Magical Memoir Moments

Mennonites and Santa: Then and Now

By Shirley Showalter | December 10, 2012

This picture of Santa and me, taken when I was one and a half years old, says a lot about my childhood, but tells only half the story. You would think, looking at this picture, that my family members were big fans of Santa and had lots of decorated trees, windows and presents. You would…

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The Things She Couldn’t Carry: Touching the Hem of My Grandmother’s Garment

By Shirley Showalter | November 19, 2012

After we die, who is left to tell our story? And what is left of who we were? My maternal grandmother Anna Mary Herr Hess died at the age of 56 when I was not quite three years old; hence, I do not consciously remember her living presence. Almost everything I know about my grandmother has…

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