Heart of the Wild by Patti Callahan Henry

 I enjoy this author's skillful and precise use of English vocabulary and her ability to create characters who communicate with the reader as friends and acquaintances.  This book began strong and kept me engaged throughout with no dull passages asking to be skipped. 

Mistletoe and Rodeo by Janet Daley

 Mistletoe and Rodeo is an easy-to-read, feel-good book to help readers escape stressful reality for a few hours. The plot is straightforward, the characters are highly engaging and fully developed, and the action moves at a steady pace. This book kept my mind and heart engaged throughout.

Maid of Honor speech

 When Natalie got married in 2023, Brianne, her Maid of Honor, prepared a beautiful speech to give at the rehearsal dinner when she would be asked to propose a toast. Christopher's Best Man, his father refused to bow to that convention; so Brianne had no opportunity to give her speech. I recently found it and want to preserve it; so here it is.

Okay, I'm going to try my best to get through this without ugly crying; but I really think that's highly unlikely, so if I start to lose it, maybe we can all just agree to pretend like nothing is happening and move on.

Throughout my life, my mom has always told stories about how Natalie use to always have to be holding my hand when we were little. Everywhere we went, she was always right beside mel, holding my hand. I can think of so many pictures that we have from when we were little of us walking through the zoo, on the beach, Easter egg hunting, even just sitting on the couch holding hands. 

As a big sister, I'm sure there were times it could have been a little annoying to have your little sister constantly want to be right beside you holding your hand; however, looking back, I realize now that Natalie has done that throughout my whole life; and I couldn't be more thankful for that. Natalie has held my had, bother literally and figuratively for 23 years. In some very obvious ways and in some more quiet ways that she might not even realize.  I know that no matter what we do or where we go as we start living mor separate lives, Natalie will always hold my hand, and I'll always hold hers. 

Chris, for some reason, Natalie like to hold your hand now. Really, though, I see how happy she is when she's with you, and I'm glad my sister is marrying a man who loves her so much and fits in with our family so well. I truly feel like I have gained another brother, and not just because we communicate in sarcasm, but also because you are so welcoming and accepting. As her big sister, it makes me happy to know that you will always be there to take care of her, make her laugh, make life fun, and hold her hand -- and if not, you live 5 minutes down the road, and I know where you hide the spare key!

Natalie and Chris, I am so happy that the two of you have found one another. I hope the following years are full of love, new adventures, growing together, living out dreams, so much happiness, and lots of hand-holding. I love you both. 

Letter to Mother, Ruth Shaw, 2013

 I recently found a letter I wrote to Mother on her birthday in February of 2013 (thirteen years ago as I write this preface - 3 ½ years after her death.) I want to preserve it here. 

Dear Mother,

In the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom wrote, “Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them - a mother’s approval, a father’s nod - are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.”

As Mr. Albom said, now that my skin is sagging and my heart is likely weakening, I am beginning to much more fully understand that any life accomplishments that I might claim are simply stories resting firmly upon yours and Daddy’s stories. These are the stones upon the stones beneath the waters of my life — all those skills and concepts I didn’t realize I was learning and all those life experiences that I never knew I’d be so grateful for.

Thank you, Mother, for the guidance you and Daddy have provided me throughout my life. Martin Luther once said, “In the midst of affliction, God counsels, strengthens, confirms, nourishes, and favors us. In the same manner parents ought to handle their children.” You have always counseled, strengthened, confirmed, nourished, and favored me as Luther advised - and as God does.

Most of all, Mother, thank you for your unconditional love. That love was the cornerstone of my childhood and continues to ground me in my adulthood. It has been given to me every day for a lifetime - and I have accepted this gift as naturally as I have accepted the colorful rain of leaves in Autumn and the perky Jonquils in the Spring. You have always lovingly listened to me when I needed to talk, and you have always lovingly talked to me when I needed to listen. What an empowering thing it is to be the recipient of such unconditional love! Thank you for knowledge of the power of love that I gained through all those wonderful years when I was growing up, being loved, and cherished, and honored as a unique child of God.

Thank you, Mother, and Happy Birthday. I love you. Joan

The last poem of 2025 in the Deadlines for Writers group is due today. The prompt was "underneath." My thought chain started there and made a long and winding journey before arriving at this poem. 

Lessons from the Aged

Thriving on Earth for eighty-four years

Is no small accomplishment, Friend.

Lessons  learned through blood, sweat, and tears

I’ll share as I reach life’s back end.

 

First lesson, now listen closely to this:

Value those who stick by your side:

Possessions will never bring any bliss.

Relationship’s where real joy abides.

 

Another truth to hold onto, I’ve learned,

Is that happiness comes from within.

Some folks won’t like you, but don’t be concerned;

Validation from others is thin.

 

You can’t control everything, much as you try;

Others will do what they will.

Peace and contentment will come by and by

If you let go, let God, and be still.

 

Kindness lasts. Comparison steals,

Money’s a tool, not the goal.

Gratitude’s what makes living real;

Be grateful down deep in your soul.

 

Grateful for every friendship and smile.

Grateful for even the strife.

Grateful you get to travel each mile.

Be grateful. Be gracious. Live Life!

The Glassblower's Secret

 Poem #11 of 2025, using the prompt "shatter," is due today. I wrote two quatrains using iambic pentameter as a rhythm/rhyme pattern. 

The Glassblower's Secret

A vessel in the heat becomes a pot

A vase, a bottle, statue, or whatnot.

While in the fire, most anything can be

The options stretch to all eternity.

 

But once a vessel’s shaped and cooled and set,

Its form is what it is despite regret.

Changing now is not a simple matter.

Transformation starts with painful “shatter!”

Grocery List: an Acrostic Poem

Deadlines for Writers poem #10 for 2025 is due today. Acrostic Poems don't seem like a legitimate poetry form to me, but that was the assignment, so this is what I submitted to the group.  

Gotta

Remember milk;

Oh, and

Can’t forget

Eggs,

Rice, and

Yummy yogurt!

 

Let’s see now…

I think I’m armed.

So…..into the

Trenches I go!

Measuring Time: A Cinquain

The Ninth poem (the prompt was "measured") is due today. I submitted a double Cinquain. The American cinquain is an unrhymed, five-line poetic form defined by the number of syllables in each line—the first line has two syllables, the second has four, the third six, the fourth eight, and the fifth two (2-4-6-8-2). They are typically written using iambs.

Measuring Time: a double Cinquain

One life

Don’t waste time with

Was yesterday the best?

Will tomorrow fulfill my dreams?

Tick Tock.

 

Today!

‘Time’ doesn’t pass.

We ourselves pass through time.

Be fully present for each “tick.”

Spend time!