Suffering through many storms, accidents, and illnesses of life, my friend's twenty-year-old Joseph's Coat rose bush presented itself beaten down by life. It no longer bore the fruit of its purpose. With precision, my friend's husband … Read more

I had just read the book, The Nun Story. As a teenager, I was so enamoured with the concept of being hidden away from the chaos of adolescence, a boyfriend, and trying to figure out my place in life, that I announced to my parents that … Read more

My friend's husband, recently fitted with hearing aids, came through the storage house door, calling with urgency, "Honey, there are birds chirping in my ears. We best call the doctor." Taken aback, his wife said, "Let's go outside and … Read more

Inside her roughly built pioneer cabin were treasures. Carefully folded deep inside an old trunk, my great-grandmother's homemade blue Victorian wedding dress rested. Beside it sat her high button black leather shoes and her Bible. I … Read more

The following is my friend Joyce Augustson's story. I felt hopeless and alone in 1940s Arkansas, and I wasn't close to my mother. We weren't the poorest of poor, but many of the children I knew didn't have shoes and wore rags for … Read more

Summertime presented great fun in the timberland. Sleeping outside was one of those activities. A day spent gathering twigs, branches, and boughs of broken fir and redwood trees produced our finished rounded, mounded shelter. Weary but … Read more

Nostalgic 1940s twelve-pack gift books of Life Savers® and tins of hard Christmas candy in every colour of the rainbow were available at the corner pharmacy. There was candy wrapped in personalized Scripture, boldly printed for us to … Read more

Grandma's peacock displayed its fan of majestic colours in the sunshine. Light danced off the crystal-shaped feather fibres and shimmered with iridescent greens and blues. Head held high, strutting around the ranch, he appeared to be … Read more

My grandfather served as a US Army foot soldier during World War I in France in 1917. During that time, he used a weapon called brass knuckles. He used them in hand-to-hand combat, to defend himself while in foxholes and trenches. When he … Read more

Life in a mill camp taught me as a child that the earth is filled with many odours. They ranged from mildly pleasant to putridly awful. For example, the fresh sap of freshly cut lumber appealed to me, while the smell of dust and the stale … Read more