Category: Uncategorized
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Last summer, when I wrote The Accidental Gardener, I was in the middle of my second successful growing season. My stepdad helped me, insofar as choosing the plants or seeds and planting/sowing them. I took over from there. I decided this year would be different. I would choose my own plants and seeds and plant…
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I attended a writers conference last Saturday at Columbus State Community College. It’s a free annual event. It doesn’t compare to the Antioch Writers’ Workshop I attended last summer (which, sadly, was the last AWW workshop – RIP), but I felt it was worth my time. And, as I said, it’s free. The first session…
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Three years ago, right around the time my husband retired from the Air Force, we still hadn’t made any firm decisions on what we were going to do post-retirement. I had a good job already, so we considered staying where we were (Annapolis, Maryland). He would either go back to school and finish his degree…
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(Hat tip: How to Say “I’m a Writer” and Mean It) “Her name will appear on books someday.” That’s what my sixth grade Language Arts teacher said at an awards ceremony with school faculty, staff, parents, and other students present. She was presenting me with a special award. I was a star pupil. I suppose…
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Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you. – Walt Whitman One of the habits I am trying to cultivate in 2019 is positivity. I’m a natural-born cynic with a giant sarcastic streak and a self-deprecating sense of humor. Add an emotionally abusive upbringing into the mix, and it’s…
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I had two major goals for 2018: Read at least 50 books and find a new job. I’m pleased to say I did both. I’m currently on book 56, and I started a new job in June after working in a very toxic environment that was wreaking havoc on my emotional health. I’m in a…
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The holiday season is now in full swing, though I’ve barely managed to do anything so far. I at least started my shopping and have some decorations up. (No tree, yet – not until tomorrow.) And I’m about halfway through my cards. Later today, I will indulge in one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I…
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Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around Thanksgiving. That was always the big holiday in my family. We’d gather at my grandparents’ house in Findlay, Ohio. My aunt and cousins would drive in from Illinois. I had cousins who would come from South Carolina. For a few days each year, we would eat, laugh,…
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Today is Veterans Day, and while my husband was in the Air Force and my younger brother served in the Navy, the first veteran in my life was my grandpa, Tom Sheaffer. He served as a Radioman on the USS Cowpens during World War II. Growing up, I never heard him speak much about his…
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October 9, 1989 – I was a freshman in high school. I was at my locker before homeroom, preparing for the day. A friend approached me, her face very serious and sad. “Sherry died last night,” she announced. I raged at her. Told her to shut up. It couldn’t possibly be true. Sherry was only…
