My kids were 15 and 13 when I first began writing my column in the Villager. At that time, the name and the theme of my column was “No Place Like Home,” and I thought of it pretty much as a “Mom” column. Hearth and home was my headquarters, and family events and activities – my family’s, and those of families in general – were my main topics. At that time, whenever I wrote about my kids – my husband, too, for that matter – [...]
I was flipping through the pages of last Sunday’s newspaper when something caught my eye. It was a photo of a toddler sitting on a sofa, kissing the forehead of his baby sister, who was seated in his lap. The young boy was two-year-old Prince George of England, and the baby was his newborn sister, Princess Charlotte. The photo was taken by their mother. The reason the photo grabbed my attention was not because it was such an adorable picture – although it certainly was. [...]
I spent much of last weekend revisiting the past. Not by taking a road trip to the town where I was born and raised, or to other places I’ve lived since then. Instead, I just kept running into situations that took me back to something or someone I haven’t thought about in a while. On Friday, I was at an all-day workshop with participants from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, as well as states as far away as Texas and California. During one of the breaks, [...]
I didn’t even need to put my shoes back on. I opened the sliding glass door and walked out, barefoot, to the backyard. I went over to the orange tree and picked a bowlful of oranges, then went back inside. Soon I was tasting what was literally the freshest orange juice I have ever had in my life. Then we opened a chilled bottle of champagne, and before long we were sipping on equally-fresh mimosas. As you probably guessed, we weren’t in Minnesota anymore. My [...]
I kept waiting for the phone to ring. It was Monday morning of last week – the day winter came quickly and decisively to Minnesota. I stood at my back door, looking out at the inch or so of snow that had come down already, and listening to the tap of icy rain on the windows as it started to cover everything with a thin, shiny layer. It was exactly the time I normally would have gotten a phone call from my dad, saying, “So [...]
I set my alarm extra early one morning last week, so I could see the stellar event I’d been reading about: the “blood moon” and eclipse that had been scheduled for the wee hours of the morning. The eclipse was interesting to watch, but the deep red color the moon was supposed to be didn’t live up to its hype. That’s okay, though. Just the act of getting up to see it made me think – as these events always do – about the days [...]
“Compliments of George L. Barry.” That’s what was stamped in red on a handful of new, unsharpened pencils that made their way recently to an eight-year-old boy in Uganda. “You have to use these pencils all the way through university,” he was told, and he nodded seriously. I’m pretty sure that’s what he intends to do. The scene made me think of a story I heard a few years ago about the actress Linda Gray. She was in Malawi, Africa, and was approached by a [...]
I’ve just returned from my fourth trip to Uganda in the past three years. I’ve gotten to the point where landing at Entebbe Airport makes me feel as though I’m coming home. So much about each trip is different from the others, with different teams, schedules, plans and programs. But so much about each trip is comfortable and familiar. I know that after I retrieve my luggage, I will be greeted and warmly welcomed by people I’ve come to know as family. After hugs and [...]
I arranged for my columns to get posted on my blog automatically while I was in Uganda, but this one somehow slipped off the schedule. It should have been posted on August 8. I hope you will still find it timely and relevant. I was sitting outside on the steps of our deck one morning last week, notebook and pen in hand. I was doing the morning ritual I refer to as my Prayer Exercise, which is a combination of praying, journaling, and asking God [...]
They’re a lovely family. A young couple with a little boy and another baby on the way. I met them last weekend while my sisters and I were cleaning out my dad’s house and preparing for the estate sale on Saturday. I’ve always found the term “estate sale” to be misleading. It sounds like the sale of precious and valuable furniture and antiques from wealthy patrons who lived in grand houses. And I’m sure that in some cases, that’s exactly what it is. But it’s [...]