The highway department has made the decision they're going to widen Hwy 42, the road in front of Mama's house, from a two-lane to a divided four-lane. For years we've wondered when that would happen. Even when I was a girl and we lived in Daddy's homeplace that was built in 1880, we knew it … Continue reading Saying Goodbye to the Magnolia Tree
Author: conniesedona317
My Mother, My Teacher
My mother has been a great teacher over the years. Some of her lessons were intentional, and some were unintentional. She was always big on safety, long before she went back to school in her mid-fifties to be a licensed practical nurse. We would hear cautions about waiting at least an hour after eating to … Continue reading My Mother, My Teacher
3 Things I Learned from Cancer
Now that I've been a breast cancer survivor for almost eighteen years, I think back on the three things I learned from going through treatment. It occurs to me that what I learned from cancer can be applied to other areas of life—even to becoming a parent, like my son and daughter-in-law did just one … Continue reading 3 Things I Learned from Cancer
Sweet Anticipation
The text came last September when I was staying in a hotel at the Edinburgh Airport. Since my husband had returned home the week before when I took my pilgrimage to Iona, I was in the room alone. The text included the picture of the sonogram of our first grandchild, and that was when I … Continue reading Sweet Anticipation
Everybody has a Story
The student had become a frequent-flyer in my school nurse’s office. I knew her pattern of dropping in mid-day when she had a class where she struggled. At first, I struggled with being patient with her because she stuttered. It was hard for her to get out a simple sentence about wanting pain medicine for … Continue reading Everybody has a Story
The Stranger on the Bus
We stood at the West Tisbury shuttle bus stop on a Saturday afternoon in Martha’s Vineyard. I’d been experiencing that island in Massachusetts for the first time, staying in a hostel for $27.00 a night—the only way I could afford that expensive place. I’d enjoyed the morning at the Farmer’s Market at the Grange Hall … Continue reading The Stranger on the Bus
Reframe It: From Hillcrest to Heaven
Today would have been my mother-in-law's, Mary Dell (aka MeMa), 87thbirthday. It’s hard to believe she passed away two years ago—sometimes it seems like longer, sometimes like yesterday. She would be so excited about her first great-grandchild, even though she may have been a bit disappointed that she wasn’t getting the great-granddaughter she’d been hoping … Continue reading Reframe It: From Hillcrest to Heaven
Hometown Journal: Going Back
There are people who feel they can’t go home again. But for me, that’s not the case because I’m in my hometown of Sanford at least twice each week to visit Mama. Since it’s just a fifty-minute drive, I often have occasions to get together there with my family and friends. We sometimes eat in … Continue reading Hometown Journal: Going Back
Taking Time to Savor
A boulder has been lifted off my shoulders. The project I’ve been working on for months, the book proposal for my memoir, Saved by Sedona: Finding a Path of Pilgrimage, has been completed and sent to an interested Literary Agent. Instead of resorting to my past behavior of rushing on to the next thing, or … Continue reading Taking Time to Savor
Moving Question
I followed the blue heron along the shoreline of Coquina Beach, amazed that the large bird would allow me to trail so close behind. I’d seen many of them flying over Jordan Lake in central North Carolina during my years of living in that area, but never had I walked within feet of one. He … Continue reading Moving Question
Connie Rosser Riddle 