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A Letter on Leaving the Nest
He’s gone…my firstborn child graduated from college last month. Then we packed up his belongings and settled him into an apartment 500 miles from home. The last several weeks have been a frenzy of...
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On Mission for God, Part 7 ~ Review & Gratitude
I am struggling! It’s not like last year’s return from Spain. But I am at a loss on what to write about my trip and how to re-engage in my writing discipline since my return two weeks ago. I’m not...
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A Journey to Brother Love, Part 1
With my father and brothers in 1996 Recently a new pathway of healing opened up to me: a “journey to brother love.” My father married many times and had children from multiple wives—my siblings being...
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Preparing Our Hearts and Homes for Christmas
I’m not sure why, but this is the first holiday season that I have looked forward to in several years. I think that started five years ago when my brother, his wife, and me made a cross country trek...
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Giving Up Christmas?
We don’t watch much TV in our home. One of our favorite shows is “The Middle.” We love to laugh at the dysfunction of this family with 3 kids spanning from middle school to college. The holiday episode...
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What’s Cooking: Mealtime Family Prayers
Our family recently started a new prayer practice before meals that has me very excited and a bit reminiscent of my youth. I was raised in a Catholic home and every night as the family gathered around...
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“You’re Just Like Your Mother”
Just like my mother: a rare photo of my mother, me and my oldest son, 1996 “You’re just like your mother!” Those words and that fear have been engrained in my mind and my psyche throughout my...
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Keeping our Loved ones’ Memories Alive, Part 2
In Part 1 of this post series, I wrote about my 3rd annual letter to my mother after her passing, and shared an excerpt. Does writing a letter to a deceased loved one seem like an odd thing to do? I...
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A Letter to Mom
Dear Mom, I am writing your birthday letter early this year. I have so much to tell you, and it can’t wait until June. The sad news is Dee had a stroke. I couldn’t talk her into taking better care of...
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A Mother’s Day Gift for my Sons & my Readers
The last time I saw my mother alive was five years ago over Mother’s Day weekend. As I wrote in “Walking My Mother Home,” my story in Journeys to Mother Love, these trips back home were instrumental...
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The Graduation Road Less Traveled
Today is a bittersweet day for me and my family. My youngest child will be walking across the stage and receiving his high school diploma. What is so significant to me about this is how he got to...
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Being First: A Graduation Legacy
Last week a class of 115 students proudly walked across the stage of our church auditorium to receive their diplomas from a new high school in Washington State. My son was one of these students in the...
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Not your Typical Exchange Student Experience
This week marks the 5th anniversary of meeting Pedro, a short-term Spanish exchange student, and his adoption into our family. Every year at this time, my internal clock reminds me and sends me down...
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A Grateful Lesson in Letting go of our Children
Originally posted on Journeys To Mother Love: As much as I want it too, time doesn’t stand still. In fact as we age I’ve found that it actually seems to move at a faster pace. Kids grow up, graduate...
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A Bittersweet Birthday Gift
Every year since my mother passed away, I can’t help but think of her on my birthday. It was on my 50th birthday that I was by her bedside, 2000 miles away from friends and family. It was a very...
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Nominations Open for Mother of the Year
As Mother’s Day approaches this year I’ve noticed a bit of longing for the times when my kids were young and family plans were made to do something special to celebrate the day. If something wasn’t...
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A Father’s Day Message of Hope
The year before my father died I wrote him a long letter for Father’s Day. It’s not something I’d ever done before. He was 93 years old, and I felt prompted to speak into matters of the heart with...
View ArticleReturning to Spain, Again
Spain has been on my mind a lot these days (mucho todos los días). With the passing of another day, my internal clock tells me it’s time to officially write about it. I’m returning to Spain! This time...
View ArticleIn Loving Memory of my Aunt Mary
There was another passing of a loved one in my family recently. It was my Aunt Mary, my mother’s younger sister, and last of the siblings in their family. My aunt was included in my published story,...
View ArticleObservations of a Father’s Love
I wish I could say this post is about my father, but it’s not. It’s about another man I know. He’s my Uncle Pete. With the recent passing of his wife, my Aunt Mary, I’ve spent more time with him and...
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