Just a week until Christmas. The excitement was building last Friday night for my three-year-old grandson, Parks and five-year-old grandson, Baker in the midst of the Durham Bull's Baseball Stadium. That was where we went for our holiday outing to the Wool E's Winter Wonderland. The field was transformed by colorful flashing lights, a huge … Continue reading Making Holiday Memories: Still a Family
Advent
New Land of Discovery: The Gift of Nature
To walk, to wander about, is to open yourself up to discovery; often the new things you find are within--new ideas, new solutions to problems; sometimes there are discoveries of physical things, of places that delight, even in your own neighborhood. That was the gift I received last Tuesday. I woke up feeling blah, my … Continue reading New Land of Discovery: The Gift of Nature
Christmas Time: Loss and Longing
We've now entered Advent--- as it's called in the Christian Calendar, that time of waiting for the birth of the Messiah. And for others, who may not be steeped in the Christian tradition but celebrate the season, it's also a special time of memories and meaning. As much as popular and traditional songs celebrate this … Continue reading Christmas Time: Loss and Longing
Happy Holidays from My House to Yours
It's late afternoon of Christmas Day and finally things are still enough that I can sit down to write this post. I sent out very few Christmas cards this year; I was too busy spending the day with all those folks working on my townhouse. That's my excuse for now--guess next year I'll have to … Continue reading Happy Holidays from My House to Yours
Bittersweet Christmas
It's just a week until Christmas and we feel ourselves get caught up in the anticipation and expectations of idealized holidays. Years ago I realized how difficult Christmas can be. My father died of a massive heart attack on December 13. I was just twenty-two years old, working in my first nursing position after college. … Continue reading Bittersweet Christmas
HOPE: Believing All Things Are Possible
This past week was one of change for me-- finishing up the previous chapter in Durham and moving to the next chapter in my new home in Apex--just 22 miles and one county away. Things went very well with my son, Ross and a friend loading the moving truck, my appliances arriving on time and … Continue reading HOPE: Believing All Things Are Possible
Real and Imagined
Back in the fall, I was walking to the park with my three-year old grandson, Baker. A bird flew passed us and Baker said to me, "Grammy, birds are my friends." I looked at the delight on his face, watching the bird headed to a nearby branch of a crepe myrtle tree. "How do you … Continue reading Real and Imagined
Year of Waiting
2021 has been a year of waiting; the coronavirus has forced changes around our world, impacting us collectively and personally. We've waited for news of improving conditions, for the lockdown to be lifted, flights to open up. We've waited at bedsides, outside of windows of elderly nursing home residents, at the safe-six-foot-distance in grocery lines. … Continue reading Year of Waiting
Connie Rosser Riddle 