by MarianBeaman | Oct 16, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Recipes, Uncategorized
My mom’s sacred space is her kitchen where she offers the sacrifice of her heart and hands to those in need and indeed her family. On my last trip to Pennsylvania, Mother made chicken corn soup from a recipe in her head. When I ask her how much of this or that,...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 12, 2013 | Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite Lore, Purple Passage, Quotations, Uncategorized
Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise. Maya Angelou READING “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” Mason Cooley, aphorist (1927- __ ) “Reading is equivalent to thinking with...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 11, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
Linda Garber and Dr. Ty Graden will probably never be featured on the Making a Difference segment of the NBC evening news with Brian Williams, but they do just that every single day. Yesterday morning before Mother’s eye doctor appointment, her pastor’s wife Linda...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 9, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Quilt, Reflection, Uncategorized
July 2013 phone conversation between Aunt Ruthie and me: M: Well, Ruthie, how are you doing? AR: Well, I’m puzzled! M: Puzzled? What about? AR: I’m doing puzzles, doing “word find”! Ha ha ha! (Still witty at 95) Teaching: Adoring teachers surround their retiring...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 5, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
Announcing the WINNER of Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World And the Winner is (drum roll, please!) Carolyn Stoner! Thank you one and all for participating so heartily by commenting on my review of Shirley Showalter’s memoir BLUSH. Carolyn, you will...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 3, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
My sheets are pinned to the backyard clothes line now, flipping in the breeze. Today I’m celebrating the end of our torrid Florida summer by hanging our sheets outside in the fresh fall air. Very old-fashioned and very retro. I guess I’m an Urban Mama! We...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 2, 2013 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
On the ground floor again, we breathe a sigh of relief as we spot the bus two blocks away ready to pick us up to go back to the mission. On the way to our mobile haven, we pass pawn shops armed like fortresses, lurid adult bookstores with XXX ratings, filthy-looking...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 28, 2013 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
During our teens, my church friends–Miriam, Gladys, Hazel, and I congregate at each other’s houses after church on Sunday night for ice cream, chips, and stereo music: Songs from the West, anything by Mantovani, and The Singing Nun. We would rather have...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 25, 2013 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
My Review Shirley Hershey Showalter’s Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World sings the song of her early life as a Mennonite girl in 250 pitch-perfect pages. Born into a family of Lancaster County Swiss Mennonite parents, the author recounts the story of the...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 21, 2013 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
News Flash! Upcoming Review and Book Giveaway of Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets the Glittering World by Shirley Hershey Showalter On Wednesday, September 25, I will be reviewing Shirley Hershey Showalter’s new memoir – Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets the Glittering...
