by MarianBeaman | Mar 31, 2015 | Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, meditation, Memory, Travel, Uncategorized
“I’ve been robbed!’ These are the only words artist/performer Cliff can utter as he walks toward his Dodge van, noticing that the air-vent window on the driver’s side has been pushed in at an odd angle. It’s about 4:30 a.m. Good Friday, April 1, 1994. Rushing around...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 28, 2015 | Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
A centenarian! That’s what my Aunt Cecelia is today. Born March 28, 1915, Aunt Ceci is one-hundred years old. According to one source, only 7347 U. S. citizens are now 100 years old, and today my aunt has joined their ranks. Special things will happen to her...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 25, 2015 | book review, Conflict, Education, Gratitude, Neighborhood / Environment, popular culture, Travel, Uncategorized
Grandmother Kayaks from Maine to Guatemala for the Children at the Dump These were the words in my invitation to a reception promoting Project Safe Passage honoring Dr. Deb Walters’ efforts to raise funds via her Kayak trips. A stellar professional career behind...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 21, 2015 | Literature, meditation, Purple Passage, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
SPRING “Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like? “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine . . . ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of The Secret Garden [in Just-] a poem by e. e. cummings, (his name usually shown in lower case...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 18, 2015 | Coming of Age, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
Where did you study? Was your desk a dining room or kitchen table? The couch? A separate room? Did you listen to music as you studied? Or did you tune out the noise of the household when you crammed for a test or wrote a report? Louise DeSalvo author of The Art of...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 14, 2015 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, popular culture, Uncategorized
Did you ever have a Pollyanna? A secret pal back in the days when mail traveled only in paper envelopes with postage? As I was going through one of my Boxes under the Bed, I found this quaint gem sent to me at college in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, March...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 11, 2015 | Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Memory, Quotations, Uncategorized
Recently Grandpa Cliff and NaNa Marian took the Beaman boys to the Odditorium (not a misspelling!) of Ripley’s Believe It or Not in St. Augustine Florida. The Saturday excursion was billed as a Mystery Trip, so the boys didn’t know exactly where they were going, but...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 7, 2015 | Education, meditation, Mennonite Lore, Tips, Uncategorized
I just talked to my brother Mark in Pennsylvania, and our 15-minute conversation was interspersed with his exclaiming . . . “It’s sleeting.” Then, a few minutes later, “It’s raining . . .” And finally, “It’s sleeting again!” It’s March and most people north of the...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 4, 2015 | Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
I am sitting with my three friends, Gladys Graybill, Hazel Garber, and Millie Zimmerman near the pulpit in front of Bossler Mennonite Church to be baptized. At the prompting of our Bishop Clarence E. Lutz, we kneel, and as we kneel I hear the crinkle of the skirt of...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 28, 2015 | Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quilt, Uncategorized
Bossler Mennonite Church was the hub of the Longenecker family’s spiritual life and the school beside it, Washington School, the place where the Women’s Sewing Circle fabricated comforters, baby clothing, blankets and quilts to help clothe the needy...
