by MarianBeaman | Jul 18, 2015 | Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Purple Passage, Quotations, Uncategorized
Calm Thoughts, Relax Here Where we relaxed at the home place, counting cars on a Saturday night, swinging on the porch and eating watermelon! * * * Be grateful for calm skies . . . Forever is composed of nows. (# 690) Emily Dickinson * * * I’m going to enjoy...
by MarianBeaman | Jun 27, 2015 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Neighborhood / Environment, Travel, Uncategorized
We are spending the week in the cool Smoky Mountains, savoring the beauties of nature in Waynesville, North Carolina. Nothing breaks the silence except birdsong. Rhododendron buds unfold into blossom, a walking stick is a great companion, just like Laurelville Camp in...
by MarianBeaman | Jun 20, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Lists, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Uncategorized
March 1986: Mom and Dad Longenecker visit the families of my sister Janice and me in Jacksonville, Florida. We all enjoy Epcot in Disney World, Dad’s chance to see a faux version of the Switzerland he never actually visited but planned to some day. My...
by MarianBeaman | May 23, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Mennonite History, popular culture, Reflection, Uncategorized
Catchy caption needed. Your suggestions please! Just as every issue of The New Yorker features a cartoon in need of a caption, today’s post offers a photo calling for your input. There’s one below to get your wheels turning, but I think there are other...
by MarianBeaman | May 9, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
This is my first Mother’s Day without my mother, Ruth Metzler Longenecker. To say I miss her is an understatement of the highest order. Technically, I could be considered an orphan with both my mother and father gone. However, with my own extended family and...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 29, 2015 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
Lilacs in Washington State Earlier this month, my husband Cliff and family laid to rest his father Lee Beaman in a tiny urn above the coffin of his wife in the cemetery adjoining the church. Across the street from the simple, white-plank Methodist Church near...