I told my writer friend we need to finish strong. We can't quit writing. Someone needs our words to give hem courage to fulfill their lives. we should be living our days for others, hone our craft and keep doing what we've been called to do. We will know when it's time to let go and move over for someone else. I always purposed to be like Grandma Moses, who had paint under her fingernails as she painted her last watercolor on the day she dies. I could see myself finishing strong, flying out on w…

Spring and summer guests will soon fill our streets, scurrying in and out of stores and shops. Winter has passed and a new season is about to burst into our little town of Pagosa. We will soon be dodging orange cones and more traffic than our streets can hold. We are putting behind another winter - an odd winter with little snow. For me it meant weekly visits to doctors and hospitals. Behind the activity was the real core of our community working - our people who showed up every day with love an…

I received an email. The subject line read "Emptiness." I stopped and re-read the first two lines again. Mark Craine told me his precious wife, Wanda, went home to be with Jesus. He wanted me to know. Mark worked for Ponderosa Lumber company for years and served our community. Many of you were in personal contact each day as you purchased building materials and supplies. He was a friend to many in the building world and also in the Christian world. You might not know about the news of his wife,…

I scrambled for something to write about for the next deadline. I’d been in the hospital for four days from this horrible respiratory syncytial virus. Time to pull myself up by the strong of my slippers – throw off my robe cinch up my belt, hook up by bra and get back to life. It felt good to let it all spread out, but that’s not living. Time is getting shorter. There is more living behind me than in front of me. I plowed through my mind, turned over the dirt and dug deep. Not one word came. I’v…

Love brings struggle. Life is hard at best. But, God is love and He draws us to Himself in love. So, two loves struggle to become one. Poets speak of love. “It’s better to have loved and lost than never loved at all,” states a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Reaching forward to April 1, my Sweet Al and I will celebrate our 66th wedding anniversary. We stand in awe that we have made it this far. Was the struggle worth it? Heavens yes. Did we want to throw in the towel? Heavens yes, many times. We d…