by MarianBeaman | May 11, 2016 | Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
Every week, The New Yorker magazine features a Cartoon Caption Contest, inviting readers to submit a caption for consideration. After three finalists are chosen, readers vote for the winning caption. You can view my first attempt at a similiar contest here on this...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 23, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Recipes, Uncategorized
“It’s a spring cleaning ritual – but for your body,” touts reporter Jennifer Sheehan, extolling the merits of eating dandelion. “It cleans your blood and you get a lot of good vitamins from it,” another endorsement I read in Sheehan’s article from Lehigh Valley’s The...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 20, 2016 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
My mother wore many hats both literally and figuratively. Most of her head coverings were prayer veilings worn every day. As a young woman, her coverings were large, decreasing in size as she got older and church rules had progressively relaxed. Mother wore a...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 13, 2016 | Easter, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
Little Mennonite girls could be fancy before they became plain. They could wear hats. Their mothers may have worn flat, black bonnets on top of their prayer veilings (coverings) at Easter, but they couldn’t wear hats with ribbons and flowers. At least not in Lancaster...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 9, 2016 | Cliff Beaman artist, Education, Literature, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
Is there a drop of Irish blood in my veins? I doubt it. I grew up Mennonite in the Longenecker family in Pennsylvania Dutch country, a hot-bed of Swiss-German ancestry. Still, the Irish-named Donegal Springs is a mere 3-mile, 5-minute drive from Rheems, Pennsylvania...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 2, 2016 | blog, Conflict, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, meditation, Memory, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
“Joel, I’m going to the Christian Light Press in E-Town for some birthday cards, do you want to go along?” “Okay, Mommy, do you think they have lollipops?” queried my mischievous son. “I don’t think bookstores have lollipops at the counter like doctor’s offices do,...