I recently visited The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with my husband and youngest child who is a junior in high school. Both my husband and I attended UNC from 1986–1990. Our youngest child has visited many times before but only as a tag along. He’s heard about…

I came upon this sign on a walk recently. Despite the fact that I have seen it many times before, it suddenly struck me completely differently. Traffic as calming? What if I thought about traffic as an opportunity to sit calmly? Huh.. This sign is meant to tell you that…

Christmas eve dinner 2021 will forever be remembered as the night I learned my two oldest children remember the words to every Brad Paisley song I played on CDs in the car from 2006–2011. Last night at dinner we had music playing on SIRI when the Christmas Classic James Penquin…

Dear Kelly My name is Martha. I’d like to think that if we were neighbors, we’d be friends. Since I don’t currently have plans to live in Montana or New York, it is unlikely that we will be neighbors anytime soon, but I do hope that our paths cross someday…

My friend Megan recently posted a story about the closing of the last Sears store and asked “what was your favorite Sears memory?” The only thing I think of when I think of Sears is my Dad. My father believed that anything you really needed you could get from Sears…

Color, Dogs and Dahlias: The Legacy of Alison I love the colors of October. The bright yellow, orange, and red of the leaves, the yellow and pink of the dahlias still blooming in my garden and the deep orange pumpkins lit up for Halloween. Then comes November as these colors…

Curse You Red Baron: A Father’s Legacy Today is the 29th anniversary of my father’s death. My father loved to ski and my sister and I learned to ski at a very young age. Snoopy was popular when I was young and I vividly remember passing my father on the…

When the pandemic hit last March, like others I was thrown into a state of uncertainty. My routines- like using my daily planner/journal — went out the window. I’ve actually only now just realized the impact of abandoning my daily planner/journal. My days became very simple and I found that…

Sarah’s Hugs The expression “smiles are contagious” must have come from someone who saw my sister’s smile. Sarah’s smile takes over her entire face and oozes happiness, but her hugs are extraordinary. I actually looked up synonyms for extraordinary because I thought there had to be a better word that…