Tag: family
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Twenty Years
What were you doing twenty years ago today? So much has transpired in the meantime I almost forgot what a momentous day that was for me. The upheaval in my life started the year before, in 2002. Picking Up the Pieces Mother’s Day 2002 was the day my world and dreams as I knew them fell…
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Abby Normal – Part I
Thwack-thwack . . . thwack-thwack . . . If you spend any amount of time at our house, this is a sound you’ll hear eventually. Almost every time it’s followed by Peanut or me yelling, “Just run through Abby! You can do it!” A Dog’s Education Abby Normal is now seven years old but she’s…
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Why Bother?
It’s that time of year again. Time to plan a huge meal, often for more friends and family than you see any other time of the year. Time to start thawing, brining, cooking, baking and smoking days before the Tryptophan coma is induced. How many guests will there be? How many appetizers? Are there any…
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Punkin
Many of my earliest memories center around my sister. She was nearly ten years old when I made my debut and according to family stories, she was elated to have a second real baby to care for. In many ways she was a second mother to me through those formative years. It was her prickly…
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Help!
I am a Type I Diabetic. Some of you may already know this, but there are plenty just getting to know me who did not know before now. In my many years of dealing with Diabetes I’ve found that many friends and acquaintances don’t know a whole lot about the disease and are reticent to…
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Grandma’s Doilies – Part II
August 16, 2022 I’ve been sucked down the rabbit hole that is Ancestry.com again. This time I was surprised with a 100 year-old picture that has whispers of my mother’s and my faces. Before today I had never seen what Grandma Sophie looked like as a young lady. I have an old photograph of her…
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Grandma’s Doilies – Part I
In the dawn of the 20th century, Anna and Charles Shallman of Dorris, Minnesota brought a little girl, Sophia, into the world. She made her entrance just days after the first Nobel Prize ceremony was held in Sweden and within months of the birth of Greats such as Enrico Fermi, Marlene Dietrich, Louis Armstrong and…
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My Papa Jim
Today I’d like to attempt the impossible. I want to express how much I appreciate my Dad and all he’s taught me. This man not only has provided for me and my siblings, he has given freely of his time, energy and vast knowledge to countless others. Personally, and through us kids, he has touched…