His 92 year old distant relative gave my husband a quilt. Back home after a quick trip to Abilene, we opened the quilt's packaging and read the yellowed notes straight-pinned to it. The quilt was handmade by women in the community of Truby, Texas in the early 1930s. Each woman had handstitched a square along… Continue reading The Quilt
On September 1, I got a new hip. I've never had major surgery before. I'm less than three weeks into the recovery. Because I was in so much pain this summer leading up to the surgery, I took the summer off from writing and speaking. I missed it but I was hurting so much I… Continue reading Why Didn’t I Take Them Mosquito Repellant?
We've all been saying it. We've been shaking our heads at the events of recent weeks and months. We seem to agree that we hate the violence. We hate the division among races, religions and cultures. We hate what is happening in politics right now. We hate floundering over which phrase is wrong or right to… Continue reading Just Do Something
Ahh, the last week of school, remember that feeling? We used to say, "No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks" and laugh together as we left school feeling so incredibly free. As students bask in their summer freedom this week, my heart is heavy thinking about next fall already. I'm part of a… Continue reading School’s Out
In our local school district (Grapevine-Colleyville, Texas) there are over 3000 students identified as economically disadvantaged. That number grows every year, currently it is right at 1 in 4. These are the children on free and reduced lunch. This the little girl who showed up to see the school nurse on Monday morning with a tummy ache. … Continue reading I Want Us to See Them
Dr. Cindy Ryan 