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

L-R Sisters Doris and Sue, me, Suzanne Groff, Dale Groff

Was Tom Wolfe Right or Wrong: Can We Go Home Again?

“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood … back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time—back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.” –Thomas Wolfe Thomas Wolfe…

Walking the tunnel through Afton Mountain was one of our last Virginia adventures.

A Very Moving Experience: Sorting, Giving, Tossing, Selling, Keeping

We are counting down the days now — seven left! One week before we drive north, our car packed with paintings and blankets. Our lives as Virginia residents behind us. Our new lives as Pennsylvania residents ahead. Fortunately, we have had three months to prepare for this transition. A journey of 225 miles begins with…

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…