On the road again and then again

Two recent weekends in a row we’ve taken a trip back to my home country church and the farm where I grew up – for very special occasions. The first one was the 70th wedding anniversary of my cousin, Virgil, and his wife, Oliene. When I asked the secret of such a long happy marriage, theirs […]

The Birds’ Return

In the early morning hours, of late, there’s been some mighty enthusiastic chattering going on outside our bedroom window. It’s not the neighbors, for sure. It’s a few of our fine feathered friends, but I have not been able to spot them. The first time I heard their chirping I thought they sounded like the […]

The unforgettable blue Bombardier

Today’s topic: “the elements.” But first, a disclaimer. From day one of writing my “In the Spirit” column, I vowed never to write about the weather. But, I give myself a pass this once because this is not about the weather of today. It’s about the weather of yesteryear. Back then, after those nasty swirling […]

Say it isn’t so

Here’s a memory I won’t soon forget. We were in the garden pulling weeds the day a delivery truck turned off the gravel road and drove onto our farmyard to deliver the first television set our family ever owned.It was a wonderful surprise for us kids. Not only the TV set, but a record player […]

Christmas Is!

They’d apparently been cooped up too long because a couple of our Christmas decorations were in the midst of a tiff when I took them down from the shelf. “No young folk ever look at you,” I heard the scarlet-mouthed poinsettia say to the mistletoe. “You’re dull and drab you know.” But the gray-eyed mistletoe […]

Rapt — It Means Captivated, Gripped

Dear Rapt Readers: Thank you for letting me know how moved you were (even to tears) by the column I wrote last Mother’s Day on the one who gave birth to me. You know who you are and I will never forget your phone calls. My mom, Freda, was a hard working God-fearing devoted farm wife […]

Remembering My One and Only Sister

Lori The memory is as clear to me as if this is happening as we speak. I am a new first-grader in a big room in an even bigger brick schoolhouse in the tiny town of Russell, N.D. I miss my mom. I miss home. My sadness has reduced me to tears. My teacher has […]

If only this pillow could talk

Out of necessity of the heart, every so often I must return to one of my childhood happy places – the farm in north central North Dakota where my grandparents lived and where my mother grew up. Grandpa homesteaded here in 1904 and this is where he and Grandma raised their six children who went […]

The most wonderful of surprises!

Mrs. Parrill. What a beautiful name! It’s been a long time since I was a first grader in Russell, N.D., and she was my beloved teacher. I remember her as the kind and gentle lady who set me out on the wonderful path of learning. I never knew where Mrs. Parrill went after leaving Russell, […]