Want to leave a legacy?

Make the last third of life the best ever.

Hello, friends, Grandma Shirley here. I'm co-authoring a book with Marilyn McEntyre called The Mindful Grandparent: The Art of Loving Our Children's Children, forthcoming from Broadleaf Books, May, 2022.

My life now is focused on becoming an elder, serving rising elders and future generations, learning together about the nature of love.

In 2013 I published Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World. I was also a professor, a college president (Goshen College), and a foundation executive (the Fetzer Institute).

Make Your Own Magic!

Most recent blog posts

A Role Model Shows Up in the Inbox: Plus, A Book Giveaway

All my life I have looked ahead to someone older to help show me the path ahead. Role models, we sometimes call these people. I started early, looking up to my neighbor Shirley Clark. She was a member of the safety patrol. I became a member also. Last week someone who just might qualify as…

From This Valley They Say We Are Going: Another Turning Point

A few days ago I wrote about the long, cold winter our family has endured. This week new life has erupted. Daffodils are budding, and the early ones are dancing in the breeze. This beautiful passage from the second chapter of the Song of Solomon speaks for us: “Arise, my love, my fair…

The Crucible of Winter: What Has It Taught You?

“Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.” — Katherine May I have been through a very painful winter. Have you too? Today, turning the calendar page today to March 1 felt liberating. Then a walk in balmy, windy, air, listening to birds, looking for crocuses and pansies, admiring the…