family
Remembering Dad on his Birthday – Toad in the Hole
It’s November 6th and my dad would have been 82 years old today. In memory of my dad, Douglas Gatheridge, (people called him Doug), I am sharing an essay I wrote about him titled Toad in the Hole. The essay highlights a happy memory from my childhood of me and Dad in the kitchen. Of…
Read More
Quote Your Dad
I found a lone piece of Dove dark chocolate in the pantry today so decided I’d better eat it. I love Dove chocolates for two reasons – they simply taste good and there’s a saying on the inside of each foil wrapper. The sayings are generally inspirational or thought provoking. Some mean more to me than others.…
Read More
Talking to Dad
Mom and I were invited to a bridal shower today (my cousin’s daughter is getting married). It isn’t easy for Dad, who has some dementia (most likely Alzheimers) to stay at home on his own, so Mom brought Dad on over to my house to hang out with Owen and Ryan while Mom and I attended the shower (Rose…
Read More
N is for North
North is a direction on the compass, of course, but here in Minnesota it means something else, too. North means Up North, as in “we’re going up North this weekend.” Oftentimes “going up north” means the same thing as going to “the lake.” Funny thing is, “north” and “the lake” don’t mean any particular area, it…
Read More
K is for Kids
Kids. My husband, Owen, and I have two kids (that’s two children not two young goats/aka kids). Rose is nearly 16 and Ryan turned 13 just today. I now have two teenagers in the house! I know I am biased, but I think both of my kids are pretty cool. I genuinely like them 🙂…
Read More
H is for Hugs
I’m a hugger. I love to give hugs and to get hugs. Interestingly, I didn’t grow up in a huggy sort of family. Maybe I like hugs because I didn’t grow up in a huggy family and I’ve been craving hugs because of it. Hard to say. I’ve made a point to hug my kids a lot…
Read More
E is for Esophagus
I don’t think about my esophagus often. In fact, I don’t know much about it other than it’s in the neck and food travels through it. But the esophagus has been on my mind a lot lately because my Aunt has cancer of the esophagus. This morning (I’m writing this on Thursday) she had about two-thirds of…
Read More