Kid Chronicles: The Family Moves to Africa

Moving to Africa was definitely a huge decision in our lives.  Neither set of grandparents were too excited about having us move half way across the world.  And although Bob’s parents were going to miss seeing us all it was devastating for my parents since Heather and Danny were their only grandchildren. The summer before [...]

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Kid Chronicles: Heather says “Hot” and has a new baby brother

From the minute Heather was born she enchanted her admirers. She weighed in at a hefty 9 lbs 7.5 ounces and 21 inches long. I’m sure that the good start she had in life was a contributing factor for all the strangers who would stop to ooh and aah over “what a beautiful baby she [...]

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A Year Ago…

A year ago today I held his hand for the last time. A year ago today I gazed on that incredibly handsome face I loved so much. A year ago today I clung to a lifetime of memories of someone who labored tirelessly and sacrificed willingly to give me a better life. A year ago [...]

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Omens and Signs

I’m not much of a believer in these things but there have been two things that happened in my life that would lead you to believe (twight zone music here….dah dah dah dah….) they do happen. I had a unity candle at my first wedding. We each had an individual candle we used to light [...]

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Photo Kidnapping: A Grandma’s Right in Life

Can there be anything more wonderful than being a grandma? Yep.  A grandma to such sweethearts like these little cherubs.  Isn’t this delightful of Annika and Kiki? And look at how sweet Kardy is.  How fast she is growing.  Each year the girls look more and more alike. I can see so much of Heather, [...]

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Raise Your Hand If You’re A Worry Wort

First off, where in the heck does that expression come from?  I can appreciate the worry part of it but WORT or some use wart?  That makes no sense to me at all.  So, I did a little research and learned that it may have come from a comic strip character that ran in the [...]

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My Most Memorable Experiences

Happiest: This one is easy. Holding my babies in my arms for the first time. Nothing can compare, Danny and Heather. Baby Ted with Grandma VanBelle. Where oh where are Heather’s other photos of her baby brother Jonny?  (She’s the shutterbug NOT ME!!) Saddest: Not being there to hold my mother’s hand as she died.  [...]

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Nuture vs. Nature: The Wonder of Genes

Have you ever looked at your kids and been totally STUNNED to see a family member staring back at you in the way your child talks or acts that is just totally that family member? It can be jarring the first time you make that kind of “genetic ” connection.  I remember the first time [...]

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For My Friend: A Walk Down Memory Lane

I want to share a path down memory’s lane with the person who is probably my most faithful follower on this blog. We met nearly 40 years ago in England.  We were both spending our sophomore year abroad in a liberal arts Christian college in the quaint community of Binfield in the region of Berkshire [...]

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Saying Good-Bye

In the past few days I’ve read some blog posts about the death of a family member. One woman poignantly wrote about the last few minutes of her mother-in-law’s life chronicling the gradual decrease in her breaths per minute until her last breath and final good-bye. That post brought back the heart wrenching memories of [...]

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