There is a story about a teacher who took a live fish out of its bowl of water, and then left it on the desk. The teacher told the children they would be expelled if anyone left their seat. Then he left the room. The poor fish gasped and twisted with a classroom of children watching, as it flopped around…All of the children sat and watched as the fish struggled, gasping for life, wanting to be back in the water….
One of my earliest memories is of my mother sitting in the chair next to her bed and holdingthe black receiver of the telephone. I heard her say, “Operator, I need “Long Distance” can you get me a Leesburg Virginia number ….” Leesburg was less than forty miles away. But it was a long distance, andit was the operator who made all long-distance calls. If the call was far away, the operatorwould call you back when she got the connection….
Cancer! The word is terrifying. Cancer is on the rise. And the medical establishment plays on our fears. A friend of mine asked her doctor about using an “alternative” treatment. Her doctor told her that he would no longer be her doctor if she opted to use the alternative treatment. That is blackmail. She was forced to choose. She is dead now. But she chose the doctor and his protocol. My friend fought pancreatic cancer for two years before she…
My mother, Ruth Elizabeth Hale, liked men. She had a great desire for admiration. She feltit was necessary as a young person to have a boyfriend to enjoy life. And she was a magnetfor members of the opposite sex. Men adored her. Mother’s first real love affair was with a man named Edward Wheeler. His father was asenator, and a friend of my mother’s father, my grandfather. Mother’s father liked thefamily. When they began their relationship, my mother was 17,…
We were so powerful before they told us we were victims. In past centuries, women always knew that they were the powerful ones in the equation. They passed this knowledge down to their daughters. The men were stronger and faster and more bold. However, between women and men, women had the power, and the men knew it. Without us, there would be no human race. We had the babies. There was a saying; “The hand that rocks the cradle rules…
The other day, while looking for a sweet movie to watch with my youngest grandson, a suggestion popped up that interested me: “That Touch of Mink.” I knew it was not something my grandson would enjoy. But, I am a Cary Grant fan, and my curiosity was aroused. My memory of that movie was pleasant but vague. Then, I noticed a warning in the description of the movie. It said, “This film reflects the standards, language, and attitudes of its…
Christmas decorating is fun. But it is also frustrating; lights work, and then they don’t. Find the ones you like and then realize you need another length of that type. In order to find them, you may have to go to Walmart, Target, and Lowes; You can also order online. I have done all of those. I could write a whole post about the sort of help I got in those stores. Some salespeople were above and beyond and so…
Christmas shopping gets me out to the stores. Typically, except for the food markets, some Amish markets, or “Southern States,” I just do not shop. I have enough clothes to last me the rest of my life. But at Christmas, I think of my daughters and daughters-in-law, my nine granddaughters, and a granddaughter-in-law. It is fun, but I am lost out there. Thank goodness! My family is pretty conservatively dressed, much of the time. Clothes do not look the same…
My parents lied to my sister, brother, and me. Their very own children, they lied to us about so many things. Do you lie to your children? It is such fun. I am guilty, too. Of course, it is so heartwarming to make Christmas a magical time for your kids. I did it. My husband read The Night Before Christmas to the children before we hung the stockings. We left cookies and milk for Santa when we hung the stockings….
So much has happened in the last few days…Why do “they” want to push us toward war? Our government is shoving us all into the jaws of war. Is it so they can keep their power? Now that we have started making political arrests, “the powers that be” need to stay in power forever. They know that if they are unseated, they themselves may be indicted. The rules of the game are changing. It is inconceivable to me, and yet,…
Most women did not work when I was growing up. Today, this seems too strange to be true, especially to young women. Having to work was not a good thing, not a desirable state. Only about 30% of women worked outside of the home in 1950. Women were happier at home. They took time to make their homes a haven, to garden, to arrange flowers, and to cook good meals. ( They were always healthy because the markets were not…
Two of my granddaughters announced their engagements this summer. So exciting!!! Daisy is going to marry Steve Luck. Would you believe me if I tell you that Grace is going to marry Gil Luck? But these two men with the same last name are NOT related. Both men proposed to each granddaughter within a couple of weeks of each other. Stories about how men proposed to women flood the Internet. Would you like to know what happened between me and…
Are you a boy or a girl? There are only two sexes. That is the Science. Same with pronouns…! Pronouns are a gateway drug says Megyn Kelly who once felt comfortable using the gender preferred ones that people requested. She has since awakened to the harm of all this “preferred pronouns” and transgender hype and hysteria. She has a daughter and so she understands the harm that is being done to all young girls during this very strange time in…
Many years ago, as a young married woman with three children, I found myself visiting many different doctors. Of course, there were the pediatric visits necessary (I thought) when you have very young children. One of my children had terrible earaches, and so we had many visits to the doctor for him. Sadly I gave that child antibiotics over and over during his youth. I did not know better, and apparently, neither did their doctor. However, it is my own…
This is all about me! and my hair… First of all, it is NOT curly like Shirley Temples’s hair was. And it is not blond. These facts disappointed my mother. This lack of perfection was a constant problem in my life. It was something I tried to overcome, by learning to be me. When I was born I had a full head of thick, black hair. You could clip a bow in it, and even style it a bit. My…
