One More Breath…
Life is but a breath of air. One, followed by another, then another. At some point, we breathe our last. Only God knows when our life on Earth will end. That reality hits harder with every passing year. Like an ever-expanding snowball speeding down a hill, names are added to my list of friends, neighbors, and family memorialized in...
“All Aboard!” Revisited – The Final Post
Sunrise comes late in Idaho. Two time zones separated us from our norm. Our bodies adjusted, but would soon have to adjust back to the Central Time Zone. This pic, taken that last morning, shows the front steps to our loft apartment, above that shop, in the backyard of our host family. There were windows on the two sides NOT shown in the...
“All Aboard” Revisited! Part Ten
"Those who leave stories for future generations give us a gift of time, woven together into tapestries of the past. They give us pathways into a history with which we can relate. In doing so, both those who share and those who listen benefit from intentional generational storytelling." - Elaine McAllister, from "All Aboard: The Adventures of...
“All Aboard” Revisited – Part Nine
Grandma's story continues to grow as layers of history are uncovered. I knew it would. I always tell participants in my Generational Storytelling workshops that the work of a family historian or genealogist is never done. That excites some and frustrates others. Happy are those with no expectations of completing the task. It requires time,...
“All Aboard” Revisited – Part Eight
My Grandma - Bertha A. Ratcliff York - was a phenomenal woman. Plain and simple, but I learned a lot from her in the 30-some years we shared life on Earth. She passed in 1984...just weeks before my son was born. Grandma taught me how to live and how to die (remember the letter I quoted in "All Aboard" about living a long life?) She taught me...
“All Aboard” Revisited – Part Seven
I've visited nearly all of the 48 contiguous states in my lifetime and can attest that there is beauty in every single one. Still, I'm convinced Idaho has an overabundance of scenic wonderland. I fell in love with the area while researching to write Grandma's mini-memoir, "All Aboard! The Adventures of Miss Ratcliff" and I'm forever grateful...
“All Aboard!” Revisited – Part Six
As I write, huge machines are working in our front yard to replace the sewer line in our neighborhood. We've seen the work (and the aftermath) in our neighbors' yards to the north but evidently, today's our day. A section of our driveway was sawed, lifted, dropped, then pounded with a massive jackhammer to break it up. Then, they dug a...
“All Aboard!” Revisited – Part Five
Believe it or not, "revisiting" our recent trip is hard work! Those who know me well know I'm always on a trek for knowledge. I want to know things, I love to research and learn (always have), and I have to piece together things until they make sense. That trek is actually what prompted my efforts to 'unpack' Grandma's journal in the first...
Welcome, I’m Elaine. I’m a follower of Jesus Christ, a choreographer of words, a challenger of the status quo, an admirer of all things colorful, and a lover of life who finds great comfort and joy in knowing I’m completely adequate to do whatever it is God calls me to do!
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