home /hōm/

noun

Roots

Mom…i miss you

Dancing Hearts

Susanna Leonard Hill’s

With Hopeful Heart! – The 3rd Annual Valentiny Writing Contest!!!

Rules – Write a children’s story (for ages 12 or younger) using no more than 214 words with the theme being hope.

Dancing Hearts – 200 word count

A Christmas Kiss

Petrified

At Ease

Dad died on Halloween 1988.  I always think of him this time of year so I’m sharing a little bit of his life…and mine.

Birthday Girl

Long Ride Home

Neither the grey sky nor the steady rain could dampen Rene’s thoughts any more than they already were. The train would be leaving soon. Coming home wasn’t what she expected. Nothing remained of what once had been. She knew things would have changed but she wasn’t ready for what she found.  Dementia comes on slowly; but for Rene and her mom, it had been a lifetime.

I wish I could tell you that I had known Rene and her family for a long time, but I cannot. We met on the long train ride home after a trip.  We shared a compartment, just the two of us. Rene needed to talk. I was willing to listen. By the end of the journey, I knew all about her childhood, her brothers and sisters, her drunken father, and her dementia laden mom.

We shared space for a time…and time forever. Rene and I never kept in touch, perhaps she was embarrassed for exposing so much of herself to a stranger; or maybe I was needed only for that moment in her life. I’ll never know nor does it matter. I will always recall the telling and the feelings it evoked within me, especially now, on my journey home.

To You Who Serve

To the men and women who gave up their lives so we have a future filled with freedoms. To their families who are left with only memories and a future without their loved ones in it – your freedom comes especially hard – the ultimate sacrifice.