Not to Believe… THAT is the Answer!

Early December, 1974.  A little girl sits prattling about something in between bites of oatmeal and sips of milk.  She has a milk mustache.  She’s cute.  A teenaged boy inhales food as most teenagers do and a mother stands at the counter making the boy’s lunch.  The father eats his food and listens to the [...]

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Colorado or Bust

The summer I turned eight was one of the most exciting summers of my life.  Aunt Susan drove up to our Arizona ranch style home in her station wagon.  Mom and I loaded our suitcases and took off on an adventure.  In the back of the station wagon, Johnny, Michael, Scott, and I spread out our [...]

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Childish Perceptions~

It’s amazing how children get strange ideas into their heads, isn’t it?  In Fillmore, when I was four, I had decided I wanted two dolls.  I wanted a Mrs. Beasley and a Raggedy Ann.  To me, those two dolls were the epitome of everything I could ever hope or dream of and I also knew [...]

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The Fool’s Prayer

by: Edward Rowland Sill (1841-1887)

THE royal feast was done; the King
Sought some new sport to banish care,
And to his jester cried: “Sir Fool,
Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!”

The jester doffed his cap and bells,
And stood the mocking court before;
They could not see the bitter smile
Behind the [...]

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Say WHAT?

The Scene:  A balmy afternoon.
The Stage:  Home
And…. ACTION!
I open the dutch doors to our gate.  They bang together as they always did no matter how hard I tried to keep them quiet.  They’re latched.  I swing my cerulean backpack from my shoulders and open the door.  It has an unusual door handle.  It says YALE [...]

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Mrs. Elkins~

We sat at our desks, nervous as any first day of school.  Second grade, third school.  I was the “new girl.”  I’d be the new girl most of my life but it always felt like it started here even though it technically started in kindergarten when we moved from Fillmore to the Estes Ranch in [...]

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The Magic Number~

In some families, the magic number is 3.  You know, “I’m going to count to three!!!!  One—– two—- two and a half— two and … THREE”  That would never work in our house.  In our house it would have been more like.  “Do it.   Negative one.. BUSTED!” 
However, we had a “Magic Number” too, or rather, [...]

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Love & Taxis~

I know now, if I ever knew, why Dad sent me to Loves Steakhouse that night.  Occasionally, dad would send me to Mc Donalds, just around the corner, for a meal.  It was rare but it happened.  However one evening, when I was nine, Dad sat me down at the table, taught me how to [...]

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Aggravation~

No… not aggravat-ING.  Aggravation.  The game.  Uncle Oscar made us all boards at one point.  I wish I had one.  Any gathering at Grandma’s was sure to include a game of Aggravation or three.  These games were long, loud, and fun.  The rattle of the dice, the clank of the marbles as they rolled across [...]

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Osborn~

Some traditions, we don’t realize were traditions until we look back.  Weeks spent at Grandma’s house.  A perfect example.  I honestly don’t remember where mom and dad went.  I know once they went to Vegas and I flew from there to Sky Harbor in Phoenix.  I think mom went to deliver sailboats with dad a [...]

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