Becoming Mother

Becoming Mother

Our new neighbors arrived late Saturday afternoon for a 4th of July picnic here at Vanaprastha. They brought fresh-cut veggies, dip, chips, and coleslaw. Keith grilled brats, and I made slow cooker baked beans, potato salad, and vanilla ice cream with strawberries and...

Remembrance, part 1

After dropping Keith in front of Trinity Lutheran Church in Crimora, Virginia—he had elder duty—I parked the car and ambled toward other congregants, saying good morning along the way. Trinity is the original home church of Bethany Lutheran in Fishersville, and it was...

Alternate Scripts

December 3, 1943. “The secretary of war desires me to express his regret that your son has been reported missing in action…” Joy Neal Kidney’s grandparents Clabe and Leora Wilson received two telegrams like this and a third—the death of yet another child. In Leora’s...