Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “family”
@bethvogt Our Thanksgiving holiday is complicated this year. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. It is 2020, after all. A world-wide pandemic doesn’t take a day off so we can observe our annual holiday traditions. Some of us have already decked our halls with fa-la-la-la-la because we just need a little Christmas right now – not later. Then in …
My 102-year-old mother-in-law was diagnosed with COVID-19 in October. Our family kept the news off social media, told some close friends, and prayed a lot. We also predicted that, in her typical determined fashion, she’d beat the virus. I’ve always said that if my mother-in-law was run over by a Mack truck, she’d stand up, brush herself off, and proclaim, …
I abandoned the tradition of New Year’s resolutions 15 years ago. Instead, I select One Word to focus on. I always look forward to sharing my annual One Word with family and friends, as well as finding out what One Words others select for the coming year. For only the second time in all these years, I’m repeating a One …
@bethvogt This isn’t the blog post I’d originally written for today. Seven weeks have passed since my friend’s death by suicide. My sadness is sometimes a dull ache; at other times my heart breaks all over again. Last night I realized September is National Suicide Awareness Month, also known as Suicide Prevention Month. I couldn’t ignore the God-prompt to set …
Have you ever been treated like someone’s personal fly paper? Not sure what I’m talking about? I can explain. Last week, my daughter, Christa, who is back at college, texted and said one of her friends wanted to “chat.” Anybody else see an instant red flag when a friend says, “Can we chat?” but gives no hint as to what …
@bethvogt My youngest daughter, Christa and I had an argument two weeks ago. Arguing is unusual for us. It’s unusual for me to argue with any of my adult children. That said, a rather intense verbal wrangling occurred, with both of us saying, “You wanna’ go?” at some point. It sounds better when an almost 20-year-old says it. Christa here. …
@bethvogt There are times grief throws us to our knees. We gasp for breath even as we try to grasp hold of what we’ve heard. It can’t be true. It can’t be . . . A longtime friend, someone I love and respect – someone who has shown me kindness again and again – died by suicide a few …
@bethvogt I worry about my mother-in-law every single day. I’m familiar with humorist Erma Bombeck’s assessment of worry: “Worry is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.” Still, I find myself rocking away day after day. Ruth – “MiMaw” to her four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren – turns 102 years old in …
@bethvogt My son-in-love David was offered his dream job last weekend – the opportunity he’s wanted since he stepped into his chosen career field seven years ago. He wasn’t floating his resume around, looking for a new job. Now wouldn’t be the time to do that, not when he and my daughter, Amy, have a newborn daughter. Saying yes …
@bethvogt I spent the past four years writing a “Little Women gone wrong” women’s fiction series about a trio of sisters trying to discover if they can move from a truce to trusting one another. Maybe they do. Maybe they don’t. Magicians don’t reveal how they do their tricks, right? And authors don’t reveal what’s hidden between the covers of …
