Magical Memoir Moments
Dancing With Change — A Memoir About Parting
Today is the first day of the last week of taking care of Owen in Brooklyn. As I get ready to walk to Owen’s house, I am filled with gratitude and a little grief. Yesterday I took a walk in the park — Ft. Greene Park — on what might have been our last sunny…
My First Podcast: On Dancing with Change, Grandmothering, and Leadership!
Brian Paff, a very creative young leader-in-the-making at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, interviewed me for his podcast series at the Laurelville website. Brian wrote a press release about the series of three speeches I gave at Laurelville April 30-May 1. The theme was dancing with change, and Stuart and I demonstrated the “frame” in ballroom…
Dancing with Change, Part Three: Gramps and Granny Nanny Leave for the Big Apple
In a few days, Stuart and I will move a second time in less than seven months! Our journey has taken us from the Midwest to the South to the Northeast. By the end of this week, we will be living in a Brooklyn highrise. And by August 1, we will be sharing a new…
Selling Serenity: More Dancing with Change
I promised my Facebook friends that I would tell the story of how we sold our Kalamazoo, MI, house (named Serenity) after the closing last Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. So why not share the saga with the readers of 100Memoirs.com also? The buying and selling of real estate in the current market is not for the…
Dancing with Change: A Mini-Memoir
As you may have guessed by now, the December and January posts on this blog are more about issues related to my current life than about the subject of memoir per se. That’s because Stuart and I are in the midst of major post-mid-life changes. Of course, these changes are relevant to the subject of…
Mennonite Dancing! It Ain't Pretty, But that's Okay
Mennonite prohibitions included dancing, television, and movies. When my gym teacher taught a class unit on dancing, I had to turn in a note sent by my mother excusing me for religious reasons. Those classes spent with one other lonely Mennonite classmate on the wooden bleachers were some of the longest fifty minutes in high…
From Fired to Fired Up: Three Waves of Transformation
Did you know that, according to a Gallup Poll, only 32 percent of all employees can say “yes” to this statement: “At work I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.” Are you one of the 32 percent or one of the 68 percent? Perhaps you have been excited about…
Speaking Engagements
You may contact Shirley at shirley.showalter(at)gmail.com to request a keynote, book club interview, workshop, retreat, or other speaking assignment. The following engagements provide a sample of Shirley’s topics and interests. Recent favorites: aging and vocation, grandparenting, spiritual legacy, Mennonite memoir, and school board activism. 2024 January 11, 2024, “Living Joyfully,” Sarasota, FL, Sarasota Community Church…
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…
Our New City: Pittsburgh
First it was Brooklyn. Now it is Pittsburgh. The grannynanny gig takes us to cool places. I’m trying to learn all I can about Pittsburgh. I ask all my new friends for help. Let’s start with geography. This is a city of three rivers and 466 bridges. In the U. S., only New York City…