That's What Jenni Said

I recently read Jane Eyre and while I don’t have the time or motivation to write a full review let me just report that YOU NEED TO READ THIS NOVEL. It’s fantastic. It has a lot to say on Christianity and following the right path and trusting God. Trust me on this one. Unless you’re a man. This novel is really antique chicklit, so men may not find the romance and drama of the relationships intriguing.

Spring will pass in less than 25 days. The spring of my 35th year. The spring of my 15th wedding anniversary. The spring of my father’s death. Looking back over my entries I notice that they stopped soon after my father’s death and the only updates since have been more details on his death and a short note about a prior winter trip to Austria. On my father The first two months were very difficult. I was unable to make it longer than a couple of days without crying over my father’s death. This month there have been no tears but his death still hits me at unexpected moments. I’ll be in the car on the way to work and suddenly it occurs to me as if it were new information: my father is dead. Or I’ll be at the office in a meeting about to present and a voice inside reports with panic: my father is dead! I never know when it is going to bubble up and knock the wind out of me, but I’m learning how to deal with it. The guilt is fading (my mantra: I did my best to be a good daughter and w...

With all the drama in my life the first quarter of this year I neglected to post a link to my article on Austria. It’s my second (paid) published travel piece to add to my portfolio. I hope to build a solid portfolio and begin publishing in standard print magazines such as Budget Travel or Travel and Leisure. The link is here: A Three Day Excursion Into Austria

As I posted previously my father died on March 5, 2011. He was 82 years old and he passed exactly six months before his 83rd birthday. This is the story of his death. On a Wednesday in late February my father alarmed the staff at Manassas Adult Daycare (run by the Manassas Baptist Church) when he suddenly appeared non-responsive to their questions. He was rushed to the ER but presented responsive by the time the doctors saw him. They considered releasing him but opted for the conservative approach of admitting him for testing. Inside I was secretly relieved- a hospital admission would lead to a direct transfer to a nursing home upon discharge for rehab and then Daddy could get the professional caregiving support he needed. Each day at home had been getting progressively more difficult. Dad complained more, demanded more and slipped in health a little more as we moved through winter. I was wounded so many times by his careless and biting remarks. He had one behavior that particula...

These are the words I spoke today at Daddy’s memorial service. My Uncle Lu then reflected on his memories of Daddy as well. Daddy was born an ordinary man. And like all men he wrestled with his sinful nature. But Daddy was also a believer and the promise for believers is clear: when this mortal life draws to a close our sinful natures are cast off and what remains is our godliness; our love. So I want to tell you a little about the godliness I met in Daddy and leave his sinful nature on the ground where its been shed as I find it totally irrelevant to his current conditions. As I mentioned, Daddy was a believer. I cannot remember a time before I knew of God; Daddy worked to instill knowledge of our father in heaven within me from the beginning. He and my mother raised me in the church. Angels and demons, the afterlife, and the nature of God were frequent discussion topics between us. Daddy’s belief brought hope to those around him. Daddy was a teacher. He spent hours with me tire...

…and tonight I go to bed hoping I will awake tomorrow and find it was all a bad dream.

Two blind pilots both are wearing dark glasses, one is using a guide dog, and the other is tapping his way along the aisle with a cane. Nervous laughter spreads through the cabin, but the men enter the cockpit, the door closes, and the engines start up. The passengers begin glancing nervously around, searching for some sign that this is just a little practical joke. None is forthcoming. The plane moves faster and faster down the runway and the people sitting in the window seats realize they're headed straight for the water at the edge of the airport. As it begins to look as though the plane will plough in to the water, panicked screams fill the cabin. At that moment, the plane lifts smoothly into the air. The passengers relax and laugh a little sheepishly, and soon all retreat into t heir magazines, secure in the knowledge that the plane is in good hands. In the cockpit, one of the blind pilots turns to the other and says, “u know, Bob, one of these days, they...