  a clear plastic backpack with some necessities:  a couple of bottles of water, some protein bars, hand sanitizer, my notebook & pens, an extra battery pack to charge my phone, and a rain poncho just in ca...

So here it is.  The last day of 2016.    Hallelujah!! By all accounts, it has been a tough year for a lot of people.   The election brought out the absolute worst in people; I remain shell-shocked at the hatred and bigotry that I see so flagrantly exhibited in our country. Many beloved heroes, celebrities, and athletes left us:  David Bowie, Arnold Palmer, John Glenn, Leonard Cohen, Prince, Patty Duke, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Harper Lee, Pat Conroy, Nancy Reagan, Mohammed Ali, Merle Haggard, Elie Weisel, Florence Henderson – just to name a tiny handful.  This short list alone contains people who wrote amazing books I read, acted on screens large or small that I watched with rapt attention, or sang songs that are part of the soundtrack of my life.  I vividly remember being 5 years old and watching John Glenn “splash down” on our old black and white television.  I also remember learning about integrity as I watched Moh...

When I was a very young bride in 1975, my mother gave me a treasure box full of gold. Actually, it was a small metal box full of recipes, neatly typed on 3x5 index cards.  The box was full of family favorites, foods I had grown up enjoying.  On the back of several of the recipes, she had hand-written special memories and stories about particular dishes – which made them even more valuable to me.  Some were familiar tales that I’d heard before, some notes told me the origin of the recipe or who had first made and shared the dish, and one was a secret that made me laugh (and I’ve never told)! In the back of the box I found 3 cards clipped together – my grandma Belle’s Fruitcake Recipe. Every Christmas in my memory, there’s been a homemade fruitcake on the table.  It’s one of the traditions that I hold dear.  Dense with chopped fruits and nuts, rich with homemade ingredients like apple jelly and fig preserves, and thoroughly soaked with Belle’s homemad...

If you REALLY know me, none of this will come as a surprise.  You might even nod your head and smile a little bit.  I value my friends.  Throughout the years I’ve found friends of all colors, races, genders, political backgrounds, and varying faiths.  I’ve learned and gained so much richness in life from them. For that, I am thankful. This week – actually this whole election cycle – has made me examine my values, my beliefs, my feelings.  The whole thing has been ugly, on both sides.  At times I shook my head in dismay and amazement.  The things I have read on social media, things I have seen on television, things I have heard first-hand -- all have astounded me.   I chose to vote for Hillary Clinton.  I absolutely could not reconcile my core beliefs with the racism, misogyny, prejudice, and bullying I saw in the other candidate.  To be perfectly honest, I was shocked by the evangelical support he gathered.  I was disgu...

We are all familiar with Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem defining Success. To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better,          whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. Recently, I began participating in an online Retreat for the Writer's Soul.  Each day, in addition to a short meditation, I receive a writing challenge.   One such challenge was to create our own definition of success, following Emerson's lead. It took me just about all day to put it together.  I played with phrases and words that spoke "success" to me.  It was a tough assignment, but one that I really enjoyed. I share it h...

I tackled "The Drawer" this morning.  I bet every one of you have one just like it -- that catch-all drawer in the kitchen that gets crammed with all the "stuff" that you don't know where else to put.  I have eyeballed it for several weeks (months?) now, knowing that it's been on my to-do list.  It certainly isn't going anywhere, nor is it going to clean itself out.  So I pulled the drawer completely out and dumped the contents on the table.  I laughed at the collection -- I am not even sure what some of that stuff IS.  The Lizard Man could be living in there, for all I know! I wiped out the drawer, and felt good about the "clean slate" I now had to start with.  Batteries, glue, a marble, masking tape, a collection of small tools, some keys that fit lord-knows-what, a vast assortment of nails, screws, and nuts, pull chains for ceiling fans, a label-maker, seed packets, 3 miscellaneous electrical cords, gardening gloves, a couple of keychain...