I have heard three stories recently of mothers who verbally told their children they wished they hadn’t been born. “Ouch!” for such wounded ones on Mother’s Day. I have friends who, because their moms passed away while they were young, grew up in homes of relatives. Other friends lived with mothers of mental illnesses, alcoholism, and…
Category: Memoir
A Lighthouse at Festival of Faith and Writing
I am thinking about windmills and lighthouses, after attending the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College, Grand Rapids. FFW is a bi-annual, three-day April conference where 2000 writers, editors, and readers descend on campus to hear speakers intertwine their faith with their writing under an interfaith flag. The Festival offers a buffet for…
How Do You Respond to the Homeless?
“Somebody needs to help him! He looks so sad!” My little ones are once again disturbed about a scruffy stranger at a stoplight. He’s holding a cardboard sign: “Anything helps. God bless America.” One of some 2000 local homeless people, he is also part of over half a million homeless nationwide. Those red, two-minute traffic…