My Portfolio

When I was 14 or 15, I started working in the family business started by my grandfather and run, at that time, by my father.  I continued to work in the business through college.  In the first semester of my sophmore year of college, I was facing a dilemma I had...

It is needless to mention that; our parents are our assets. They are someone that had given enough care, attention and compassion to us in all our situations. But, when they grow elder, they do expect the same from us. Of course, you can give your all attention, care and love...

Early in our marriage, Orser put a lawn into the back yard of the home we were renting. There remained a bit of bare earth just to the left of the back door. I found a packet of seed labeled Children's Garden and asked him to put it in.  They came...

Today as I do almost every day, I stopped in my daughter's room to check the blossoms on her African Violet. They are huge, a rich purple and bloom frequently and fully.  They remind me of the luxury of walking behind my grandparents home and marveling at the carpet of wild...

Grocery shopping with Mother and Daddy was pretty interesting. We shopped on Friday evening because Friday was pay day. I guess it began on Thursday night when we had leftovers for supper, both to pare down the contents of the refrigerator and to avoid waste. Then on Friday morning Mother defrosted and cleaned...

This poem was written by me and sent to my brother, Tom, when he was a Marine tunnel-rat in Viet Nam.   The year was 1968, and I was 15 years old.   My parents, my nine siblings and I waited every day for word on whether or not he was...

Mama’s Red Hot Applesauce   2 pounds cooking apples, quartered and cored, remove any bad spots   Place in saucepan with 1 to 1 ½ cups water, enough to keep them from scorching   Cover and cook over low heat until soft   Strain through a coarse sieve and add 1/3...

My Dad once said to me, "You know, in all the years we\'ve been a family, I look around and I think, I never really taught you kids anything." I believe this comment came from the fact that so many of us went into careers that had nothing to do with the...

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If I had only one day left to live, I would wish to spend that time with my children.  I'd take them to a park, spread a blanket on the ground and have a heart to heart with each of them.    It is important to me that I share things such...

Being brought up in a home with eleven other voices, I sometimes felt like mine didn't matter.  I'm sure we've probably all felt like that at times.  Some of us may have reacted in anger, some in bitterness and others still with little or no reaction at all.  Unfortunately, I was...

I've often wondered why such strange things happen to me.  Sure, I know sometimes I can bring them on myself, but there are those things that happen "just because."  Here's a little story about one of those times.   When my daughter, Heather, was in her first year of high school,...

My son Justin has been battling Alopecia Areota; which is a hair loss,  since he was four years old. He is now 17.  We first realized this problem after Justin attempted to cut his own hair.  Due to the "creative hairstyle" he chose for himself, expert help was needed.  At the barber shop,...

The older I get, the more I enjoy warm weather.  It's amazing how the sun has such a therapeutic effect on what lies deep beneath the skin.  Oh, I can perspire along with the best of them when I'm cleaning a bath tub or just climbing two flights of stairs, but that's different.  I'm...

Okay, so you've been introduced to my son at 3-years old.  At least you think you've been introduced.  Actually, you have only seen him from a distance.  It's time you come inside our home and meet him up close and personal.  </div> For most of us 5:30 a.m. is a time...

Patti’s Hot Pepper Salsa Recipe   5 lbs Peppers; hot and sweet r 2 lbs small tomatoes r 1 lb onions r 6 bulbs garlic r 2 shallots r ½ tsp all colors of Peppercorns, ground r 1 cup Vinegar r Pinch Sea salt r   7 1-pint canning jars with...

When C. Stephen Guyer's three children were growing up, he told themstories about how his grandfather, a banker, lost all in the 1930s, butdidn't lose sight of what he valued most. In one of the darkest times,Mr. Guyer says, when his grandfather was nearly broke, he loaded hisfamily into the car...

How to Grow Old Gracefully March 9, 2009 It's a fact that we all grow old.  It's also a fact that we have little, if any, control regarding the overall aging process.  Yet, what is positive is the fact that we can control how we live while we age.  We control...

How many of you have ever encountered a child that seems to find himself in trouble without any trouble at all?  Lucky for her, my daughter was 2-years old when my son was born.  If he had been born first, I'm not sure I would have had any more.  "That sounds...

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