by MarianBeaman | Jan 30, 2019 | blog, book review, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
Maybe Mennonites Dance Now But they Didn’t in the 1950s In Lancaster County, PA In her nineties, my mother jived to music on iTunes from my iPod. But she was dancing with her hands and heart, not her feet. Her heart? Yes, she was probably recalling Daddy...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 19, 2018 | blog, book review, Family / Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
Did you know the name Matryoshka means “little matron,” or “mother” in Russian? Do you have a set of nesting dolls? My friend, Kathy Gould, who manages a charity fund ministering to families and children in Ukraine, gave me these dolls years ago. They enjoy...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 28, 2018 | blog, book review, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
My Mennonite parents laughed very little, except when relatives and friends tickled their funny bones. They took the business of parenting very seriously. Other relatives lit up with a sense of humor: I carry an image of my Grandma Fannie and Aunt Ruthie once slapping...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 31, 2018 | blog, book review, Coming of Age, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
A Real Book “What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?” “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?” It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 26, 2018 | blog, book review, Coming of Age, Memory, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
I’ve been writing memoir for 3 ½ years now, three more if you count years spent blogging snippets that have become memoir chapters.. Truthfully, I’m ready for this part of the process to end. And it will soon. The Tricky Mind Since 2015, I’ve taken memoir-writing...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 1, 2018 | blog, book review, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon one can neither resist nor understand. ~ George Orwell Orwell is right about the...
