When I married my high school sweetheart in the early 70s, Mom gave me a book of easy recipes that were as familiar as her smile. While she was not a gourmet cook, Mom knew how to feed a big family with a little budget. Most of the dishes were one-pot meals with ingredients I could find at any local Kroger. Mushroom soup played a prominent role in most of the casseroles she described, and measurements were spelled out in terms I could understand:...

October is an object lesson from God. We may plod unwittingly through the other 11 months, tossing hours and minutes away like loose change from deep pockets. Our thoughts may run shallow; life is a long list of have to’s and need to’s. But then October comes. We step outside one morning, hurrying to somewhere, and our skin tingles in surprise. The breeze swipes across our faces like a cool washcloth against fevered brows. We gasp, relieved...

Step outside on a late September afternoon and you hear the sounds of a million voices singing about life. It is at once raucous and soothing; rhythmic and staccato. Close your eyes and feel the electricity that surges through the air in a music as primal as any noise on earth...

When a springtime storm rumbles toward the house at night, the first thing I do is look for my shoes. I am suddenly eight years old; my dad’s voice punches through the darkness. His shadow is outlined by the lightning that flashes through the window above my bed...

From the first time Popeye strode across the boards of a black and white pier, his blimpy forearms and clenched fists gyrating in piston motion, I was hooked. Popeye was a balding man. Short as a shot of whiskey and explosive as a belch. A corncob pipe hung between his lips; he chomped it tight like a grudge...

Vacation time. Time to jump in the car and escape your three-bedroom cage of domesticity. You crave adventure and novelty. Roadside stands of oddities and billboards that beg for attention in peeling paint. For the next few days, you’re free. The car is stocked with enough gear to establish a New World colony. You’ve made a list and checked it twice. And you know you have everything because there is nothing left in the house except appliances. It’s time to roll...

We laughed when mom sprayed Raid bug spray under her arms by mistake. She flapped around the bathroom like a frantic chicken while my brothers and I watched the show, clicking the cameras of our memories. We would have such fun in the coming years, retelling the story of “scatter-brained old mom” whenever we got together...

We are required by law to wear seat belts in our cars. But there was a time when mom was the only seat belt we needed. In the event of a sudden stop (or even the threat of one) her maternal instincts left the land of “Shake and Bake” to take on powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal moms. She was fast. She was precise. And she knew how to keep us safe...

We are required by law to wear seat belts in our cars. But there was a time when mom was the only seat belt we needed. In the event of a sudden stop (or even the threat of one) her maternal instincts left the land of “Shake and Bake” to take on powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal moms. She was fast. She was precise. And she knew how to keep us safe...

I was enjoying a slice of pie, skimming the headlines in the paper, when my mouth fell open in astonishment: “Your Waistline May Reveal How Religious You Are” The headline was followed by data, surveys, and supporting material. There was no disputing the fact: We who love the Lord love food...

Thank goodness for Google. I was scrolling through endless news snippets of little importance, when I my eyes jittered to a halt. The information I read finally gave a name to a disease I’ve been struggling with nearly all my life. I have TELEPHOBIA...

The winter months are a great time to share intimate moments with your significant other. Being stuck inside day after day can force even porcupines to interact. When marriage was new and “love” was the four-letter word most often heard at your house, it was easy to find ways to while away the hours of weather-induced incarceration. You had no kids. No TV in the bedroom. Energy to spring from the couch and actually touch each other...

Put up that Christmas tree. I know you’re thinking about letting it go this year. After all, the kids are grown now and the house only holds a person or two. Why bother, you ask yourself. Especially this year. Digging through the attic/basement/closet for all those decorations. Rearranging the living room to accommodate that tired tree. Why go to all the work and mess?...

Thanksgiving. A feast of emotional angst baked in a pie. A 20 lb. anchor of stuffed fowl that keeps our families from drifting apart. There are secret ingredients in that turkey dinner. Spicy, embarrassing moments. Bland, tired storied. Subtle hints of bitterness...

The TV outdoorsman waves goodbye from a muddy, reptile-infested bog. His eyes sparkle as he smirks at the camera. I click the remote and glance over at my snoozing husband, safely cradled in his recliner. Sure. He may look helpless right now, especially with those potato chip crumbs dotting his chin...

It used to be referred to by a full noun. TELEPHONE. Sometimes “phone”. Never “cell”. We had telephones in our houses, connected to our walls or sitting on tables. Usually, there was only one; some fancier families had an extension. At first, most of them were black. Bulky and utilitarian. They were mounted in the kitchen wall or placed in the “foyer”—easily accessible to everybody in the house...

I have plenty to worry about. One of my ears sticks out farther than the other. I get my kids’ and grandkids’ names mixed up with long-dead relatives. If gas gets any more expensive, I will be working just so I can drive to work. But my biggest worry right now is one I face every summer. The weather is warming up, and I will have to deal with the inevitable horror that I’ve hidden all winter beneath warm, fuzzy long sleeves...

“Michelle’s daddy can lift a house!” My five-year-old daughter cried giant tears. She wiped her nose with a dirty fist and glared at the back door as it slammed shut behind her. “Michelle says her daddy is the strongest daddy in the WHOLE WORLD.” Tears made dotted lines down her cheeks, ending at the corner of her mouth. She licked at them angrily. “I told her that my daddy lifted the swing set and the doghouse and that big bunch of logs over there, but she didn’t care...

A clothesline is one of the best things a back yard can have. You can keep your pools, rock gardens, and landscaped, manicured lawns. None of them can match the contentment and serenity I feel when I see those two metal poles with rope strung between...

Since we’re stuck indoors together right now, John and I know our marriage will be tested. We can’t go anywhere except the grocery store, we are bored, and our two bodies are sharing way too much mutual space. In an effort to keep ourselves from day after day of petty, annoying conversations that mainly focus on the news, when the mailman is going to be here, and what to have for supper, I decided to buy a jigsaw puzzle...

Thanksgiving morning, 1973. The year I cooked my first turkey. I stuck my arm into the still half-frozen bird and pulled out a waxed paper bag of something. Time to call mom. It was 5:30 a.m. “What am I supposed to do with this bag of slime??” I hissed. Somehow mom knew who it was. Her voice was pleasant, if a bit groggy...

All through winter, we dreamed of the day we could go barefoot again. We wedged double-socked feet into rigid snow boots; our toes wriggled like worms on fishhooks. Scrunched together, covered with layers of protection, they grew soft and white. Tender...

“Michelle’s daddy can lift a house!” My five-year-old daughter cried giant tears. She wiped her nose with a dirty fist and glared at the back door as it slammed shut behind her. “Michelle says her daddy is the strongest daddy in the WHOLE WORLD.” Tears made dotted lines down her cheeks, ending at the corner of her mouth. ...

As soon as my brothers climbed onto the school bus that Friday morning in May, I put on my pink sneakers and tied the laces. The bows looked like floppy rabbit ears, just the way they should. It was time for Mom and me to take our weekly walk to Kroger...