by MarianBeaman | Feb 25, 2026 | blog, book review, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, neighborhood, Novel writing, Quotations, Uncategorized
January and February this year have been cold, at least for Florida. Our usual temps alternate from 45 in the morning to 65 or 70 degrees mid-afternoon. This winter has been an exception: 20 days freezing (or below) in January and at least one near-freezing day in...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 14, 2026 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
Looking back Seven years ago, in 2019, I wrote my first memoir. One of my goals was to discover the source of my father’s anger, often directed to me. I had a mostly happy childhood because of close ties with my extended family. Yet, over a dozen pages in Mennonite...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 17, 2025 | blog, Christmas, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Reflection, Uncategorized
Where was I? Sitting on the back of an open truck bed on itchy hay bales in temperatures just above freezing sounds like torture. But it actually didn’t feel that way for me many, many years ago. Teens from our church and young adults used the open, long bed of an...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 26, 2025 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
Do you think about the past? About the future? I write memoir, so I think a lot about the past. But my stories are made from my journey away from the past as well as my return to it. So, you see, I go back and forth in time as I write. But what about the present?...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 12, 2025 | blog, book review, Conflict, Memory, popular culture, Quotations, Uncategorized
What’s Too Hot to Handle? The horror of books ablaze in a library. That’s what! Susan Orleans’ The Library Book (2018) is a portmanteau of story, true crime, and riveting journalism Before the Great Fire of April 1986, the Central Library of Los...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 17, 2025 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations
What I Saw I sit on a green stuffed chair in my Grandma Longenecker’s parlor. The top of my back legs feel a little itchy. My mother has starched my Sunday dress to make the skirt stand out nice and pretty. Because I am little, I can see the tips of my high-top shoes,...
