Part 2 in a 3-part series Breakfast table surprises greeted my brothers and me each Valentine’s Day of our childhood. My mom either served heart-shaped pancakes with bacon and strawberry syrup or pink grits with sausage and heart-shaped toast. Pink grits, you ask? Yes, what fun! She also sprinkled valentines and candy on the table with Pinterest-worthy flair. My mother adored showing love to her family and celebrating special days. For the entire week of February fourteenth, she selected dresses or slacks outfits with pink or red touches and then added a piece of heart-shaped jewelry. Each morning Mama chose…
Author: Jeannie Waters
Storing Treasure: Thoughts from a Jewelry Box and Psalm 119
Once my daughter and nieces claimed their favorites of my mother’s rings, the dark green satin-and-velvet-lined jewelry boxes that sat on Mama’s dresser for decades held only valued memories and a collection of inexpensive pieces. When I study the contents of the jewelry boxes, I recall bits of Mama’s well-lived life and evidence of the values she held dear. You can tell a lot about a person by the things they keep. Among bracelets, necklaces, and earbobs (as she called them), I found my brother’s Scout medals and my 4-H pin, as well as a lapel pin I made…
Quieting the Sounds of Distraction
Welcome, reader friend. Come on in and make yourself at home. We’ll sit six feet apart, of course. You haven’t had a fever in the last 48 hours, have you? (Wink, wink) Would you like coffee or hot tea to sip as we visit? Help yourself. Ready to chat? We’ll discuss a serious topic first—but only briefly—and then we’ll breathe a sigh of relief and part with hope, joy, and smiles. Ready? Do you hear sounds of distraction from the world around us? I do. Electronic signals can propel me into action—if I let them. Pings from my cell…
Pre-Christmas Heart Check
Why, oh why did Dr. Jones schedule an appointment in mid-December? Who has time for that? My heart is fine. As holiday prep time grew shorter, my to-do list grew longer. My peace meter registered closer to frayed-at-the-seams-frantic than to Christmas card-perfect. “This appointment is a waste of time,” I said to my husband. “I have so much to do before Christmas. I need to shop and send cards, and I need to decorate the tree.” My feisty cardiologist had scheduled an echocardiogram, and trust me, no one argues with Dr. Jones. She ordered this test and others…
Think on These Things
Who’s that singing? I peered through the glass of the storm door and discovered a little sparrow belting out an aria on the deck. The sight beyond the sparrow quickly turned my smile into a frown. Thin-stemmed, summer plants drooped over the edges of pots and cried for replacements. The grass, drained of summer’s lush green, imitated a worn, beige carpet. The typical mid-autumn scene looked drab and colorless—much like how the uptick predictions of coronavirus cases and recent political controversy make me feel. As I concentrated on the bleak picture, the little feathered songster hopped onto a…