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Facing the Empty Nest

Who is like you, O Lord? Your beauty is in all your creation. The words welled up in my aching heart as I sat alone outside my campgrounds tent. No longer would I hold the hand of a small boy and guide him through life. My youngest son would soon be off to college. His whole senior year had been a series of goodbyes: his last high school drama, his last forensic competition, his last… Read More

When Tragedy Strikes

I picked up the phone. "Hi, Mom, what's up?" "I have sad news, Beth." Her voice shook a little. She took an audible breath. "Your Uncle Dick died of complications from surgery yesterday." Uncle Dick gone? Just like that? I lowered myself into the nearest chair while snapshots of family life danced through my memory. A young Uncle Dick in his Army uniform, grinning from Grandma's Whitney Street porch. Him and Aunt Mae rejoicing on… Read More

Look for the Silver Lining

"If you have to do it, you might as well find something good about it!" Of course, my father was referring to the chores he had assigned to me when I was living at home. But that little nugget of truth has followed me down through the years. It came in handy during our recent spell of hot days and sweltering nights. Maybe you're like me and find it hard to breath or sleep when… Read More

Plucked from the Storm

Dark clouds boiled up on the far side of lake Winnebago. From a crowded public diving raft, Mary and I watched them head our way. On shore, speakers mounted on the bathhouse crackled, "All swimmers come ashore immediately!" As lifeguards launched rowboats into the choppy waters and a distressed voice repeated the command through the bathhouse speakers, the waters near the raft teemed with swimmers trying to outrace the fast -approaching storm. Mary and I… Read More