by MarianBeaman | Jun 27, 2018 | blog, Lists, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
Here’s the true secret of life: We mostly do everything over and over. In the morning, we let the dogs out, make coffee, read the paper, help whoever is around get ready for the day. We do our work. In the afternoon, if we have left, we come home, put down our keys...
by MarianBeaman | Jun 20, 2018 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
At Mark’s funeral, a church friend recalled his wisdom. The friend, who admitted to have complained about something trivial at the time, heard Mark say, “Oh, it’s not so bad. We’re just passing through this life!” My brother passed...
by MarianBeaman | Jun 13, 2018 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
My dad was a workhorse. He plowed with mules in the 1930s in our field in Bainbridge Later I stood beside him on a mechanical “beast” here in the same field cultivating the soil with a Massey-Harris tractor soon to plant tomatoes. Poet...
by MarianBeaman | Jun 6, 2018 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
Once upon a time a five-year-old girl went to Cherryl Hill, a one-room school with a big bell on the rooftop . . . Early in the morning she rode over hill and dale In the back seat of the brown Terraplane Hudson with her teacher-aunt at the wheel . . . She...
by MarianBeaman | May 23, 2018 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
I am blessed because I had a Mother who . . . Read to me In appreciation, I once gave this book as a Mother’s Day present to my mother. It came back to me when we sorted through her books and papers in 2014. A well-worn book Mother read to her...
by MarianBeaman | May 16, 2018 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, neighborhood, Uncategorized
The Scenario Begins “Hi, Marian, this is Kenny, do you know where your brother Mark is?” Our cousin Kenny, who lives in an apartment close by Mark’s in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania had called me in Florida late Sunday morning. “No, I guess he’s in church. He always...
by MarianBeaman | May 2, 2018 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Uncategorized
Because of the unexpected needs of a family member, I will set aside regular weekly posts for awhile. Also, I may not be responding to your blogs as often. Sometime this month I will post a Mother’s Day tribute. You are welcome to contact me via a private...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 25, 2018 | blog, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Memory, Quotations
Like the magnolias, petunias and daisies that bloom in Florida this time of year Shakespeare’s birthday pops up in my head, an annual occurrence, probably a carryover from teaching Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear. Like rosemary for remembrance, the date April 23 never...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 18, 2018 | blog, Coming of Age, Gratitude, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
Soon! Strawberries may not be ripe in your part of the world—yet! But they will come soon, Maybe in May or June. Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins’ sidekick, remembers the taste of strawberries: Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It’ll be spring soon. And the...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 11, 2018 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia
Can you identify the season? Or the decade? What is the mother saying? What is her daughter thinking? Do you have family photos with 3-4 generations? If so, what was the setting (time or place) for the picture?...
