by MarianBeaman | Oct 21, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Romance, Uncategorized
True Love This month would be the 75th wedding anniversary of my parents, Ray and Ruth Longenecker had they lived. True, they bickered from time to time, but I knew their love was deep and abiding. I rested in the assurance that they would never divorce. There were...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 14, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Uncategorized
Great Aunt Mary Grace would turn 117 this week on October 14 if she were still alive. When I was young, the Longenecker family visited Mary Grace Martin at her cottage at Mt. Gretna, PA. What I remember most about her appearance was her pleasant aura and a gap-toothed...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 16, 2015 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
The closest thing I ever came to living in a convent was my year in the dormitory at Lancaster Mennonite School. It was much like living in the dorm at my alma mater, Eastern Mennonite College, now a University, but only more awkward. “Awkward?” you ask. “In what way...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 9, 2015 | blog, Conflict, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Uncategorized
Nuns live in convents. At least that was true in America in the1960s. Strictly speaking I was not an actual nun, a Catholic sister with a habit like Karen Leahy, who left her convent at Mount Maria to pursue a literary life and experience more freedom. (My review of...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 2, 2015 | blog, Education, Literature, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
A toy train and a baby doll. That’s what these brother and sister pairs are exchanging with each other. Trading is fun among friends, no matter what their size. Big or little, old or young – most people like to exchange gifts, conversation, sometimes even big ideas....
by MarianBeaman | Aug 19, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Literature, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Purple Passage, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
A Short Story Once upon a time seven children from three different states came to visit their family in Pennsylvania. Some came from far away in a car, plane or train so they could see each other and get to know their grandparents and great-grandparents, who lived in...
