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The Best Hostess Gift Ever

The Best Hostess Gift Ever

by MarianBeaman | Jun 25, 2025 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Memory, Nostalgia, Paska, Travel, Ukraine, Uncategorized

Flowers, a bottle of wine, a box of candy, even a potted plant—these are the gifts guests often choose to present to a gracious host, responding to an invitation.   My neighbor Mila offers both gifts when she comes to our house for lunch or supper. Mila...
Our Easter in Ukraine

Our Easter in Ukraine

by MarianBeaman | Mar 30, 2022 | chalk drawing, Cliff Beaman artist, Easter, Education, Kiev Ukraine, Paska, Travel, Ukraine, Uncategorized

Khristos voskres! Christ is risen indeed! These words spoken in Russian are the very first expression of Easter joy we hear on Sunday, April 24, 2011 as folks gather at Birth of Christ Church in Kiev, Ukraine, preparing for the worship hour. Here is the choir after...
Ukraine: The Homeland of Ellie’s World

Ukraine: The Homeland of Ellie’s World

by MarianBeaman | Mar 2, 2022 | blog, book review, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Kiev Ukraine, Mennonite History, Quotations, Travel, Ukraine, Uncategorized

I received a copy of Elfrieda Schroeder’s memoir, Ellie’s World, about a month ago. Though eastern Europe was rumbling louder in the news in early February, I had no idea how timely her story would be considering the horrific events of this past week....
The Weight of Love – Heavy or Light?

The Weight of Love – Heavy or Light?

by MarianBeaman | Feb 14, 2017 | blog, Memory, Quotations, Travel, Uncategorized

Love Locks Their love, they thought, was an iron-clad statement, fixed to the grill work of Pont des Arts bridge in Paris. Etched with their initials, couples professed undying love as they tossed the key to their lovelock into the Seine. City workers in 2015 with a...

Janet & Marian: A Tale of Two Houses

by MarianBeaman | Sep 7, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Memory, neighborhood, Quotations, Travel, Ukraine, Uncategorized

My writer friend Janet Givens and I have both said Goodbye to houses this summer. She, to a vacation house on a canal in Chincoteague Island, Virginia, and me to our family homestead 12 miles from the beach in Jacksonville, Florida, geographically about 750 miles...
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