The Aurora and One-Room Schools
The Aurora Borealis appeared in spectacular fashion last Sunday night while I was home alone and was uncomfortable going out to dark places late at night by myself. The photos people took of the multicolored spectacle were amazing. I didn’t worry too much about missing them because it was supposed to be just as beautiful […]
Packing for Home
Our time in the southern climes in nearing its end. Our friends and neighbors in South Dakota have endured the second heaviest snowfall winter on record. While we’ve been praying for rain in the Texas Panhandle, they’re praying they don’t have to shovel another foot of snow again. We spent a very comfortable time in […]
Schools in My Day…
This past week, a friend and I were discussing how much schools have changed since we started elementary school. She was in rural South Dakota and went to a one-room school. I started school in Tyler, Texas at a school called Dixie. My grandfather told me he loved going to a one-room school. Students heard […]
Gifts from My Foremothers
My grandmothers were very different. They both worked but, one worked in an office all her life and the other was a homemaker. My dad’s mother raised six boys and a girl on very little money. She made sure her boys went to school in clean clothes and were fed. She worked hard making clothes […]
The Changing Role of Dads
In the “olden days”, child-rearing was left to the mothers, with dads only dishing out discipline when mom needed help. My mother talks about when I was born, my dad was totally hands-off with me. He would hold me occasionally but that was the extent of his part in childrearing. As I got older, he […]
A Round Robin Story
I want to tell you about an amazing round robin. I’m not talking about a bird, person, competitive meet, or petition. This special round robin is a collection of letters, photos, and other items circulated between the Johnson family members for decades. Whoever gets the round robin takes out their old letter, reads what the […]
Goodbye, Cheryl
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. We were called to come see about my mother-in-law Cheryl when her condition started going downhill fast. (Side note: her name is pronounced CH-eryl, not Sheryl. It’s the hard CH sound.). She celebrated her 90th birthday at the end of August, but wasn’t feeling well at that […]
Teach Your Children
My daughter recently posted a photo on Facebook that brought back a lot of memories. It has her in it, but in the background was our blue 1968 Nova that we had for decades. It was my first car, bought in 1974, and was green with a dark vinyl top at that time. I was […]