"With God's Grace Our Worst Past
Becomes Our Best Future"
Becomes Our Best Future"
Fishing with my father was anything but boring, but my mother dreaded every fishing season. “Your father is a veritable Mr. Hyde when he fishes,” she would say, generally including an emphatic gesture like hitting Dad with the newspaper, pretending a fly had landed on his shirt. “It’s safer to cuddle up to a rattler than be stuck in a boat with your father. He’s done a lot of crazy things—the craziest was the day he brought home a trout he caught at Butternut Creek.”
Dad squeezed Mother’s hand. “I suppose she’s right.”
They shared the tale that symbolized their sixty plus years together.
“Butternut Creek is so narrow,” Dad said, “you could toss a stone from one side to the other. And the trees like to hold hands across the creek. I cast my line, and I was the first to get a hit. By the force of the pull, I knew he was a big feller.”
Downstream, Eddie, Dad’s fishing buddy, was about to cast when he saw Dad struggling to hold his line. “Looks like a keeper, Cal,” he shouted. “Better use the net!”
“I left it in the truck!”
“Your father is always forgetful,” Mother interjected.
Dad could see the truck in an open field about a quarter of a mile downstream. It might as well have been two miles away. Eddie raced to retrieve it while Dad battled the trout. Long minutes later, Eddie plunged into chest-high rapids. For an agonizing second, Dad thought his amazing catch of the day would become cataloged with the other trillion stories of the one that got away.
“Got him!” Eddie shouted as he emerged triumphantly. They stopped at the water’s edge and shared an emotional moment sans tears and embraces. Eddie simply stated, “Got to have a picture of this one, Cal.”
Before the days of cell phones and Instagram, Dad hung his head in defeat. “Well, I don’t own a camera.”
“Cal, we’ve got to have proof. Nobody’s going to believe we actually caught this fellow.”
“Well, neither one of us has one. At least we know what we caught.”
The men trudged home with no lasting memento to herald their deed.
Mom came to the rescue.
As much as she despised fishing, she understood what this catch meant to her husband. “Put the fish in the tub,” she said. “I’ll find us a camera.” The next day she borrowed one from her employer, and the picture found its way into Dad’s brag book.
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12/28/2020
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12/7/2020
GREEN STUFF AND HUBS
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NOEL: THE CAT WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS
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11/30/2020
GREEN STUFF MAGIC
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WHEN GRANDMA FORGETS
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HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF BLUE ZONES?
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10/19/2020
IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM JOIN 'EM
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CREAMING
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LIFE IS THE ADVENTURE
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SAY THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDS IN BLUE
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THE SWEET COUPLE HOLDING HANDS
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7/13/2020
SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
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7/6/2020
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6/29/2020
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MARTHA ROGERS
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WHAT IS RETIREMENT
JULIE COSGROVE
6/1/2020
LOOKING UP OR LOOKING AWAY
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5/25/2020
SEEKING GOD
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5/11/2020
HOW OLD ARE YOU
Rachel J. Good
5/4/2020
IT'S NOT OKAY
MARTIN WILES
4/27/2020
EMBRACING MY INNER BOOMER
BARBARA BRITTON
4/20/2020
THE RACE FOR LILY
SHERRI STEWART
4/13/2020
GRANNY ALICE
LYNNE BASHAM TAGAWA
4/6/2020
RESILIENCE
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3/29/2020
LIVING WITH CHANGE
MARTIN WILES
3/9/2020
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MELISSA HENDERSON
2/24/2020
THE IMPORTANCE OF CREAMING
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2/17/2020
FRIENDS AT ANY AGE
ERIN UNGER
2/3/2020
IDENTITY CHECK
MARTIN WILES
1/27/2020
IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM
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1/20/2020
MY POSSESSIONS MATURE ALONG WITH ME
MARIE WATTS
1/13/2020
EYES FRONT
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1/6/2020
THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING'
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12/30/2019
SANTA'S RELUCTANT HELPER
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12/23/2019
THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH
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VANQUISHING THE CHRISTMAS BLUES
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11/25/2019
ADAPT OR DIE
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CREAMING
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11/11/2019
When our Get Up and Go Gets Up and Goes
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11/4/2019
LIFE IS THE ADVENTURE
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MY LIFE AS A BARCODE
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10/21/2019
THE QUEST FOR THIN
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10/14/2019
THE AMERICAN DREAM
ANGELA BREIDENBACH
10/7/2019
FROM GOLDEN YEARS TO GOLDEN BELLS
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9/30/2019
THE CHORDS THAT BIND MY MEMORIES
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9/23/2019
JUST BE STILL
MARTIN WILES
9/16/2019
PRINCE CHARMING, SPIDERS, AND CHEMO
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GRAY IS GRAND
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8/26/2019
A GOOD QUESTION
GEORGE CARGILL
8/19/2019
LOVING THE BABY BOOMER GENERATION
ERIN UNGER
8/12/2019
MAKING PRETTY THINGS
KATHY MCKINSEY
8/5/2019
ARE YOU TOO OLD TO BECOME AN AUTHOR
HARRY WEGLEY
7/29/2019
ENJOY THE MEAL
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IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME
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KEEPING IT FRESH
WANDA O. HOT
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OVERFLOWING WITH BLESSINGS
CLEO LAMPOS
7/1/2019
HAVING THE PRIME OF MY LIFE
JO MASSARO
6/24/2019
GOLDEN GIRL
PAT JEANNE DAVIS
6/17/2019
WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
CLEO LAMPOS
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Food, Families, and Fond Memories
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FOR THOSE OVER FIFTY-FIVE
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NEXT GENERATION
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Mimi and Bop
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5/6/2019
NEVER TO OLD TO START OVER
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4/29/2019
THE WRITER'S CALLING
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PLAYING THROUGH THE FOG
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4/8/2019
SOMETIMES WE JUST NEED TO TURN OFF THE GPS
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4/1/2019
DON’T CALL HER MA’AM
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3/25/2019
When Your Past Looms Longer than Your Future
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OUR MCDONALDS
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BORN TOO LATE
DIANNE BARKER
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PERSPECTIVE
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2/25/2019
IS IT THE BEGINNING OR THE END
KATHLEEN NEELY
2/18/2019
MY TO-DO LIST
SHERRI STEWART
2/11/2019
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
2/3/2019
MAMA, I CAN'T TAKE A BATH THERE'S A FISH IN THE TUB
LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
1/21/2019
EAT RIGHT NOW LIVE LONGER LATER
Jude Urbanski
1/14/2019
AM I STRESSED?
LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
1/7/2019
SHOULD VS WANT
LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
12/31/2018
I'LL BE ALONE FOR CHRISTMAS ... YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
Julie Cosgrove
12/24/2018
THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE
LINDA SHENTON MATCHETT
12/17/2018
LIVING WITHOUT REGRET
Grant Ferguson
12/10/2018
GROWING UP CAN BE FUN SO IS GETTING OLDER
ELLIE GUSTAFSON
12/3/2018
SOARING WITH BROKEN WINGS
Linda Wood Rondeau
11/19/2018
NEVER TOO LATE
DIANE TATUM
11/5/2018
The Not So Good Good Old Days
Linda Wood Rondeau
10/22/2018
