by MarianBeaman | Sep 1, 2021 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Travel, Uncategorized
The National Weather Service blurted out: “Get ready for a hurricane, Jacksonville, a Category 5 storm named Dorian, is creeping up the coast.” It was September 2, 2019, and any day now I was awaiting the delivery of 16 cartons of books, my memoir. The skies...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 25, 2021 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Travel, Uncategorized
When I was a plain, ten-year-old girl, I wanted to looked like Mary. My big brown eyes turned green with envy when Mary Martin and her sister Evelyn walked through the door at Grandma Fannie’s house for holiday dinners. Both were elegantly turned out, resplendent in...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 4, 2021 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Memory, Nostalgia, Quotations, Romance, Tips, Uncategorized
An Anniversary Meditation Under a colorful collage created by Artist Cliff, I’ve stored 3 hatboxes. They sit on the rattan coffee table in our lanai. One is floral, another has a repeating Tuscan scene and the third is transparent, the contents held taut by...
by MarianBeaman | May 19, 2021 | blog, Conflict, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
Memorial Day is celebrated this month and I’m think of my forebears living through the World Wars . . . My Grandfather Henry Longenecker and my Father Ray Longenecker were Mennonites. Both registered for the draft during one of two world wars Grandfather Henry...
by MarianBeaman | May 12, 2021 | Award, blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Quotations, Travel
“Hel-lo!” I yelled at the woman I saw standing next to a Winnebago on the far side of the campground. Our Ford van and trailer were stuck. The tires whirred, throwing dirt everywhere, sinking deeper and deeper into Tennessee mud. “Can you please help us?”...
by MarianBeaman | May 5, 2021 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Travel, Uncategorized
For there is no friend like a sister / In calm or stormy weather; / To cheer one on the tedious way, / To fetch one if one goes astray, / To lift one if one totters down,/ To strengthen whilst one stands. –– Christina Rossetti from “Goblin Market” ...