by MarianBeaman | Dec 14, 2016 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia
Not Quite a Bar Mitzvah Grandsons Patrick and Curtis, born 7 weeks apart in Chicago, both turned thirteen this fall. If they were Jewish, they would each have observed the bar mitzvah ritual: Bar = son; Mitzvah = law or commandment, able to participate in all areas of...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 7, 2016 | blog, book review, Education, Gratitude, Quotations, Tips
Whoopi Goldberg is no nun, but she played one in Sister Act, where she befriended three other nuns all named Mary and made the convent’s choir into a rollicking, soulful act. Dr. David Snowdon obviously is no nun either. He’s not even a monk. But he is an...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 30, 2016 | blog, Conflict, Education, Literature, Quotations
Bright lights overhead illuminate a fun space. My eyes take in shelves with animal puzzles, bins with textured balls, sets of play tools, baskets of plastic fruit and veggies with pans for the play stove in our classroom. On my right – xylophones, bells and colored...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 23, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Literature, meditation, Mennonite History, Paska, Quotations
Before families went over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house, a postcard may have appeared in their mailbox to mark this grand American holiday of gratitude in the early 1900s. Grandma Fanny Longenecker saved three of hers. In this card dated...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 16, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, popular culture, Quotations
Did you make construction paper turkeys and buckled hats in elementary school? I know I did. We elementary school-ers dug our scissors into orange, red, brown, yellow to create Thanksgiving art. And then we looked at pretty framed pictures that have become American...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 9, 2016 | blog, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Reflection
Did you know that touching zaps your immune system with positive energy? Similarly, your brain goes into party mode when you hear and/or play music – so say the researchers. In this cropped photo, my sister Jan’s hand touches her Aunt Ruthie’s, who in turn is feeling...
