Prisoner of Hopes

Tag: family

  • Confessions of an Extroverted Introvert

    Sometimes it just seems too “peoply” out there. Don’t get me wrong, I love people. I enjoy extended time with friends and families. I love going to work and encountering new individuals of all ages. But I am an extroverted introvert. There is something in me that screams for alone time. If I am in…

  • Decoration Day

    My grandma always called Memorial Day by its old name…decoration day. It was a day set aside to decorate the graves of soldiers with flowers and to honor their memories. Eventually, decoration day became Memorial Day. She was adamant about honoring family with artificial flowers. My decoration day celebration, however, is always the 48 hours…

  • Thanksgiving

    The leaves have turned. The air has turned colder. The days are shorter. There is an urgency to make the most of any weather that permits outdoor living. Winter is coming. It is the time of year that family negotiations begin. Where shall we meet? How many will come? Who will bring food? The coordination…

  • The Mother Road: Travel Goals

    Standing under the sign that signals the beginning (or the end) of Route 66 on Santa Monica Pier, I feel the excitement and anticipation that a great road trip always brings. We are in Los Angeles to help my our daughter and son in law make a cross country move to Chicago. So for the…

  • Peace be still

    The words sound simple and joyful. Peace be still. It is peaceful here. The birds are singing. The sun is shining. I am sitting by a campfire and in the stillness of the morning, I am thinking of my beautiful aunts. They are all with the Lord. But today, they are also vivid in my…

  • Life is hard. God is good.

    The last few weeks have been difficult; not because there is anything wrong in my life, only because I feel unsettled. Call it a physiological response or existential angst. Maybe it is the summer blahs. Perhaps it is living in what I like to call “the age of anxiety.“ It doesn’t really matter what it…

  • Headed Home

    I am driving home after a lengthy stay with my son. Leaving his house, I have very mixed emotions. I am feeling that (I am dropping you off for college, I don’t know when I will see you again, you are smart and capable but my life’s mission is to make sure you are okay)…

  • You Called

    Last night, just as I was getting ready for bed, you called. I was tired and I had to get up really early this morning. I didn’t mention any of that, because you called. Since you have grown and flown, these moments of insight into your life are rarified. Yes, I could call you and…

  • Serenity

    Up at dawn, I sip my coffee in solitude and say a prayer of gratitude. It is peaceful. The birds are making the small chirping sounds that accompany a new day. My family thinks I’m a little crazy for getting up with the sun each day. But to me, it is serene. A time when…

  • Valentine Adventure: Travel Goals

    February 14th arrived a little cooler and cloudy. Valentine’s Day is usually like that. . . a lot of hype about a cold day in the “F” month. This day, however, we finally got to take a train to Cascais. The seaside beckoned out the windows of the train as we moved along the Estoril…