Most mornings a girl and her brother went to the land of pretend. As soon as school ended they scampered back upstairs. All they wanted to do was play. They played in their room, on the stairs, under the table, on the windowsill, and under blankets. You see, the land of pretend was portable. Mom…
It's taking a global pandemic for me to tell the truth. I’ve been so fortunate to tap into my creative side, finding fulfillment and healing. Like it was just waiting to be discovered. Buried treasure with big, excited eyes.I started drawing and watercoloring 2 summers ago. I was a total beginner. The story I told…
Once there was a little girl who was afraid for five years. She grew up under Nazi occupation in Norway. The girl is my mother and here's her story. Mom grew up on a timber farm named Skrede, the Norwegian word for avalanche. Snow rumbled down the steep rocky mountainside in winter, hence the name.…
I wrote about my involvement with Toastmasters in my last post. I joined that group knowing I would be required to deliver speeches. Of one thing I was certain. I wasn't going to ignore an opportunity to talk about my older brother. Circumstances permitted me to only give three formal speeches to our Toastmaster chapter…
Hi again and Happy Summer to you. Five years ago I was searching for new opportunities. I ended up sitting in a Toastmasters group, of all places. Toastmasters is a world-wide organization that helps members get comfortable speaking in public. To do this, they offer the chance to give impromptu and prepared speeches in front…
Before I was a gardener I was the daughter of a gardener. A gardener who grew up on a timber farm in a remote part of Norway where everything she ate was home-grown. Wild blueberries grew outside the door. The land was familiar to her. Its produce sustained her when World War 2 made everything…
I wrote not long ago about emotional growth as a result of a physical event in my life. I touched on the topic of that event, my open heart surgery. Today I thought I'd share more of that story. PART 1 WHO ME? Worry? Over my life I've had multiple surgeries. Mostly with short recoveries…
I'm married to a lovable man. Mike, the Wonderful One. My good man. We'll celebrate 35 years this June. During our 10 month engagement we had the constant awareness of "You're the best thing ever" "When I'm not with you I'm absolutely miserable." We lived in different cities so we honestly pined away for…
If you're over 50 I would guess you've had something go awry in your body. I've had my own issues for sure. But thankfully they never affected my life for long. Not anymore. The whole of 2018 has been one long invasion: The Auto-Immune Battle. The victims: my thyroid and my immune system. The participants:…
What's your relationship with anger? Here's my story. I know how to self-protect. Pretend and stuff anger. That was my default. I did it so well. But it wasn't well deep down. Here's how it went: A wrong occurred, I felt upset, said nothing and went on. A sure recipe for depression or illness if there…
To be known. 