by Carole Duff | Mar 2, 2026 | Faith, Family, Writing and Reading |
Back in the day when I was called to nurture adolescent girls in my classrooms at Ursuline Academy of Dallas, I used the Paideia approach: didactic instruction, coaching, and Socratic seminars. Popularized by Mortimer Adler in the 1980s, Paideia nurturing of the mind...
by Carole Duff | Feb 23, 2026 | Faith, Family |
This week’s prompt was “bury,” and indeed, that word has been on my mind, as Mother’s death was last week. For six years ago, we buried her. From my February 17, 2020 post: “My two sisters and I will bury our mother next to our father in the New England...
by Carole Duff | Feb 16, 2026 | Faith, Family, Writing and Reading |
The Benediction will come, I assured myself as I read another excerpt of a recent essay at the SWAG Open Mic last Thursday evening. Benediction, the point of my essay, “Memento Mori,” about my father and the physical remembrances of him that I keep. Memento Mori:...
by Carole Duff | Jan 26, 2026 | Faith, Family, Nature, Writing and Reading |
It’s unusual to celebrate Christmas a month after the original date. But our son Alex had to work in December and is with us now, just in time for Winter Storm Fern, another somewhat unusual occurrence. With our usual precautions—a whole-house backup generator and...
by Carole Duff | Dec 29, 2025 | Faith, Family |
Keith and I enjoyed a lovely, quiet Christmas celebration this year because we focused on protecting peace. We’d learned from the successful visit to family for Grandparents Day to take our time, maintain our own space, ask family for help, define family time so we...
by Carole Duff | Dec 22, 2025 | Faith, Family |
During Advent, Keith and I watch holiday shows, many of which are iterations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Each “ghost” makes me think of my own experiences and what they taught me. Dickens’ story...
