Friendship is a tricky thing. Today’s world of social media and texting adds a level to friendships – or rather takes away a level – that has never been experienced before. Throw in a pandemic and the whole idea of how to “do friendship” could make anyone crazy. Recently I finished two books that speak […]
Feasting
My childhood is filled with so many visions of gathering and feasting. One of my clearest memories growing up was of Thanksgiving. We would take the forty-five minute drive up the back-roads to my aunt and uncle’s house. The house would be filled with cousins and all sorts of other family members. We would fill […]
Review: Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson
Anyone who has grown up as a sibling knows there is emotional processing that continually goes on as each sibling deals with the attentions, or lack of attentions, of others. Sibling rivalry and jealousy are natural things. I see it in my children as they fight for the front seat of the car. I see […]
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
My father grew up on a road labeled with his family name. He lived in the first house on the road, next door was an aunt and down the road was the family farm where an uncle lived. When I was growing up we would visit my grandmother and this aunt and uncle and I […]
Embracing Our Place
My daughter and I have been reading The Swiss Family Robinson for the past few months. In the midst of our reading, we’ve also been selling our house, searching for a new house, moving and getting settled in a new place. The house we recently sold was a dream house for us. It was a […]