When I was 13, my family took our “once-in-a-lifetime” trip to the western United States, with a small travel trailer. One of our joyful discoveries was camping frequently in the large chain of national parks, especially in the western states, and which offered nature, education, Sunday worship opportunities for campers, trails, adventure, and beauty all in one place. Our local park—and I suspect many others—was formed out of land that had been a family’s farm or land. Sometimes this land had been in a family for generations—with or without an actual title deed. For our dollar, these parks were much […]

I am smitten. Sometimes I feel as though I’m on that rather silly reality TV show where one single woman (or man) has the opportunity to pick from 10 potential candidates as a boyfriend or girlfriend and potential spouse. When I’ve watched those shows in the past, I’ve always wondered how the woman or man can feel good about themselves as they dangle three or four beaus at one time, including kisses (and more). We were recently blessed to visit all four grandsons in the space of nine days. That’s why I feel as if I am dating four boys […]

  My mother flew with my oldest sister to visit our family here in Virginia recently. I was so proud of her for making the trip—at age 92. She enjoys good health and a good mind, although she has numerous serious medical issues she has to manage. That makes travel an extra challenge. Her biggest “handicap” is increasing deafness. “I felt so dumb at the airport—everyone much younger than me. Everyone looking at their picture machines.” So it was particularly alarming when on their way back home, my sister texted me a half hour after I thought they had already […]

I’m not sure how I got through high school as a literature buff and college as an English major taking many, many literature courses without reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I did watch parts of the Academy Award movie of the same name at different times, but never to my knowledge sat down and watched the entire thing. But I surely read it with different eyes and heart 50-plus years later, because of having lived a bit of Scout’s reality in the Deep South. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but at least now I’ve remedied my lapse […]

Editor’s note: Michelle Sinclair is the daughter of columnist Melodie Davis and has returned to write occasionally for Another Way after a six-month hiatus after the birth of her second son. She works in the advertising department of a major daily newspaper. The call came at noon; so unexpected I had to turn away from my work computer just to process the daycare provider’s words. Six-month-old baby Henry had spent his entire first morning at daycare refusing to drink his milk. Henry the chunky monkey, Henry the armful, Henry the roly-poly, eat-every-two-hours-and-twice-at-night baby—going on hunger strike? I was flummoxed. I […]

Last year I wrote briefly about terrorism and martyrdom in the wake of the June shootings in Charleston, South Carolina. I’m sure every dedicated Christian recoiled at the thought of what if their warm fellowship, worship, or Bible study had been so heinously disrupted. Nine church members and one pastor were murdered. Those were killings more because of race than for faith, but their faith put them in the wrong spot at the wrong time. It may not mean getting my tongue pulled out, but it may mean getting shredded for unpopular opinions or choices. I was in my own […]

I’ve been trying to write about this topic in a deep way for months. Then a brief encounter made me catch my breath, literally. I was power-walking through a nearby park and woods where I often go at lunchtime. It is also a prayer time for me, and time to relieve my stress of being tied to a mouse. You know the kind. What would it be like to be of a race where you usually have to second-guess the looks, motivations, and actions of people you are interacting with? So I had my head glued to the path, thinking […]

One of my two-year-old grandsons (now two-and-a-half) has a play kitchen that is very cool. If I had had one when I was little, I would have loved it as much as he loves his. Sometimes it seems like we all lack imagination when it comes to solving small and big problems in the world. As soon as he could walk and play, he was fascinated with watching Mommy or his grandmas cook. He begged to be held up where he could see, or donned potholders and improvised with pots and pans to mimic Mommy. (The division of house chores […]

I was driving one day and noticed a license plate in front of me that said simply, “I YI YI.” Where and when did the common language of common folk become so common? Oh my. Did you ever have something that brought to mind the voice of your father with a phrase he used? All of a sudden, Daddy was right there with me in my car, even though he’s been gone 10 years. “Aye yi yi” was an expression he often used when irritated, exasperated, upset, or just dumbfounded. For example, with a broken farm implement that turned out […]

I am not a quilter. I grew up Mennonite. My mother, an aunt on my father’s side, and a grandmother on my mother’s side were all either avid quilters or piecers, or both. A piecer is one who enjoys putting together designs and patches to make a quilt. Quilters are those who make the tiny stitches. And that’s the thing about a good quilt: most come with a good story, unless you got it online or in a store. Neither Mennonites or Amish have any special corner on quilting, even though Mennonite relief sales and quilt auctions are organized and […]