Blog Posts
The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time–a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken. —Traditional Yule Prayer
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All of Abby’s pent-up excitement about becoming a big sister evaporated when she first met her baby sister, Eleanor, in our birthing suite. She pouted and didn’t want to touch her sister or talk about the baby. Later, when her dad took her back to the car, Abby declared, “I am a big sister now!”…
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I Was Laying on the Living Room Couch On a gloomy day, November 22, 1963, in La Crosse, WI, I was home from school sick. My mom had to pick me up from school. Even though kids were not allowed to lounge on the living room furniture, she settled me on the couch and returned…
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Yesterday, walking into the local food shelf where I volunteer, I encountered a staff member dressed as a skeleton. She told me they were hosting a trick or treat event for the community, so the staff decided to dress in costumes. As someone who loves Halloween (my birthday is Oct. 30), I embraced their spirit.…
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Last year, I wanted to resign from a volunteer role about six months before the end of my term. There were many, many rational reasons why it made sense to walk away from a toxic situation. But something inside me wouldn’t let me quit. Every time I’ve faced the dilemma about quitting versus finishing something,…
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My work group gathered in a cozy room for a team-building retreat. The conference room was tucked away from the hubbub of the main workspaces and high-traffic corridors, adjacent to a comfortable lounge area. We’d worked together for a while and knew each other well. Also, we enjoyed our work and got along. Our plan…
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My daughter’s Brownie Troop embarked on an outdoor excursion one February evening in Minnesota, about 15 years ago. We were on a weekend retreat, and I’d signed up to build a fire in an outdoor fire ring. Meanwhile the other moms would take the girls to a pond for a curling match. Arriving at the…
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By Jackson Harkness, Age 11 Trees were zipping past me a mile a minute. Everything was a blur. I was going really fast, too fast to stop. Where was the blue run my parents were talking about? I was really starting to worry. I started gaining speed. Now I was even having trouble turning. My…
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One of my most memorable childhood gifts came when I was five years old on Christmas Eve in 1961. Dressed in my “Sunday best” outfit at my grandparents’ farm house. This picture captures my memory. But irony and coincidence also lurk invisibly in the background of this image. We had just feasted on Grandma Esther’s…
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—Lois Storlie’s Reflections, curated and written by her daughter, Jean Storlie. I really liked growing up on the farm. It was a simple life, but my dad and grandpa were big teases. They stirred up mischeif and kept me on my toes! Working in the Field My dad taught me how to drive the team…
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