MY GRANDMA JENSEN COULD MAKE the perfect bowl of Cream of Wheat. The kind that would glide smoothly up a straw into your mouth to be greeted with delight by your tongue. As a child, I was unaware of how long Grandma labored over her old avocado-green stove, stirring the smooth mixture to perfection. Cognizant only [...]
Cream of Wheat
by Lori Nawyn
Just Mom, Dad, and Me
by Neylan McBaine
“ . . . AND PLEASE HELP Mommy and Daddy to have another baby. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” I remember saying those words night after night by the side of my bed in our New York City apartment, the only child of two incompatible personalities, the only link that held their marriage together for twenty-four [...]
Too Late to Say Good-bye
by Dalene R. Rowley
THE SPAGHETTI NOODLES always arrived from Portland in a two-foot long box, carefully curled in half at one end, which made it just possible to ease them slowly into the rapidly boiling water and cook them whole. We never ate them whole except when we had the missionaries over for dinner. It was Dad’s favorite way [...]
eleven
by Cheri Schulzke
she’s no longer a child but no more than a child yet still plays Narnia and builds mansions of Lincoln Logs and blocks her eyes glow with tears when I confirm her cautious suspicions about Santa she remembers wearing the same clothes to school all week— easier to find every morning on the floor, before [...]
Truth Beautiful
by Elaine Rumsey Wagner
I remember sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen Surrounded by the warmth of the wood furnace, stoked hot Against the four-foot drifts of the Snake River Plain outside. She told me how beautiful I was, Her creased hands against my cheeks. She talked about the beauty of youth that doesn’t need Lipstick and cream blushers. Her [...]
Crazy Quilt Existence
by R. Angela Zecca
USING COMFORTERS FOR BEDS may be the current trend, but it is not my personal favorite. I prefer the crazy quilt. Unique stitches outline different fabrics and shapes to maintain each piece’s sense of richness, bringing them together in an elegant display. These artistic creations remind me of my life and my character. As I [...]
Lost in Youth
by Gail Howlick
Silver droplets decorate the Spider’s web that simulates a fragile net wherein resides arachnid meals disguised as flies. Corners form a dark abode for insects gnawing on the wood of ancient timbers left in place to shelter rodents’ quick forays. Dusty sunbeams force their way through dirty windows, lost in haze, producing sallow spotlight rays [...]