An essay to the evergreen. Many of you know I purchased my childhood home from my parents in 2003. The most comforting aspect about moving back into my growing-up home doesn’t all reside inside. I was five years old when my parents moved into the house at Ferry Farms. On one side of our property were three huge Magnolias. I don’t remember how two of them were lost, but one still stands in the intervening…
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My friend was nearing the end of teaching her session at one of our online events, and I followed her in the lineup. Our habit during these sessions was to provide an introduction of the follow-up speaker to connect to our audience. I felt the undertow of realizing this was one of my last events and diverted my attention to the other aspects of keeping the different parts of the event running. As is very…
Leave a CommentI am trying to remember how I developed an interest in letter writing other than the halting start of the obligatory thank you note for Christmas gifts to far away relatives. Even then, I remember joyfully caring about either making the card or selecting one that fit the occasion and the recipient. I have lovely memories of receiving letters. My mom wrote me during Plebe Summer at the Naval Academy. Even though I was just…
Leave a CommentMy role in the Institute for Cultural Communicators involves training adults and students to be ready to speak. The most compelling reason to be ready to speak is often a deadline. The deadline for our volunteers is usually a training event we are running. So recently, a few of the adult leaders I work with have asked, “Mary, do you think I need a story?” -which translates to – Will I be asked to speak? My…
Leave a CommentWe have all experienced the pain of losing someone we hold dear—our choices about how and what we remember become significant in these moments. The power of our memory serves as a bridge, allowing us to delve deeper into our understanding of those we’ve lost, even in their absence. As believers, we hold onto the faith and expectation that we will one day reunite with them. I often liken these acts of remembrance to carve…
3 CommentsThat’s A Lot The urban dictionary defines the phrase that’s a lot as a situation in which the observer is overwhelmed by visual stimulation, smells, sounds, or anything pertaining to excess action. This time last year, I heard this phrase spoken to me as others learned that within a period of six weeks: I can agree now when I read it all in one place almost a year later. A lot was going on. When I was…
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