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...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 2, 2016 | blog, Education, popular culture, Reflection
For years, my young son Joel thought I had an eye on the back of my head. Why? I told him so. See! To keep this mischief-making, dangerous pranking boy surviving beyond childhood, I kept alive the delusion of a third eye until he grew old enough to catch on to my...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 19, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection
The Longeneckers think birthdays ending in 5 or 0 are special. At a Longenecker family gathering in Florida in 2003, we celebrated the birthday of my brother Mark, who turned the big 5-0. And also of my Aunt Ruthie who celebrated her 85th birthday at our house at the...
