by MarianBeaman | Jan 11, 2023 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, popular culture, Uncategorized
Did you notice? Even before 2023 rolled around, ads for weight loss appeared on TV. Many made resolutions for the new year even before the ball dropped in Times Square. Maybe you did too. New Year’s resolutions are certainly not a new thing. Even in the early 1900s,...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 4, 2023 | blog, Mennonite History, Quotations, Southern lady friends, Tips, Uncategorized
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! In December 2022, I recorded a podcast with interviewer Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes, author, speaker, podcaster, and much more, including serving as an elementary school principal and publishing devotionals for women. She also has coordinated...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 14, 2022 | blog, Christmas, Cliff Beaman artist, Gratitude, Literature, neighborhood, popular culture, Recipes, Reflection, Uncategorized
Stone Soup is a European folk story in which hungry strangers convince the people of a town to each share a small amount of their food in order to make a meal that everyone enjoys. The tale serves to illustrate the value of sharing. In varying traditions, the stone...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 30, 2022 | blog, book review, Literature, popular culture, Quotations, Romance, Uncategorized
“Bam! I start, the dogs leap up. The windows rattle. The whole house shakes.” As Dani Shapiro’s memoir begins, the author, warm and toasty in her office spies her husband “in the dead of winter, in the driveway wearing nothing but a white terry-cloth bathrobe,...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 16, 2022 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Recipes, Uncategorized
The Rentzel family lived next door to my childhood home on Anchor Road. If you’ve read my first memoir, Mennonite Daughter, you may remember the shenanigans that happened under their roof. After I left home to explore the wider world, another family moved into...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 9, 2022 | blog, book review, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Quilt, Uncategorized
Yumiko Sekine, author of Simplicity at Home, grew up in northern Japan, learning traditional crafts and quilting from her mother and grandmother. Just as I did growing up in rural Pennsylvania, Yumiko appreciated quilting and hand-crafts. She still does, and so...
