When my little boy learned to sew

  It gives me a great sense of accomplishment to be able to thread my sewing machine. Seeing as I only use it a few times a year, it’s a miracle I remember how to snake the thread along the correct path, around the hook, behind the thing-a-ma-jig and finally through the needle.   I…

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A little bit of trouble in a Baptist church

The day I made my way from the front of the church to the back, by way of crawling on the floor beneath the pews, was the day that ended with a spark of revival and righteous reprimand.   Before you get excited and think this incident occurred this past year, get your head on…

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The nursery isn’t my gift

Once they grow up, we long to hold a little baby again, or do we? I just wanted to hold a baby. I wanted to snuggle my face into its chubby neck and smell baby powder and lotion. My two boys are giant teenagers and in no way resemble anything I could hold or rock…

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Show a little kindness

For the past few weeks, a story has been making the national rounds about Florida State University’s Wide-Receiver, Travis Rudolph, who visited a local middle school and in an act of kindness, sat with a student named Bo, who was all alone at the lunch table. There weren’t just a few empty seats around him,…

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On the Mobile Delta

As children grow older, it’s harder to impress them, but I was determined before Harrison returned for his Junior year in college, I’d spend a memorable, fun day with both boys. My husband does lots of he-man things with them, but I wanted a “Mom/boys” day that didn’t involve a trip to Dillard’s. I finally…

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A Norman Rockwell kind of morning

The year my son started Kindergarten, I would set the alarm for 5:45am and get completely dressed with full make-up and hair done with big hot rollers. I would dress in the outfit I’d carefully chosen the night before, then wake the precious lamb and prepare whole-wheat, made-from-scratch pancakes, shaped like teddy bears, with a…

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Summer photos and video from Harrison

Oh, how I love summer! August weather is a bit miserable here, but overall, I love having the boys home with us and the more relaxed schedules. They’ve both had summer jobs and taken a few classes, and it’s been so nice spending time together before my eldest son Harrison returns to college at the…

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If only Buddy Ray had only known cursive

Tara used her most carefully constructed cursive handwriting to express her sentiments of deep love and devotion to her beau, Buddy Ray O’Hara, but alas, the young lad didn’t know how to read cursive handwriting, so he thought it was another garbled note from his aging granny and tossed it in the garbage. Unaware of…

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Go to church or the Devil will get you

Yes, it’s a real sign in Alabama on private property. And we all pretty much have grown up seeing it every time we go to Grandma’s house or the beach.  Living in a state that literally has a sign on Interstate 65 that says, “Go to church or the devil will get you,” has often…

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(Not) The greatest generation

T-Anna and I were making floral arrangements for our Ladies Circle luncheon when her daughter, D-Anna called in a panic. Apparently, the 25 year old college graduate was experiencing great angst because she couldn’t assemble a new bookcase. “There’s a nail with little swirls around it and a plus sign on the end, and I…

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