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January 2017 – Jotting Joan

Month: January 2017

  • Driver’s license and the exchange student

    The exchange student’s contagious grin and affable personality quickly made him welcome in our home and at school. Like our sons, he lived on the computer. Unlike our sons, he wore saggy jeans and an oversized shirt. My husband, a retiree, took a a deep breath and kept quiet. Our guest’s parents requested we help…

  • Mom’s on the phone

    A fire in the upstairs bedroom of the old farm house sent Mom down the road to Auntie’s house to call the volunteer fire department. They flipped phone book pages frantically searching for the number. Mom’s finger yanked the rotary dial, letting it spring back after each number. In her haste, she called a wrong…

  • Family portrait

    Little kids wiggle, look away, cry, make faces and pick their noses. They are unable to sit, smile and say ‘cheese’ for the photographer. We take a lot of shots to hopefully get one good portrait. These days, with six married children, 18 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren in five northern, southern and eastern states, it’s…

  • Then and now traveling with kids

    Car trips with kids have certainly changed since the 50’s when I rode in the back seat of a station wagon with my brothers and sisters. Recently I rode in the front seat of a van with young grandchildren to a family reunion. Much has changed ­ even from when I had young children. For…