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.

Want to make your life as a grandparent even better? Please join us!

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. Previously, I was a professor, a college president (Goshen College), and a foundation executive (the Fetzer Institute).

Make Your Own Magic!

Most recent blog posts

Go down the steps to Greco's ice cream and up the steps to Bruno's Hoagies.

Location, Location, Location: Choosing It and then Exploring it

Q: What are the three most important things about choosing a new home? A: Location, location, location. Why did we choose Warwick Woodlands? There are, after all, dozens of other retirement communities in Lancaster County, PA. In 2018, in fact, U.S. News & World Report ranked Lancaster County as the #1 retirement destination in the…

Kate, Joyous, Anna Mary, Shirley. Photographer: Lydia!

Vintage Dress Photo Shoot at the Home Place

Several weeks after we moved to Lititz, PA, I invited my daughter Kate, granddaughter Lydia, niece Joyous, and her daughter Anna Mary to join me in exploring a pile of vintage clothing I bought in the late 1980s at my Grandpa Hess’ estate sale.The dresses had stayed in closets in Goshen, IN; Kalamazoo, MI; and…

Sam and Todd Dickinson at the Bull's Head pub, Lititz, PA

Living a Dream: Owning A Bookstore

How many people living in a big city dream of getting away from it all, moving to a small town, and setting up a shop? How many harried professionals wish they could buy books, read books, and talk to customers every day? How many parents of young children wish they could go into a family…