Growing Bolder Community

My son and I arose early this Sunday morning to attend a Quaker service. I’d not ever been to a Friends Meeting before. There were no pews, no alter, no crucifix, not even a minister per se. Congregants entered the meeting house quietly, taking their seats in straight backed chairs. Taking our cue from those surrounding us, we closed our eyes. Silence enveloped us like soft cushions from a comfy...

While the following is my personal musing, I suspect it could have been written by many who have lost their parents. I quietly and privately cried today. They were neither tears of physical pain nor tears of joy. Rather they were tears of sorrow, tears of loss and for what will never be again. The tears came as I reread my musing about my Mom and also recalled my musing about my Dad. They...

I first posted this as a comment under a thought leader question about summer memories, but I decided to put it here because the experience played a large part in shaping who I am. Since I grew up on the Gulf coast, many of my enduring summer memories center around the threat of hurricanes. Hurricane Camille bore down on us in 1969 and we were directly in the path....

I recently attended a family reunion in South Georgia, my mother’s family homestead. (Homestead is a bit of an overstatement.) My mother’s paternal grandmother extracted her from this tiny town when she was eight, taking her to live in Orlando. I, nor others in my family, ever learned why she left, a mystery which will remain unsolved since my Mom died almost 30 years ago. My...

We have many excuses for why we can’t remember where we put the car keys or why we can’t...

Sadness weighs heavy in the hearts of millions of fans mourning the passing of disco icon Donna Summer. Although I parted with my silky smooth, wrinkle-free brown, black, blue, and red quiana wrap-around dance skirts decades ago, the memories have never faded. In the late 1970’s, innumerable hours were spent every Saturday night as the lovelorn, me included, jammed into...