The gift of Charlie
“I just passed your house and had to call you,” said the buoyant, still boyish voice of my high school best boy friend. I have to separate those last two words because Charlie and I were really and truly best friends, never sweethearts or steadies. He just happened to be a boy, that’s all. For […]
Living alone and loving it
After the death of my mother’s parents, my Aunt Dorothy, the eldest child of 7, ruled the roost. Aunt Dorothy was a slender, energetic, bookish woman with an unquenchable curiosity and a surprising “who cares what you think?” attitude about her life choices. (Hmmm…. that sounds vaguely familiar.) Anyway, I got to thinking about her […]
Heat index
Nora Roberts’ iconic sizzling bestsellers notwithstanding, the typical Christian romance author usually draws a discreet veil over love’s more physical expressions. Love stories with this sanctified-not-sweaty form of whoopie are known as “closed door” romances (also referred to as “clean” or “sweet”). Kisses in these pleasant, non-threatening tales fall into two main categories: Seriously, this […]
Dining at the Captain’s Table
Each summer of my childhood, my family made a pilgrimage to my mom’s hometown, Clearfield, PA, to visit her sister Dorothy and take in the county fair. And if that sounds like Mayberry in action, you’ve got it pegged. My dad, a master planner and a man who LOVED to drive, made ritual stops along […]
Make mine rare
Now that you’ve visited my Aunt Priscilla and Uncle Barham’s other houses (the suburban split-level with the Better Homes & Gardens-style meals and the Chesapeake Bay cottage where I enjoyed my best naps ever), it’s time for a cookout at their remaining house—a hacienda-type ranch nestled in Maryland’s toney horse country. Put on your Keds […]
Sleeping beauty
Last time, I introduced you to my real estate-wealthy aunt and uncle whose homes included a Chesapeake Bay cottage. That’s my happy place. When gadfly annoyances threaten, I simply mentally retreat to their ramshackle Cobb Island vacation home, on the Maryland side of the Bay. After a morning of wild frolicking in the ubiquitous July […]
The Ghost of Breakfasts Past
My family never turned down a meal invite to my Aunt Priscilla’s house, especially not breakfasts. These were our rich relatives (my uncle was a printing magnate in DC) and they presided over multiple houses— a low-slung ranch in a woodsy part of Maryland, a Chesapeake Bay cottage, and a contemporary split-level within walking distance […]
Cheering squad
About 6 months into my journey to become a real-life author, I started praying seriously for clarity. Was this just a hobby or was writing God’s post-retirement plan for me? Me, the woman who’d been writing and hiding swoony novels for the last decade or so. Or was I delusional? At my age, I didn’t […]
Hayley Mills Makes Me Cry
About ten years ago, I flew cross-country to a Hollywood film festival to see, among other things, Hayley Mills introduce The Parent Trap in person. Boomers like me adored the story of twins (both played by Hayley) who swap places to reunite their long-divorced parents before Dad marries a gold-digger. When Hayley started speaking, the […]
Homework in the hunting-gathering age
The other day, I heard a kid complain about waiting a WHOLE FIVE MINUTES for his smart phone’s poky digital response. I sneered a little, thinking of writing class reports in the pre-Google world. Paleolithic-era students, like me, had to forage for information at libraries, not just summon a handheld AI genie who then belched […]
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