My husband and I have a ritual we follow whenever we set out on a road trip. As we’re pulling out of the driveway – or hotel parking lot – he calls out, “Wagons…” and I respond, “Ho!” We note the time, and for the rest of the day we have a friendly competition as we each try to be the first to announce, “We’ve been on the road an hour.” Or three. Or nine. After the first few hours, it’s easy to lose track. [...]
We were just south of Chattanooga when we stopped at a rest stop for a quick break. We had been watching dark clouds forming around us, and saw several thick, jagged lightning bolts in the distance. It started to drizzle just as we were walking into the rest stop, and in a few minutes the drizzle had grown to a torrential downpour, with wind to match. The staff at the rest stop locked the door, and herded us all to a sheltered hallway, then pulled [...]
Instead of writing a blog post this week, I’m spending time with our kids and grandkids. Our agenda includes, among other things, celebrating the 3-year-old’s birthday, and making dinosaur-shaped chocolate chip brownies with him, his big sister, and his little brother. What could possibly be more fun or important than this? I’ll see you next week. July 7, 2023 ©Betty Liedtke, 2023 I welcome your comments, but please be aware that all comments will be moderated and approved before appearing on this blog. This is [...]
I can still remember my grandma and grandpa’s 50th wedding anniversary. A special blessing at Mass was followed by a big reception in the church hall, which was filled with family, friends, and neighbors. I remember the yellow dress I wore that day, and the lovely dress, corsage, and smile my grandma wore. But that may be as much from photos as from memory. My mom died at age 42, long before she and my dad would have had a similar celebration, but I have [...]
I had a blog post written and almost ready to go last week. But before I could polish and post it, I had to take a slight detour, via ambulance, ending up in the hospital with internal bleeding caused by several small ulcers I didn’t know I had. After a few scary and painful days in the hospital, I’m home now, recovering and starting to feel like myself again. As always, after something bad happens in my life, I try to look for the good [...]
I had a doctor’s appointment Friday afternoon, and it was starting to rain just as I was leaving the doctor’s office. I looked at the time as I got in my car. It was a little after 2:00. This immediately took me back to when I was young, and we spent a fair amount of time in church during the Easter Triduum – the period of time between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday. The hours between noon and 3 o’clock on Good Friday were especially [...]
I always used to associate March Madness with a March Blizzard. The two always seemed to go together when we lived in Minnesota, and although the snowstorm was severe, we never worried about it too much, because Spring was around the corner, and we knew the snow wouldn’t last too long. But that was then, this is now. Snowstorms haven’t been an issue for us in the six years we’ve been living in Georgia. So I’m getting used to March Madness simply being about basketball. [...]
We just passed the one-year anniversary of my husband’s heart attack. It’s not something we went out to celebrate, but we did take notice and reflect. In some ways, it feels like it’s been much longer than a year, but in other ways, it feels more like, “One year? Already?” In many ways, he’s back to how he was before having a heart attack. In other ways, it’s changed both our lives. After his surgery, his doctors warned him it would be a full year [...]
We’re cleaning out a closet in the back room, the one that’s become a storage unit. The one you joke about, saying you need to put a helmet on before opening the closet door – except it’s not really a joke. One of the shelves holds bags and stacks of gift boxes, wrapping paper, and greeting cards, and anytime I reach for anything, most of the rest usually comes flying down with it. The closet also holds Christmas decorations, photos and frames, and miscellaneous mementos. [...]