Finding a Needed/Useful Gift
My mother is almost ninety-five and hard to buy gifts for. She always says, “Don’t buy me things. I probably have everything I need, and if I don’t, I will get it when I need it.” So, for Christmas,...
View ArticleThe Right Clothing
Judy was really sick, and she didn’t get better. Finally, her husband, Kent, decided she needed to go to the hospital. “Let’s wait until morning,” Judy said. “I’m sure I’ll be better by then.” But at...
View ArticleThe Power of a Child
My daughter, Elliana, works at a fast-food restaurant. She says that since the pandemic has started, it seems like people who come in either seem to be nicer than usual or meaner than usual. The...
View ArticleA Careful Job
My cousin, Becky, had her daughter and son-in-law moving up here to go to college. We invited them to come out to dinner when they finished. But as luck would have it, the truck loading took longer...
View ArticleGuaranteeing a Second Date
I always love hearing how married couples met. Recently, some neighbors shared their story. Kaylie and Trent were both with their families at the same football game. However, even though they had...
View ArticleA Time for Talking
It had been a while since we had foster children. They took the last little boy from our home and returned him to his mother. He and his two sisters lost their lives in a fire there. The mother didn’t...
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Tomorrow’s Headlines: “Psychic Wins Lottery” and “Hermit Gets COVID”
The highest lottery jackpots in the world have climbed to more than $1.5 billion dollars. Americans spend over $70 billion a year on lottery tickets (more than sports tickets, books and video games...
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Upside-down-Plate Day
It was a crazy year. We had eight children of our own and had taken in three foster children. We also had two little girls who lived down the road that came over for breakfast every morning. How that...
View ArticleWhat True Love Looks Like
Eight-year-old Jason, one of our foster children, slammed his pencil down. “If you truly loved me, you wouldn’t make me do things I hate, like this math!” Jason had come to our home with his sister...
View ArticleHeartbreaking Rules
One of the biggest challenges of being a foster parent is that those making the rules rarely understand those rules’ heartbreaking effects. I realize lawmakers and judges have the best interest of the...
View ArticleSinging Bass
My wife is a music major, and most of our children have taken after her. Their extracurricular activities have been in band, choir, and theatre, so I have spent many hours attending concerts. One...
View ArticleThe Power of an Update
My wife, Donna, and I are hoping to build a new home. As we get older, we realize that our house with its myriad of stairs will not be sufficient for us. We have purchased some land and have started...
View ArticleLosing Pens
My mother lives in an assisted living center and doesn’t drive anymore. Since I, of all her children, live the closest, she calls me, and I take her to where she needs to go. Recently, she needed to...
View ArticleAll Day in the Saddle
Bart had ridden horses a fair amount, but not for extended lengths of time. He was now ten years old and was excited for spring, because he would be old enough to ride with the horsemen this year....
View ArticleSweet Revenge (All Day in the Saddle, Part 2)
When Bart’s brother, Seth, tricked him into putting turpentine on his saddle sores, Bart was determined he would get revenge. Bart was ten, and Seth, being a couple of years older, often played pranks...
View ArticleThings We Have Lost
I ran the item over the scanner. “Peanut butter—four-thirty-five.” After the machine read the checkout amount, I paused. We have lost so many things over this last year, and this felt like a symbol of...
View ArticleGetting Mail
As my mother has gotten older, she has lived with some of her children for a time. I was the last one she lived with before choosing to go into an assisted living center. “It’s not that I don’t like...
View ArticleTaking Responsibility
Mrs. Ward was known as a strict teacher, and we experienced it firsthand. Of course, her sternness might have been out of necessity. Our eighth-grade social studies class consisted of fifty-four...
View ArticleA Dream for a Salesman
Celese sighed as she climbed out of bed. She knew it was going to be a long day. She had some critical deadlines for work, and it always seemed like there was more to do than she could get done. She...
View ArticleWorth It
Grant and Emma had just seen the last of their children married. Ed was almost sixty, and Emma was only a couple of years younger. They now talked about all the wonderful things they would do together...
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