When I moved back to the Upper Peninsula in the early 1980s, I was surprised to see buffalo roaming the fields on a farm on M-129. Such a sight wasn’t common in or around the Detroit area where I lived. The only buffalo I had ever seen were on nickels….
By Sharon M. Kennedy Last winter I pulled on my snowshoes and made trails in my backyard. I took a photo of the old chicken coop and my trail leading to it. This year the snow will remain pristine as I won’t be snowshoeing anytime soon. Some readers might remember…
By Sharon M. Kennedy Mom never complained about winters. She knew they would be long and harsh. She was born in 1917, the youngest of seven siblings. According to a note I found among her brother’s papers, three of their brothers died young. Eddie passed when he was three, Joe…
By Sharon M. Kennedy We all know nosy people. They’re the ones who poke through your kitchen cupboards, rummage through your drawers, and steam open your letters. They have nose trouble, at least that’s how Mom described them. No matter how busy their own lives are, they always find time…
By Sharon M. Kennedy My mother, her mother, and Mom’s sister my Aunt Kate We all reach a certain age when the past is more real than the present. I’m not talking about folks with Alzheimer’s disease, just folks that have time to sit quietly and reflect on the years…
By Sharon M. Kennedy A few years ago I made an appointment to see a dermatologist. Don’t ask me how, but a sliver of vanity survived all the tribulations I’ve endured throughout the years and that’s what prompted the visit to the doctor’s office. My condition wasn’t serious, just a…
by Sharon M. Kennedy Every vehicle comes with a fifth wheel. It’s meant for emergencies so it won’t get you very far, but in a pinch it’s a good thing to have at the ready. It’s kind of like having an unmarried friend. Such a person comes in handy when…
By Sharon M. Kennedy There was a time, not so very long ago, when I put out numerous birdfeeders for chickadees and other feathered winter visitors that came along. However, with so many feeders, it wasn’t long before the birds were pushed aside by squirrels. Lots of squirrels. They came…
By Sharon M. Kennedy We humans are a strange lot. At the start of each New Year, we make resolutions and are sure things will be different. We’ll live the exciting, safe, prosperous and happy life that evaded us during the old year. Some of us will. We’ll work harder…
By Sharon M. Kennedy Well, Christmas is over and I hope everybody’s happy. Did you all get everything you ordered from Santa? Did your dad get socks, a box of white handkerchiefs, and a bottle of Old Spice? Did your mom get a box of chocolates, a frilly apron, and…
By Sharon M. Kennedy Festivus is a fictitious event inspired by Don O’Keefe’s family of Mt. Pleasant, MI and made famous on a “Seinfeld” episode. O’Keefe was one of the writers for the show and mentioned the imaginary holiday his family celebrates on Dec. 23. His dad was tired of…
by Sharon M. Kennedy Dad wasn’t much of a shopper, but every Christmas there was a box of Queen Anne Chocolate Covered Cherries underneath the tree for Mom. It was the only candy they both knew nobody would raid. Mom didn’t have to hide the box in the laundry basket…
By Sharon M. Kennedy Mom wasn’t much for taking pictures. Either her thumb got in the way of the shutter or she cut off somebody’s head or included too much of the ground or sky. However, occasionally she plucked up a smidgeon of courage and snapped a photo that was…
by Sharon M. Kennedy Anyone who has watched the television show, M*A*S*H, is familiar with the theme song, “Suicide is Painless.” And anyone who has lost a loved one through suicide knows that’s a lie. The pain of the deceased is over, but the sorrow felt by those left behind…
by Sharon M. Kennedy In 25 days, Christmas Eve will be here. You know perfectly well you don’t want to think about it because you haven’t started shopping. Chances are you even avoided all those wonderful Black Friday and Cyber Monday super sales. It’s just too early to think about…
By Sharon M. Kennedy Uncle Steve and his Turkeys Yesterday was Thanksgiving, the day everybody is as stuffed as the turkey. For weeks, cooks have been preparing menus and testing new recipes. Tables will sag beneath the weight of the usual fare. Clever techniques inspired by cooking channel chefs and…
by Sharon M. Kennedy What would you do if you knew you had only one more day to live? It’s probably a good thing we don’t know when our time will come. There would be so much to do. If we haven’t a will, we’d have to quickly write one,…
by Sharon M. Kennedy NOTE: The following newspaper column was published in May of this year. Today at 11:47 a.m. my beloved cousin, Mary Cryderman Cobb, left this world to join her loved ones in the Great Beyond. Her daughter, Patty Ann, called and asked me to say goodbye while…
by Sharon M. Kennedy Even as a young child I either closed my eyes or shielded them from sunshine. It wasn’t that I didn’t love the warmth of the yellow orb in the sky. It was because its brightness hurt my eyes. I don’t remember when I started wearing sunglasses…
by Sharon M. Kennedy On November 11, 1918, the signing of the Armistice with Germany officially ended World War I. One hundred and four years ago today, the war to end all wars was over. Unfortunately, the hope that such a horrible event would never occur again was premature. There’s…
by Sharon M. Kennedy When we were kids in the 1950s, Mom made sure our overalls were patched, the buttons on our jackets were securely sewn in place, and bandanas protected our hair and ears. How my sister escaped wearing one is beyond me. In this photo, Jude’s shorty jacket…
By Sharon M. Kennedy In Plato’s “Dialogues” he posed the question someone asked his teacher, Socrates, a man accused of impiety and corruption of the young: “What is the origin of these accusations? All this great fame and talk about you would never have arisen if you had been like…
By Sharon M. Kennedy As we age, it often gets harder to cling to our dignity. For some folks losing a sense of dignity is due to major health problems that require constant medical attention including poking and probing into our physical body. For others, it’s dealing with non-life threatening…
Sharon and brother, Bucky, with Puff the cat, circa 1959 by Sharon M. Kennedy Another chapter in my uneventful life ended in the summer of 2015. The house of my youth was leveled. In less time than it takes to watch a soap opera, the old place took its final…
“Let’s Be Brave” from The Passing Throng by Edgar A. Guest Let’s be brave when the laughter dies And the tears come into our troubled eyes, Let’s cling to the faith and the old belief When the skies grow gray with the clouds of grief, Let’s bear the sorrow and…
