I look at the picture of Daddy from 1964 when he was caught in the act of Christmas shopping by the photographer from our hometown paper. He must have been amused at my father managing his cigar above the Rose's Dime Store box and shopping basket. When an acquaintance saw the picture and heard my … Continue reading Letter to Santa
Author: conniesedona317
Journeys to the Past
At this time of year, I feel a yearning to return to childhood. I long to smell the cedar tree decorated with a string of large multi-colored lights and icicles; to taste the cherries in my aunt's paper-thin cookies; to feel the rush of being in the basement of Rose's Dime Store looking at my hoped-for … Continue reading Journeys to the Past
You Need to Overseed!
The day Darlene shaved my head when it was inevitable that my hair would fall out, fifteen days after my first chemo, I returned home wondering how my family would handle it. When my tenth-grade son, Brooks saw me, he said, “Mom, you look like G.I. Jane!” and chuckled. Months after I finished my treatment … Continue reading You Need to Overseed!
Enlarge My Territory
The day after I was fired from The Research Company, I packed my suitcase for our family vacation at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. I was in a state of shock, thinking that for the first time in my adult life, I had no job to return to. My husband, David came in and handed me … Continue reading Enlarge My Territory
Hostel Mama at Martha’s Vineyard
The first time I stayed in a hostel it was not because my family encouraged me. My older son couldn’t believe it, questioning my rationale with, “Mom, you’re gonna stay in a hostel with axe murderers?” and then my younger son said, “Aren’t you too old to stay there? I thought they were for college … Continue reading Hostel Mama at Martha’s Vineyard
The Things People Say
I can remember the scene like it was yesterday. The three of us sharing the office at The Research Company. Tara had seen a former co-worker who’d just started cancer treatment. She said to Beth, the other woman in our office, “I can’t believe she’s worried about her weight. She’s just lucky to be alive.” … Continue reading The Things People Say
Second Chance to Know You
It was 1966 and he was home on leave for Thanksgiving. My cousin, Danny and my Grandma Smith hold his fresh catch from her farm pond. He'd just completed boot camp and was ready to serve on the USS Cacapon docked in Long Beach, California. I was an eleven-year-old kid looking up to my twenty-two-year … Continue reading Second Chance to Know You
Looking Back Looking Forward
I study the photograph from four years ago with me standing next to a tall red rock in the Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs. It was unusual for me to take my solo journey in April, but that trip was planned around the Pikes Peak Writers’ Conference. On that Monday afternoon, I … Continue reading Looking Back Looking Forward
On Pilgrimage with Harold Fry
One morning when I walked in my neighborhood, I made a serendipitous discovery; a Little Free Library had just been installed. Inside the birdhouse for books, I spotted a title that caught my eye—The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Months later when our Edinburgh-bound train passed Berwick-upon-Tweed, I remembered how it had been the right … Continue reading On Pilgrimage with Harold Fry
Childhood Dreams
The dream of riding a horse in the wide-open West had been with me since I was a girl. Those Saturday morning shows like Roy Rogers spurred my interest, making me want to feel that freedom from a saddle. When my Aunt Polly told me stories of visiting the Tetons, my dream broadened to riding horseback … Continue reading Childhood Dreams
Connie Rosser Riddle 