“how sad and bad and mad it was ― but then, how it was sweet” ― Robert Browning. Yesterday it snowed in Comfort. Of course it did. The last day of 2020 and what else would I expect but the unexpected. How mad. Not a layer accumulated, but how sweet to warm by the fireplace … Continue reading Take Comfort into 2021
She folds towels like the mom I watched as a child — aligning corners, sweeping her fingers across the terry, smoothing before flipping for a final fold, her accomplishment culminating in a smile of satisfaction. Before dementia, her folds had purpose, a mother caring for her family. Now she folds while not knowing why. A … Continue reading A Practice Run to the Finish Line
MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS! MAY YOUR HOLIDAY BE FILLED WITH HAPPINESS. AND MAY YOUR NEW YEAR BE AMAZING. THANK YOU FOR SHARING IN MY LIFE. KAREN
My friend’s phone rang. When she answered, another friend asked, “Is Karen just devastated?” The bark looked the same. Skin of decades. Protecting. Rough and furrowed. Covering — like lined up and laid out potato chips, the wavy edges lifted as if exfoliating, peeling open trails that if followed could share stories from every season. … Continue reading A Tree is Nice
He is Risen. Known. Believed. Loved. HAPPY EASTER
The air was dreary and drizzly, family was visiting from out of town, and we sat inside talking, wishing for the weather to clear. Then, instinctively, because something out of order darted by, Jim jumped from the couch and bolted out the door while blurting he had seen a giant bird. Well, maybe not so … Continue reading Home Again
Merry Christmas to all my friends and loved ones! Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15 The wonder of nature comforts me — in times of blessings and in times of deep sorrow — … Continue reading A Big Christmas Greeting
"The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected." — Robert Frost Like an alarm bell, the sprouting sedums announce the passage of time. Could it be more than a year since the first post on Take Comfort? I had three reasons to start this blog: To share stories with my kids; to challenge myself … Continue reading Take Comfort: A Year Flew Softly By
"Listen, God has made you free in a tomb that is empty." (Robert Troutman, my dad, sermon from 1981). Excerpt from the sermon, "An Easter for all Seasons." "This freedom can be in any kind of society or structure. It can be in any country in the world. ...This freedom can come at any place, … Continue reading Your Easter Basket
“Get out you damn fool,” she shouted. To her caregivers, Eleanor’s words were too easy to ignore, just another refusal from a memory care resident not wanting to be changed at the prescribed time. Her fingernails dug into their skin. “Stop it you damn shit.” Without pause, they pulled my mom into the restroom, her … Continue reading Noooo! Mom Did Not Say That!