Goodbye
I’M READY TO TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH INTO THE FUTURE! 2023 is coming to an end. We all stand on the threshold between what has been and what will be. And today, I stand on another threshold: This is my last monthly…
A Blessing For One Who Is Exhausted
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic, Time takes on the strain until it breaks; Then all the unattended stress falls in On the mind like an endless, increasing weight, The light in the mind becomes dim. Things you could…
No Feeling Is Final
After a multi-year construction project gone amok, producing a house that didn’t sell for a year (and then only at a large loss), Ed and I have again landed in our happy place. We have moved to Portland, Oregon!! It will take a while to process and assimilate the tumultuous…
Traveling with our Grandsons
Ed and I just returned from spending two weeks in Europe with our teenaged grandsons. We took in a Premier League soccer match in Manchester (Man City vs Newcastle) and then traveled through Europe, exploring Paris, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Vigo, Spain. We’ve traveled extensively with these two boys over the years, but…
Reflections on “Home”
I’M THE ONE LOOKING AWAY Since Ed and I are considering a move to a senior living community, I’ve been reflecting on the meaning of “home,” a word that’s always been complicated for me. Home has sometimes been described as a place…
The “Gifts” of Time
WHAT DAPPER “80” LOOKS LIKE Next month, the now large and prosperous Mennonite colony of Fernheim in the Chaco of Paraguay is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the nurses training program that my parents, John and Clara Schmidt, founded…
At the Cruz de Ferro on El Camino in 2015 “What’s next?” That’s the question friends are now asking us, given that we recently completed the trilogy of books we felt called to research, write, and publish nearly eight…
You are the first to hear about the release of our latest book, now titled A Journey Home: The Inner Turmoil of a Mennonite Hero. The book was just recently released by Wipf and Stock Publishing. It is available in all of the usual bookstores, of course including Wipf and…
Ed and I just returned from a more than 4,000-mile road trip through Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. We call it our “reconnections” trip as we planned the itinerary around visits with eighteen friends spread across those…
I AM MANY
One of my favorite sculptures hanging on our living room wall is a piece called “I Am Many,” created by Jacquline Hurlbert. The artist says that the piece is a reminder of the complexities of our being. Jacquline’s…