We lived in Southwest Florida for a hot number of years. We had four children who all were in school in Florida. The youngest was in middle school. Living ninety miles north of Cuba means that you are living in the subtropics. In Winter the weather was tolerable. I expected wonderful weather all year. However,… Continue reading PARENT PICKUP
My husband got a new job in a new town. It was a very small town. He had rented a small condominium ranch in a group of about twenty of these. A forest surrounded the condominiums. I drove up from Detroit to this small town. The kids were grown and capable without me. I can’t… Continue reading LOCKED OUT
This is a true story. As a mother of four children who have grown up, I was with one in a big box electronics store recently. He managed to grow up and I managed to survive. I have been in the situation that this father was in yesterday in the computers and tablets department. First,… Continue reading TODDLER TECH TANTRUMS
When I was little, I took ballet classes. I was three! In high school, I had a ballet barre in the basement and every morning I did a full barre and floor routine at six in the morning. I did that because I wanted to become a ballerina. I would slip on my ballet gear… Continue reading BALLET MANIA
I have never shopped for Christmas on Black Friday. This was an internet adventure that has rendered me speechless, to my husband. I told him I was not going to talk to him anymore. That lasted about half an hour. The day started after I asked him where the Christmas catalogs were. “You didn’t throw… Continue reading BLEEP FRIDAY
One year, years ago, my mother and I were together shopping and she saw it first. It was a lilac-colored terry cloth nightgown just right for her size. Had I known then what I do know now I would have suggested a purchase of maybe six more of these nightgowns? When she came home from… Continue reading THE GARMENT
My mother grew up during the Great Depression. The family was lucky to own their home outright. My mother and grandmother raised chickens and turkeys and grew a large garden of vegetables and a corn patch. My mother worked long hours in the garden and was often outdoors with her brother who was ten years… Continue reading GRUMPY GUS
Our youngest son stayed with us after Christmas in 2019. We had just moved into a new house, and he helped us to make it a home. Frankly, we don’t have the skills nor the manpower to do what he did. He stayed on because of the pandemic. He drove to our Michigan home from… Continue reading UNTURNED SIGNALS
I can remember the metal stroller I was in a walk around the block on a chilly spring day. I can remember picking up our dog Snuffy and putting him in the closet for the day when I was three. I remember my first drink of ginger ale when I was at a birthday party… Continue reading SHORT-TERM WHAT?
You have to have heard this: “If you cannot say something nice don’t say anything at all.” My mother told me this when I was six years old. Then she said it oftener as I grew older. She is no longer with me to admonish me when I behave badly. But that saying stayed with… Continue reading BE NICE
Sharon Clemons 