Magical Memoir Moments
A Pennsylvania Christmas: A Living Example of Jubilación
On the way east from Collegeville, Minnesota, the last stop we made before turning south was at Landis Homes, the retirement community where my mother lives. There 40 descendants of Richard and Barbara Ann Hess Hershey gathered to celebrate Christmas. In the middle of our circle sat the grande dame, the matriarch, the dowager empress….
Everything that Rises Must Converge: Naming What Rises
Adult children visits, Celtic Pilgrimage, writing assignments, family vacations, and preparation for a fellowship in the fall. All these promising events are rising or are about to rise. How to help them converge? I made a decision.
Seeking Wisdom: A Lifelong Quest
If you rubbed a magic oil lamp and Aladdin offered you only one wish, what would it be? I’d ask for wisdom. The story of King Solomon, who famously chose wisdom, made a deep impression on my in my youth, and later I prayed often for wisdom as a mother, teacher, and college president. In…
Wedding Blessings Revive the Magical Memoir Moments of Childhood
Weddings produce Magical Memoir Moments by their very nature. They fill us with hope. Parents feel a special joy tinged with sadness. Mothers often weep inside as they embrace daughters. The most popular blog post I ever wrote shares the wedding blessings Stuart and I gave to Kate and Nik in 2010. We instinctively chose…
Pittsburgh and Propelle: Where Fun and Family Meet
I came to Pittsburgh this week for two reasons: to spend some good face-to-face time with my daughter Kate and to get some help with my 2015 planning. Yesterday was a “work” day for my four-day visit. We launched the work day at Whole Foods and then returned to the “sunny urban” AirBnB unit on…
Every Day Is All There Is: Defining a Good Day
Have you ever found yourself thinking about a subject and then discovered that lots of other people are doing the same? For me that topic is: what is a good day? Joan Didion’s words “Every day is all there is” came into my life via my daughter Kate’s business partner, Emily Levenson. She’s the one…
Are You a Sprinter or a Marathoner? Is There a Third Way?
My daughter just ran ten miles for the first time with her friend Kristi. Having my propensity toward rosy cheeks, she got beet red: She did not, however, inherit the capacity for long-distance running from me or from her father. She earned every mile from her own effort. Having worked hard to run in two…
The Day Before Launch: Going Home to Lititz During Harvest.
Who says you can’t go home again? Reporter Sarah Chain certainly disagrees. The official launch will be held tomorrow night at Lititz Mennonite Church, 165 Front Street, Lititz, Pennsylvania. 7 p.m. If you live close by, please join us! We’ll have a party, and we’ll relive a little Lancaster Conference Mennonite Church history in the…
The Secret of the Best Wedding Blessings: Find the Memoir Moments That Fit Your Child's Purest Self
Three years ago today our only daughter became a bride and wife. Stuart and I were asked to write wedding blessings to read in the ceremony. We were honored and a little daunted by the seriousness of the occasion. How to choose the words when the heart was so full, the memories so overwhelming, the…
Give Me a Few Minutes, and I'll Get You Started With Memoir
That creative and persistent daughter of mine, Kate, keeps challenging me to do new things. We were looking at the result of the survey we sent to the people who have signed up (right hand side above) for my e-booklet and weekly emails. They told us that they want to write their stories but that…