Grandma's Gleanings
Words and Thoughts from Grandma
With the birth of the twenty-four-hour news cycle and the development of advanced, sophisticated weaponry, the general public has been made painfully aware of the term friendly fire. During the 1990’s, incidents between coalition troops in the Persian Gulf region brought that deadly phrase into the headlines. But friendly fire is not a new problem, …
I’m certainly not a world-class traveler, and although my adventures have been limited to the shores of this gorgeous country that I call home, I still have a modest list of places that I have thoroughly enjoyed: those majestic Smoky Mountains, with their serenity and quiet beauty; the shores of the Florida coast, with …
So let’s look over the checklist: intense sense of urgency, inability to fully relax, tendency to multitask, follows strict time schedules, triggered into stress easily, highly competitive, possesses strong self-discipline. Yes, that accurately describes a Type A personality, the epitome of my got-to-get-it-done-quickly lifestyle. I am that impatient, frustrated one in the too-long department …
The Bible is the supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life…It is the only guide of life which really leads the spirit in the way of peace and salvation. (Woodrow Wilson); The fundamental basis of this nation’s laws was given to Moses on the mount. (Harry Truman); In regard for this Great …
My husband and I began our journey together in the fall of 1975, and as the wedding day plans were falling into place during the preceding summer, we started on our search for a dwelling, a place to call home, somewhere to begin our lives together. We rented a rather sad fixer-upper, but as …
The experience is scary, but thankfully short-lived, lasting less than thirty minutes. The ordeal for me generally begins with a sensation of bright light, the initial step that starts the progression into an ocular migraine, sometimes referred to as a silent migraine. Although not accompanied by the life-altering pain typical of a migraine, this …
Oh, what sweet memories! The quilt was hand-made, lovingly stitched by an elderly woman to celebrate the adoption of our daughter, a gift for this precious little one, a gift to be cherished forever. A combination of soft tan, eggshell, brown, with some yellow and blue highlights, the quilt blended floral patterns, solids, paisleys, and …
It would be one of those moments that would stick in our memories forever, always bringing a grin to our face and a giggle to our hearts. We hadn’t lived in our home long and were just becoming accustomed to the mundane hum of our neighborhood when the morning stillness was broken by the …
It wasn’t a trip to Disney World, an exotic cruise, a week at the beach, but it was memorable fun! One tradition we held close to our hearts when our children were little ones was hand-churning ice cream. As youngsters, our children lacked the muscular endurance, patience, and any capacity to understand the chemistry …
Oh, be careful little ears what you hear, for the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little ears what you hear. I have heard that childhood song sung by generations of children, pointing to their ears, eyes, heart, feet, and mind as a sweet, childlike reminder that the Father …
Oh, my sweet little girl! Our home was certainly blessed, our quiver filled to the brim with blessings, when a little bundle of Oriental joy became a part of our family. But one physical characteristic began to emerge during her toddler years…she was certainly going to be a teeny one! Her height stats always …
Since our family is spread over a bit of a distance now, holiday gatherings are cherished times. But I noticed during our latest family feast that one of my sons was sporting new reading glasses. Ah, the dreaded presbyopia had begun! Presbyopia, a combination of two Greek words, old man and eye, becomes evident …
Please remember that our Amazon gift card drawing is Monday, May 18th, at 8:00 pm. I only have two months remaining on my blog, so I’m hoping that you will all get signed up before it’s toooooo late! And who couldn’t use an $25.00 gift card right about now? Get signed up via email today, …
Learn How to Reduce a Fraction in Seven Minutes! Where was that YouTube video when I was a dopey elementary math student decades ago? Oh, that it was that easy. Seven minutes? Seven years may be closer to accurate! Let’s see if my memory serves: list all the factors of the numerator and denominator …
The year was 1986, a year hundreds of lives would be needlessly lost. On the Black Sea, off the coast of Russia, two ships would collide on one fateful day, hurling passengers into the icy waters below. When the investigation into the cause of the collision was determined, the disaster took a heart-breaking turn. …