(Swept is a reverse poem. What is a reverse poem? These poems mean one thing when read from top to bottom, but the meaning or sentiment changes when you read each line in reverse order, last line to first.)
We all have times in our lives when we wonder about our ancestors. We see a photograph of someone farther down the base of our family tree and wonder, “What was their life like?” Katie Hart Smith, our very own local author, takes this curiosity to a new level in her Sacred Heart Series.
As a whippoorwill calls out from one of the nearly century-old pine trees in the backyard, I smile, take pause, sip my tall cup of coffee – strong and black, no sugar – and continue my walk in the garden and a talk with God.
At 3:59pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2017, my husband, Jeff – a captain at the Lawrenceville Police Department – called the house. Sirens wail in the background.
When you hear those words while walking through the bustling and noisy airport, grocery or department store, or while at school, do you find yourself automatically stopping what you’re doing at that moment and look up at the intercom? As the crowd calms, perhaps, we shush others around us who are talking. We pause, patiently waiting and listening for the next set of instructions or call to action while glancing up at the ceiling.
When I was in my mid-twenties and practicing clinical nursing on a medical-surgical unit at Egleston Children’s Hospital, I provided care to a very ill little girl. She was about two years old and had a myriad of life-threatening issues that plagued her.
In honor of Father’s Day, I wanted to share with you some funny “Porch Time with Daddy” stories that our family howls over, year after year. After every mini snippet, conclude the story with my dad’s favorite go-to phrase, “That’s what you would have done, right?”
After Mom read my July column, “Be a Great American and ACT,” she called to tell me that I had forgotten to mention a very important organization that I participated in as a young girl. It helped to shape skills, leadership, loyalty, honor, and national patriotism. Which group am I referring to? The Girl Scouts. As usual, Mom was right.
In the 1937 Disney classic movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, originally written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, emerged the classic line, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Snow White’s evil step-mother, the Queen, impatiently waited to hear the magic mirror’s reply.
107 W Crogan St, Lawrenceville Ga 30046 | (770) 963-3699
