Carol, your birthday article was so perfect, describing the wistful feelings that go along with aging, thank you for your voice! Happy birthday, and many, many more!! Reading your shared words reminded me how much reading comforts me, and I thought of my Mom.

My July birthday was also filled with those annual wistful feelings, taking stock and gratitude for life. Added to the usual feelings, it was the first without my mother. Whenever I'm missing Mom, as I am on this perfect September day outside in the sun feeding livestock, Smokey Blue and MamaCat, I do a search for her byline, 'By Geniece Marcum,' and revisit her writing, and I hear her beautiful voice through her written words. She was such a gifted writer, all the while denying her gift, but it's a gift that warms my heart to read the stories she wrote personally or contributed to. I'm sharing the link for all who knew her, or would like to know her, through her words.
--Linda Waggener