Beyond 20 Gallons of Milk

My daughter Sharon Joy Schulte wrote the following. I thought it needed sharing. I went to the Social Security office today. I had a list of tasks to take care of on my phone while I waited. Into the room came a sweet mom with three preschoolers. She wore a baby, pushed toddler in a…

The Key word at our house these days is ‘golden,’ as in golden anniversary, golden years, Golden Corral, golden opportunity and the “Golden Rule.” We celebrated our Golden anniversary last year. Even thirty years ago, we never expected to celebrate that many years of togetherness. My husband’s father’s family’s longevity has not historically supported that…

A summer vacation trip as an 11-year-old inspired and influenced my husband. That summer his parents loaded their Buick Roadmaster with their five children to take a friend to visit a college in Tennessee. After the college visit, my husband’s dad said, “We are this close to the Smoky Mountains, we may as well go…

To surprise his family, Jacob spends hours researching, plotting, manipulating figures, times, events and plans. He researches for coupons and discounts to stretch vacation dollars. He piles up gift cards from folks and arranges economical trips for the whole family.  Before he married my daughter Sharon, he said wanted to travel every year, to take…

As we left for a day in Little Rock, my mind did its usual salute to the house, “Good-bye house. I will miss you if you are gone when I return.” That annoying phobia has haunted me all my married life without rhyme nor reason. At least not until later that day  when my phone…

Marriage is the best of all times, and the worst of all times. A recent anniversary reminded me of a story I once heard. A man gave flowers to his wife on their anniversary saying, “for the best years of my life.”  The wife counted the roses and asked, “Why isn’t there a rose for…

With 50 plus years of traveling and restaurant dinners behind us, two meals we have eaten earn contrasting ratings. The first happened decades ago when our children were young. Usually I had sandwiches in the car. However, on Easter weekend, my husband said, “Let’s eat at that college. When I was traveling with the National…

My grandson Eli bent his 6 feet 2 inch body in half to enter the snug capsule with us, his sister Caroline and cousin Sam. The family that travels together got mighty close on our visit to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.  Before we went, Katie and Henry, the youngest cousins, fearfully shook their…

Are we nuts for considering going north at this time of year with a storm predicted?” My husband said as he loaded boxes into our van. “We once lived in snow country,” I shrugged. Driving into Illinois, the chill descended. The folks at Love Packages opened their warehouse bay door and welcomed us inside to…

Ask Kay Patterson if she can remember the phone number she had as a child and she will rattle it off, “3-6824.” Easy for her, She’s had it since birth. “I think I deserve a plaque from Bell Telephone for having the same phone number the longest. Except there is no Bell Telephone anymore,” Patterson…

After three years of Covid-19, it’s time to look back at all the protective measures: Wipe off everything: Tried that once. The moisture warped the book covers. Let deliveries sit outside: Pizza deliveries just did not taste all that great after sitting on the porch. I opened our mail every day. But then during the…

In October, my daughter Sharon and her family moved to a new house about a mile away. For weeks their house swirled with activity as both Sharon and Jacob worked, all four children needed rides to school, and they packed their home. Their three cats, Deputy, Sheriff and Treasure hid in empty boxes, slept on…

Thanksgiving reminds us to consider our many blessings. I for one say, “Thank you, Lord, for modern medicine.” Because of it, I am walking after a couple serious bone fractures. In the not so distant past, broken bones could have changed my quality of life. Advances in treatment and physical therapy have allowed me to…

Cracking, crunching and popping noises startled me as I drove down our driveway. I stopped the car.  “I thought the mechanic said we could drive home even though the car engine light had come on” I muttered as I opened the door to check the car. My foot crunched down on freshly fallen acorns. Recent…

Our children push and prod us into modern technology. Not that we drag our feet. After my first college course in computers, I insisted we buy a home computer. Their college years introduced us all to email. I opened an account and flooded them with emails. Working at the newspaper I had to keep up…