by MarianBeaman | Sep 16, 2020 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia
Great Grandpa Sam, born in 1863, was honored with a party for his 80th birthday. My great grandfather Samuel Brinser Martin’s birthday party was even written up in the Middleton (Pennsylvania) newspaper. I don’t know whether my family was invited to the...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 2, 2020 | blog, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia
At Rheems Elementary School in Pennsylvania, classes began right after Labor Day, just like clockwork. My aunt was my teacher in the first four grades, the charms and challenges of which I describe in my memoir. Miss Longenecker, aka my Aunt Ruthie, taught...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 15, 2020 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, neighborhood, Quotations, Tips
“The ground is terrible here. You can’t grow anything decent in this dirt!” Years ago, that was my dad’s pronouncement when he assessed the state of affairs in my sister Janice’s garden close to our house in Florida. True, in a land where juicy oranges, plump...
by MarianBeaman | May 27, 2020 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
What happens after a festive book launch and a fruitful book tour? Mennonite Daughter is still peddling. The Story of a Plain Girl is still logging “book-mobile” miles. But now she has a book trailer! A book trailer helps build hype for your book. It interjects...
by MarianBeaman | May 20, 2020 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
I chose B-E-A-U-T-Y as my focus word for 2020. Even if dozens of leviathans had dropped from the sky from Mars, never would I have imagined the impact world events would have on our collective experience in the first 5 months of this year. Wow, oh, wow! Below, you can...
by MarianBeaman | May 13, 2020 | blog, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Tips, Uncategorized
With strands of black and gray hair combed obediently over the curve of his head, my pastor saw the world and his place in it clearly through wire-rimmed glasses, a fixture on his nose. Even now, I cannot imagine he took many sideways...