I love country roads. My wife of 50 years married did too. Especially in our little green bug, our first car. And especially in the spring when wanderlust beckons after a long, drab winter. Most of our life we lived in the slow lane, really a two-lane backroad, one lane each direction. Never straight, at […]
Letter: Traveling On
The day Hospice arrived at our home to care for my wife through her last days here on earth, the One Year Bible reading for that day, this past February 19, would be then helpful, and is now healing. To read that the Lord knows – that he observes with singular care and affection, as […]
Letter: What Starts with ‘D’?
‘D’ is for duck. And daisy. And Dutch. My wife was Dutch. And ‘D’ is for David. That’s me. ‘Day’ starts with ‘D’. And there was a day I’ll never forget, never regret, for however many more days I have left. It was the day fifty years ago that this David proposed to that beautiful […]
Letter: Lessons Among the Flowers
Why are you always watering the flowers?” my preschooler granddaughter wanted to know. Redirecting the spray to yet another flower, I responded, “When it’s so hot like this, do you drink water?” “Yes,” she replied. “And sometimes lemonade.” “Well, it’s the same with flowers. They love water. I’m not so sure though about lemonade.” Since […]
Letter: I’ll Meet You at the River
“Soon we’ll reach the shining river,Soon our pilgrimage will cease;Soon our happy hearts will quiver,With the melody of peace.” It was the last stanza of the last hymn sung at his memorial service. It was chosen because his wife had once said to him “If I go first, I’ll meet you at the river.” Her […]
Letter: The Courage to Go On
Ever since I lost my wife not five months ago to cancer, my happy place has been among the flowers. It is incredible to me to see how beautiful, how exquisite, how delicate, and detailed are these displays of an artistry the great painters of history would be hard pressed to design. I think the […]
Financial Help for Families Impacted by Woodbrook Fire
Help is appreciated for the students attending Clover Park District schools, and their families, and those additionally that were impacted by the fire this past August 4 in the Woodbrook neighborhood. It began as a brush fire that would destroy at least nine homes and take the lives of two men. Caring for Kids! was […]
Letter: The Two Guests
As purposeful as weeping is to the one grieving the loss of a loved one, so needful are the thorns on the rose blooming in the garden. Introspection for the sufferer, protection for the flower. “It takes all sorts of weathers to make a year, and all tend to the same issue, of ripened harvests […]
Letter: The Far Side, Part II
My wife and I stood at the trailhead where I reminisced about the hike my dad and I had taken over a half-century before. As I reflect now upon the loss of my wife to cancer after 50 wonderful years together, I think how walking that trail with my dad was so like our married […]