by MarianBeaman | Apr 11, 2018 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia
Can you identify the season? Or the decade? What is the mother saying? What is her daughter thinking? Do you have family photos with 3-4 generations? If so, what was the setting (time or place) for the picture?...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 4, 2018 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations
Last year when we were sorting through piles of paper in Grandma and Aunt Ruthie’s attic, I found this: just one leaf from a tablet my Grandma Longenecker began as a diary. She may have intended to add more. Grandma’s Diary: the unedited transcription:...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 7, 2018 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
A little church in Alabama with rough-hewn walls holds a glittering stained glass window with this expression: Not lost but gone before. The saying in golden glass ends with a period though it’s not a complete sentence. Yet those five words reflect on a real...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 24, 2018 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Nostalgia, Tips, Uncategorized
Do you procrastinate? Are there unfinished projects lying about in your house? Years ago in graduate school at Florida State University, my husband Cliff made these bisque-fired salt and pepper shakers. He says creating the shakers was a side project back then,...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 6, 2017 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Nostalgia, Travel, Uncategorized
When our oldest grandsons were nearly 4 we took them on a mystery trip. “You are going someplace special, but we can’t tell you where,” we said. They were completely befuddled. Cartoon bubbles above their heads might have read, “What’s a mystery trip? Is it safe to go...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 8, 2017 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
I found Aunt Ruthie’s autograph book at the bottom of this painted chest under a pile of blankets, dolls, and vintage clothing. Her classmates from Elizabethtown High School class of 1935 Wrote in her autograph book. Some sayings were Sweet, Some were silly. Three...