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Secrets of a Spool of Blue Thread

Secrets of a Spool of Blue Thread

by MarianBeaman | Jul 10, 2019 | blog, book review, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia

  Among the relics of my sewing days, I found just one blue spool of thread. Otherwise, I have the basics for mending: black, white, and beige. Once an avid sewer, never a full-fledged seamstress, I made dresses, little boy suits, pinch-pleated drapes – even my...
Lets Eat Grandma

Lets Eat Grandma

by MarianBeaman | May 15, 2019 | blog, book review, Gratitude, Literature, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Recipes, Tips

My Grandma liked to cook and she liked to eat. She has a starring role in my memoir, spotlighted in two chapters: Grandma’s Bountiful Table and Easter & Politics. Everyone had a seat at her table. I treasure time I spent preparing meals with her and having her...
Memoir Progress and a Blossom in a Pear Tree

Memoir Progress and a Blossom in a Pear Tree

by MarianBeaman | Apr 24, 2019 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized

Pear Tree Blossoms   Blossoms on our pear tree beside the lake peek out   A few at a time Then more . . . and, finally, the pear tree standing in a dress of white blossoms.     Book writing, too, starts small . . . My memoir began as a Kinko-bound...
Who Put the Butter in Butterfly?

Who Put the Butter in Butterfly?

by MarianBeaman | Oct 17, 2018 | blog, Literature, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized

Inquiring Minds want to Know . . . Who Put the Butter in Butterfly? a book that survived my Great Book Purge of 2016, was a birthday gift from the Dean of Liberal Arts at my college in 1993. It is billed as“compulsive reading for anyone incurably curious about the...
Shakespeare, Vets, and a Newborn

Shakespeare, Vets, and a Newborn

by MarianBeaman | Apr 25, 2018 | blog, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Memory, Quotations

Like the magnolias, petunias and daisies that bloom in Florida this time of year Shakespeare’s birthday pops up in my head, an annual occurrence, probably a carryover from teaching Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear. Like rosemary for remembrance, the date April 23 never...
An Easter Meditation with Jonah and Carl Sandburg

An Easter Meditation with Jonah and Carl Sandburg

by MarianBeaman | Mar 28, 2018 | blog, Easter, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, meditation, Quotations, Uncategorized

  A prophet and a poet deliver an Easter message for 2018.   This message is for you if you have ever felt depressed ecstatic or any emotion in between.   Story of Jonah Traditionally, the story of Jonah begins with the prophet trying to escape his...
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