Spiritual Fruit
This summer, my 9-year-old grandson and I ventured out to pick muscadines. The vines were heavy with clusters—some grapes high and out of reach, others hanging low, ready for little hands to pluck. We...
Category: Family
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Baby Grand is always ready to tackle a job. Since he was two years old, his job has been to take the cream pods from the big glass jar in the pantry and place...
Morning Coffee Interrupted
Nanny enjoying her morning coffee & cigarette while sitting on the dog house in her backyard. Now that I’m a Nana, I realize that my maternal grandmother’s specter-like movements around the house in the...
Three Nails
My daddy is a master carpenter. His work is heralded for its perfection and durability. “More is better when it comes to nails,” I’ve heard him say countless times over the years. As we...
Call Waiting
The phone in Mother’s kitchen had one of those extra-long spiral wound cords. While she talked on the phone, she could cook, set the table, wash dishes… On occasion, she stretched that cord all...
Mother
My mother touching up photographs by hand. Wasn’t she lovely! Her pulse was weak and thready. My hand lay in the center of her chest. With my eyes closed, my sense of touch was...
First Snow
With his legs crossed at the ankles, Papaw leaned against the door jamb of the bedroom. His blue eyes shone with the gleam of anticipation. It was a cold morning. My sister and I...
Needle Threader
A skilled seamstress, my Nanny often spent hours stitching sequins, tiny glass beads and pearls to the bodices and skirts of wedding gowns she had been hired to create. It was a task she...
The Washer
My maternal grandfather, I called him Papaw, operated a small business delivering sand, topsoil, rock and fill dirt to patrons in and around our little east Texas community. He had sources for topsoil and...