Magical Memoir Moments
Happy 90th, Mother: This Is Your Life!
It’s finally here. My mother has been talking about this day for the last six months. “Can you believe I’m going to be ninety?” she asks in genuine amazement every time I talk with her. Her five children, their spouses, children, their spouses, and their grandchildren now number 46. And all of us are celebrating…
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….
Kittens, Puppies, and Capons: A Motley Crew of Farm Animals
My brother Henry became the family photographer after he traded in the S & H Green Stamps for a 35 mm camera. Here are a few he took in the years 1965-70. We moved from black and white to color! He even took pictures of our 4-H Capons on their way to their new homes….
Pets From My Childhood: A Memoir in Pictures
One of the best parts of growing up on a farm is that people and animals interact in ways different from those in cities or suburbs. They can share space while maintaining freedom. Animals don’t have to live like humans in order to be enjoyed by and to enjoy humans. Not that that’s a bad…
A Lancaster County Wedding: Celebration of Faith, Family, Friendship, and Farming
Our niece Valerie, the youngest of my mother’s grandchildren, married her sweetheart Nate yesterday. The whole family labored for months to restore an old mill to a usable space, mow the grass, pump out the overflow from the creek, pick the flowers for centerpieces, put up and take down chairs, tent, and then get dressed…
The Girl Who Opened Up My World: A Birthday Tribute to Vicky
Before Vicky died at age 35, she changed my life. In 1954, when I was six years old, almost everyone I knew was either a farmer or a Mennonite or both. Then Vicky Martinez blew into my life — all the way from Manhattan! She stayed with us for two weeks. Vicky was like me….
My Mother's Magic Rainbow Story: A Lifelong Influence
I spent last weekend with my 84-year-old mother, who made her first trip from Pennsylvania to Virginia in many years, thanks to her escorts–my sister Doris, her husband Dave, and their standard poodle Rodney. We celebrated Mother’s Day live and in person, albeit a week late. Yesterday I posted two wonderful Mother’s Day tributes found on other…