Throwback Thursday: Long live Grandma's hoya

/
Throwback Thursday: Long live Grandma's hoya

This #TBT piece by Lisa Carpenter originally published May 9, 2013 on Grandma's Briefs.

I've never been very good at growing houseplants. Because of that, I felt quite nervous and unduly obligated when the care of an elderly houseplant was informally included in the deal when we bought our current house nearly five years ago.

The sellers told us upon our agreement to buy the house that they were leaving the plant they had inherited when they bought the house, a plant started by the original homeowners when the house was built in 1975. Story was, according to the sellers — who had no information on what the plant was, only a stern warning to not let it die — that the plant bloomed only once a year and "thrived on neglect." I'm pretty good at neglecting plants, yet I still...

Read More

Grandsons: Perfect three in perfect three

/

My middle daughter, Megan, has always been a bit of a perfectionist, especially when it comes to the things that matter most to her.

newborn grandson

As a student — from the first day of kindergarten through college graduation — Megan gave 110 percent, perfecting each and every assignment. (Even if that meant...

Read More

A hairy issue

/

troll doll

I have worn my hair long the majority of my life. From my earliest years, when my mom would cut my bangs straight across my forehead and the rest would hang long down my back, to my high school years, my childrearing years and all the years since. Not Crystal Gayle long, but longer than not. Always.

Except for one year. In...

Read More

Poems past, present and in celebration of National Poetry Month

/

I had the privilege as a seventh-grader to have an English teacher who encouraged his students to seek out poetry that moved them. One assignment from him was to write down a handful of favorites along with the reasons that we liked those particular poems.

teen binder 

As this teacher understood that song lyrics were poetry that resonated with teens, my selections included several song lyrics — and far too revealing explanations on why...

Read More