Thanksgiving was different this year. We exchanged dishes with my daughter’s family but enjoyed the meal in our separate homes. My granddaughter made a delicious bundt cake and dinner rolls. Another granddaughter made the cranberry sauce. I made my traditional cornbread stuffing. We all had a wonderful meal. In the…
During my childhood I was aware of elections and political jingles. My parents voted in every election. It was a citizen’s duty. The first year I was eligible to vote (1972) Richard Nixon was running against George McGovern. I had registered to vote in Ann Arbor—where I lived as a…
Roe v. Wade is once again being discussed. During the Senate confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett, Judge Barrett was asked many questions about the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide 47 years ago. Senator Klobuchar asked if the decision was a super precedent—a decision that should never be…
Northern Michigan is at the height of fall color. My sisters and I enjoyed a road trip, taking in the vivid, glowing colors of the trees. Sun and shadow played on the orange and yellow leaves, lighting them up like gold. Red and green provided contrast. We hiked through a…
Last Saturday I spent a lovely afternoon watching my grandson play soccer. It brought back memories of the time my son played soccer and I was an accidental coach. Years ago I wrote a story about that experience. When I first told my family that I was a soccer coach…
Flowers are still blooming in my backyard. The aster (I think it is an aromatic aster) is a nice surprise. It’s blooming in a pot of depleted wild flowers. The humming birds still visit the phlox and zinnias. My humming bird feeder attracts wasps as well as the humming birds.…
Jesus said to his disciples: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.” Matthew 18:20 I grew up going to church with my family every Sunday. My parents were members of a Finnish Lutheran Church that was part of an association of Finnish churches.…
My first job as a graduate nurse was in a hospital in downtown Detroit. I worked in a labor/delivery unit with a diverse group of patients. Some women had taken Lamaze classes and some were unwed teenagers. We had a pregnant woman, victim of a gunshot, who was partially paralyzed.…
I was born in Michigan, and so was my mother. My grandmother was born in Finland. My grandmother gave birth to her children at home. My mother gave birth in the hospital during the obstetric practice of twilight sleep and delivery with forceps. I gave birth by cesarean section. As…
Today we went to the cemetery and tended the family graves. We planted flowers and walked among the stones marking family members. As I read the names I was recalling family history. My husband’s grandparents immigrated from Holland in 1911. In 1918 they lost three of their children when scarlet…