One of my favorite days of the year is April Fools’ Day. This also happens to be the day after my wedding anniversary. Without fail, I spend weeks dreaming up an elaborate hoax to play on Steve, who, with his analytical engineer’s brain, is never fooled. I have asked him to please just pretend that […]

While I’ve been convalescing these past two weeks, I’ve plodded my way through a box of old videos that recently came into my possession. As I’ve picked out some of my favorites to watch, a common thread stood out to me. Wonderful films like Amistad, Glory, To Kill a Mockingbird, Driving Miss Daisy, The Great […]

By now you may have heard that the most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, made his 125th prediction this morning. He didn’t see his shadow, meaning spring will come early. Yesterday, I researched Phil (trying unsuccessfully to rent one of my favorite movies, “Groundhog Day”) and found that the groundhog tradition mimicks one that Pennsylvania’s earliest German settlers brought from Candlemas […]

This Thanksgiving had a couple of firsts for me. I’ve never spent Thanksgiving in a hospital room before, although I know many others have and I have a new appreciation for their situation. This is also the first Thanksgiving I’ve spent exclusively with family since I was in high school. Most years of my adult life, I’ve eaten the […]

I love to mull over the words of old hymns like I would a book of poetry. To prepare my heart for Thanksgiving week, this morning I took some time to reflect on the many good gifts God has blessed me with – exceeding abundantly beyond all I could ask or imagine. I dusted off my old hymnal […]