Magical Memoir Moments

Grandchildren L-R, Lydia, Owen, and Julia

A New Website and Newsletter Look! Seeking Your Tweaks

My website was first set up in 2008 to be a place to house a blog called “100 Memoirs.” When my first book Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets the Glittering World came out, I needed a different kind of website, an author’s version, to accommodate the various kinds of information prospective book buyers, reviewers, and…

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"Bubbe" Paula Span with new-born Bartola.

Are You Bubbe, Zaide, Oma, Opa, Grandma, Grandpa? Paula Span Is Your Must-Read Journalist

Do you have a must-read journalist or columnist? I discovered mine in the pages of The New York Times. She specializes in some of my favorite subjects: the new old age, grandparenting and memoir. Her name is Paula Span. Her writing combines clarity, elegance and empathy. I love that she tells her own story as she…

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Amanda Gorman on the left, next to her grandmother in the center and mother on the left.

Did You Go GaGa When You Became a Grandparent?

Way back in 2003, Donne (pronounced Donnie) Davis got a special invitation. Her pregnant daughter invited her to be present in the delivery room. When Donne tells the story of seeing her granddaughter emerge into the world from the body of the woman she herself had birthed, her eyes still glisten and her voice trembles….

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Wearing her raspberry beret as she announces "KindYouFind" has launched.

Take Your Mother to Work Day: Episode Two

My mother and I tried one second-hand store in the 1960’s. It was dark, the clothing was not attractively presented, and we weren’t sure we wanted anyone to see us go in or out. Second-hand shopping simply meant you couldn’t afford new clothes. There was a stigma attached. Enter 2022. Every town has at least…

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Lancaster County "girl group" about 1944. My mother, Barbara Ann Hess, is front and center, holding hands and looking right into the camera.

Take Your Mother to Work Day: Episode One

You’ve heard of Take Your Daughter to Work Day? Recently, I flipped the script and asked my daughter if she was up for Take Your Mother to Work Day. She was! But before we go to work, a story. Once upon a time there was a girl who loved to shop for clothes with her…

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Grandma Shirley and Granddad Stuart with Julia (9) and Owen (10).

Grandparent Day — A Day of Rejoicing and Thanksgiving

Have you ever attended a Grandparents Day event as a child or adult? Perhaps on the second Sunday in September, the “official” Grandparent Day? Or maybe you have been invited to a grandchild’s school? Our Tulsa, OK, grandchildren, ages 10 and 9, invited us to attend Grandparent Days at their school recently. We were able…

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By Owen Showalter, age 10

Giving Thanks 2021: Doubling Down on Gratitude

Last year at this time was very dark. The pandemic. Both children were in hospitals miles apart. Cold weather. Fading light. A dark night of soul and body. It was very hard to see the blessings in my life when there was so much suffering. So this year, I am rejoicing twice. Once for all…

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The purple dahlia.

What I Learned from Julia Spicher Kasdorf’s Mother

Virginia was terribly chagrined that she forgot to bring flowers, her intended house warming present, the day we went to lunch together. I laughed and told her to surprise one of her new neighbors, since she lives 20 minutes away and she is even newer to Lancaster County retirement community living than we are. But,…

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Poet Norbert Krapf

How Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, and Norbert Krapf Helped Me to Become a More Mindful Grandparent

Did you watch the Nobel Prize ceremony in 2016 when Patti Smith sang “It’s a Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” in honor of her friend Bob Dylan? If not, you need to watch it here. And if you are one of the three million people who have already watched this video, trust me, it’s worth another…

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Go down the steps to Greco's ice cream and up the steps to Bruno's Hoagies.

Location, Location, Location: Choosing It and then Exploring it

Q: What are the three most important things about choosing a new home? A: Location, location, location. Why did we choose Warwick Woodlands? There are, after all, dozens of other retirement communities in Lancaster County, PA. In 2018, in fact, U.S. News & World Report ranked Lancaster County as the #1 retirement destination in the…

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