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What Lights Your Fire?

by MarianBeaman | Apr 20, 2016 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized

My mother wore many hats both literally and figuratively. Most of her head coverings were prayer veilings worn every day. As a young woman, her coverings were large, decreasing in size as she got older and church rules had progressively relaxed.   Mother wore a...

Raise a Mug to the Irish!

by MarianBeaman | Mar 9, 2016 | Cliff Beaman artist, Education, Literature, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized

Is there a drop of Irish blood in my veins? I doubt it. I grew up Mennonite in the Longenecker family in Pennsylvania Dutch country, a hot-bed of Swiss-German ancestry. Still, the Irish-named Donegal Springs is a mere 3-mile, 5-minute drive from Rheems, Pennsylvania...

Comparison Shopper Finds a Wife

by MarianBeaman | Feb 10, 2016 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, popular culture, Romance, Uncategorized

Gump-a-bump-a-rump-a! (Repeat – repeat) No driver wants to hear this coming from under her car hood, even if it is my aging Infiniti. When I reported these scary noises to my husband Cliff, he immediately went into Investigator Mode. His problem-solving scenario...
5 Memoir Lessons Learned from a Special Birthday Cake

5 Memoir Lessons Learned from a Special Birthday Cake

by MarianBeaman | Jan 27, 2016 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Tips, Uncategorized

Earlier in January I baked an apple cake for my husband Cliff’s birthday celebration. All agreed it was scrumptious. However, it was my second attempt at the same recipe for reasons to be divulged in my next blog post. As they say, practice makes perfect! Matilda...

A Snow Bunny and a German Lullaby

by MarianBeaman | Dec 30, 2015 | blog, Christmas, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Travel, Uncategorized

On Christmas Day 2015 in Jacksonville, Florida, the temperature stood at 85, at least twenty degrees above the normal daytime thermometer reading for this time of year. Over most of the USA, Christmas day was warmer than usual, the forecasters predicting a near...

Quiet Lives Matter: My Brother Mark

by MarianBeaman | Nov 11, 2015 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized

My brother Mark was my first baby. He was born when I was 12, and I soon became a mother to him. I even have a picture to prove it, a blurry movie still from one of Aunt Ruthie’s 16 millimeter camera shoots. I most certainly bottle fed him and changed his...
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