"If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate. Give into it. .... Joy is not made to be a crumb." Mary Oliver, "Don't Hesitate", The Swan (2010) Nina Renee & Benith Richardson in front of my parents' house in Phoenix, January 1962. I love this photo of Beni and Renee. It captures them as … Continue reading Joy
Old photos
Photos for Abbotsford Book Event
Below are the old photos I'll be using at the book event at the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, BC on Saturday, October 29, 2022. Memory Story Research Child Bride Jacob & Agnes 1938 Agnes Young, 8th grade graduation. Agnes is at the right end of the bench (viewer's right). The Gift of Laughter Helena … Continue reading Photos for Abbotsford Book Event
Christmas 1960: Monroe, Washington
The log house in Monroe, Washington. Summer 1960 December 20, 2021 Woke this morning thinking about the log house in Monroe, winter thoughts, a pulling up of memories, Christmas memories, from that long ago time. Ben, the girls and I, spent only one Christmas in the log house, Christmas 1960. We must have had a … Continue reading Christmas 1960: Monroe, Washington
Japan: 1956
HOKUSAI (1760-1849) Japan’s mountains receive abundant snow, but Tokyo is a coastal city. Winter brought cold rain, grey sky, damp air. It looked cold, and it felt cold. People on the streets walked huddled inside their coats, cheeks and hands red and chapped. Shops were open and unheated. The only source of heat in traditional … Continue reading Japan: 1956
Bk 3. 6: Northwest Journal February 1957
The ship in whose depths I have lived for the last two weeks entered the Straights of Juan de Fuca, the deep strip of water that separates Washington’s Olympic Peninsula from Canada’s Vancouver Island. It was a troop ship on its way to Seattle, and I was one of the military dependents who boarded the … Continue reading Bk 3. 6: Northwest Journal February 1957
Bk 3. 5: The House on Melvin, Phoenix 1954-55
This another piece about my senior year, the year of my engagement. There is a different quality to my memories of the house on Melvin than those of times before then. I feel more aware, more myself. I was on the cusp of adult life, and I was eager for it. The long years of … Continue reading Bk 3. 5: The House on Melvin, Phoenix 1954-55
Bk 3. 4: The Wedding
My father insisted that Ben and I get married the day I arrived in Tokyo. The wedding was to take place in the chapel at Yakota Air Force Base where Ben was stationed. Even though the base chaplain and his wife wrote to my parents extending an invitation for me to stay with them the … Continue reading Bk 3. 4: The Wedding
Epilogue: The House on Coronado Avenue
The house in the photo above is where I lived a major part of my childhood. My family moved there the fall of 1942; we moved away in June 1949. I was four when we moved in, eleven when we moved out. I had finished 6th grade at Woodrow Wilson Elementary and would have entered … Continue reading Epilogue: The House on Coronado Avenue
Old Photos: 1930s
Child Bride, my second book, begins each chapter with an old photo, or in one case a painting. I wanted it to be an album of memories, stories and photos that together tell the story of my parents' marriage that focuses on the early years, the 1930s and 1940s. I grew up hearing stories of … Continue reading Old Photos: 1930s
11. Sewing
It is late fall, the living room is dark except for the pool of golden light that shines on my mother’s hands as she guides the fabric for my new nightgown under the pressure foot of our old Singer sewing machine, the teeth of the feed-dog pulling the fabric as her feet work the treadle. … Continue reading 11. Sewing
Heritage 