We hung the hammock. The end. Post notes: We actually eventually got out of the hammock to visit with a neighbor who was home from college and had dropped by. Later, we talked insurance with a salesman at the porch picnic table and picked greens from the garden for lunch. Joe shoveled manure and made […]
1. I now have a folder on my desktop titled “Bryce Gabriel.” 2. He was born May 14, 2008 at 2:45 a.m. weighing a whopping nine pounds and a couple of ounces, just like his dad, Dylan, did when he was born in 1982. 3. I used up all the memory space on my camera […]
Friend: Colleen, has the baby come yet? Me: No, but they’re coming up to Floyd today, so I’ll get to see the belly. My son Dylan, his wife Alexis, and her daughter Kaylee treated me to lunch for Mother’s Day. After lunch, we had tea and coffee at the Blackwater Loft (pictured above), followed by […]
Gonna take a sentimental journey … Gonna set my heart at ease … Gonna make a sentimental journey … To renew old memories … ~ lyrics from Sentimental Journey, made famous by Doris Day in 1944 He was whistling along to the 1940’s music playing on the car tape player. I was sitting next to […]
I drove all the way to Christiansburg yesterday without seeing one pink plastic lawn flamingo, which was disappointing since it was part of the reason I went. I had to go to town in the morning to drop the March Museletter off to the printer. After that, I debated if I should head on to […]
Watching Joe get ready to leave the house: “You’re getting ready to go into the phone booth and change into your Super Hero suit, aren’t you?” I said to my husband who volunteer teaches teen meditation retreats, headed up parking at Floyd Fest this year, helped to start a local oral history program for teens, […]
My brother John figured in “The Jim and Dan Stories,” the book I wrote about growing up as one of nine children in Hull, Massachusetts, and the deaths’ of two of my brothers in 2001. John was the one who added to our family’s plumbing problems when he was a kid and he tried to […]
The two most significant events that happened in the year 2006 and continue to stand out for me as I enter 2007 actually happened to my sons. I would be remiss in keeping up with the part of my blog that serves a journal if I didn’t mention them. At the ages of 24 and […]
My son Dylan and Alexis are married! Alexis’ sister was the Maid of Honor and my son Josh was the Best Man. This is my husband Joe’s sister, Maryanne, and me at the rehearsal dinner. Notice the framed picture behind us. Why do they always have to play the twist at wedding receptions? My sister […]
One of the ways I prepare myself to go through life passages is to look through my old photo albums and other memorabilia. I don’t decide to do it. It happens naturally. My youngest son, Dylan, who is 24 years old, is getting married this weekend, which is why I’ve recently been immersed in a […]
So the girl who never wanted … the gown and veil … who blushes and deflects “congratulations” … becomes the “bride” … not the opposite of groom … but “the tie that connects a pattern of work” … and the “groom” is the care that we give it … Colleen Every wedding anniversary my husband […]
On more than one occasion I’ve written about my youngest nephew, Patrick, who I refer to as “my prodigy” due to our mutual interest in everything goofy, gooey, and giddy. Now I’d like to introduce his older brother, Matthew, who could also be considered a prodigy of mine, but for a different reason. My first […]
