by MarianBeaman | Feb 28, 2017 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
It’s a safe bet that I’d find clothes in your closet, boots, maybe a tennis racket. But I don’t think I’d find an otter hat, a movie camera, a stack of paintings or a ruffle iron. Sorting through ninety years of accumulation, my sisters and I have found all that ~ and...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 22, 2017 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
Five journals, spiral-bound, sit in my writing studio. Their pages, bowed from cargo storage on flights from Florida to Pennsylvania, contain snatches of conversation from the last nine years of Aunt Ruthie’s life. Since 2008, she has had to cope with a pacemaker...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 21, 2016 | Christmas, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
When I was a little girl, my Aunt Ruthie painted this wooden dish with a lamb and the Bethlehem star. She made one for each of my sisters too. I’m sorry there is no date though I imagine we were in elementary or middle school in the early 1950s. Christmas...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 26, 2016 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Nostalgia, Tips
Do you send Hallowe’en cards? Judging from the racks of greeting cards in stores these days, many people do. Stores selling Hallowe’en costumes and party gear are now occupying vacated commercial space. October issues of magazines offer decorating ideas...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 19, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection
The Longeneckers think birthdays ending in 5 or 0 are special. At a Longenecker family gathering in Florida in 2003, we celebrated the birthday of my brother Mark, who turned the big 5-0. And also of my Aunt Ruthie who celebrated her 85th birthday at our house at the...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 14, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Recipes, Uncategorized
September is the month of late harvest. Those who preserve garden fruits and vegetables have proudly counted Ball jars and bags of frozen goodies before storing them to enjoy this winter. My Canadian blogger friend, Linda Hoye, finds joy in the process and has made an...
