I grew up during a time and place where the only blacks in the schools were those working in the cafeteria. Or in the bathrooms. Janitors. Cooks. Those were the jobs available to blacks in those days. I grew up in a time or place when parents in the burbs were afraid to send tow-headed girls to school with nappy-headed boys. So when busing began, a crop of new schools entered the district. Private schools. Church schools. Schools only white... Read more
Several of my friends are headed to the White House. They are having breakfast with President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. The invitation to breakfast belongs to an inclusive group. This group even has it’s own signature pin of distinction. I’m wearing my Gold Star pin now. In order to belong to this fraternity, one must be the family member of the fallen. Gold Star families, the veterans call us. Getting an invitation to the White House is a... Read more
I’m in Portland for a book event tonight (Thursday) at Powell’s bookstore (7 p.m. Cedar Hills). So this morning I did a round of media in advance of the event. The first stop included an interview with KATU’s AMNorthwest. My time slot was the last segment, which meant that I had to wait in the “Green Room” hanging out with the other morning guests — a woman who won a lap-band contest, the doctor who chose her as the winner,... Read more
Ms. Terry wants everybody to know one thing: “I may not be the happiest person you’ve ever met but I’m the most grateful person you’ll meet.” If that sounds incongruent, it’s only because you don’t know the rest of the story yet. Ms. Terry works as a motel maid. It was the only job she could get when she relocated from her home state of Michigan to her sister’s place in Georgia. Prior to all that, Ms. Terry’s job had... Read more
So I have this beautiful neice. Taylor. You know a girl is beautiful when she looks like this after a morning of fishing. Like her brothers and her father, Taylor loves to fish. She’s pretty good at it, too, as you can see. Taylor would never tell you this but I’m her favorite aunt. That’s because the other thing Taylor loves to do is read. Taylor and I need a photo of us posing with our favorite books, since I... Read more
That’s my friend Swede upon that ladder rigging up a redneck fix to a very complicated problem. Swede is no tree-hugging liberal. He’s a contractor for classic custom-built homes. But on Sunday, Swede was trying to fix the home of this little critter. Swede nicknamed him Harry. I’m not sure he is a he but either way, Harry seemed a good fit. On Saturday, Swede was out at Green Acres. That’s the name his wife Debbie dubbed their new property,... Read more
I worry about The Marine sometimes. He would scoff at me for that, so I’ve never made mention of it until now. The news reports of 29-year-old Jaman Iseminger of Indianapolis, In. are a reminder to me that there is a real cost to serving others the way Jaman did, the way The Marine does. Jaman, a pastor at Bethel Community Church, was reportedly shot and killed by a 49-year-old homeless woman on Saturday as he and others gathered... Read more
It never fails. Every time I speak before any group about A SILENCE OF MOCKINGBIRDS, someone will approach me, usually quietly, and confide one of the following: – They were abused as children – They have a grandchild who has been abused – They have a friend or family member who is being abusive with their children – They know a child that was abused and/or murdered Most of us have read about the horrors of abuse... Read more
This is the place where my mother creates. Had she been born to another time and place, my mother would likely have made her living as an artist. But circumstances and three children and a dead husband demanded else of her. Throughout her life my mother has been a pursuer of beauty. Where she doesn’t see it, she creates it. When she isn’t inside painting, my mother is outside gardening. Since she moved in with my brother... Read more
Dolores Aguilar 1929 – Aug. 7, 2008 Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, Raymond, her son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Ruby. She is survived by her daughters Marietta, Mitzi, Stella, Beatrice, Virginia and Ramona, and son Billy; grandchildren, Donnelle, Joe, Mitzie, Maria, Mario, Marty, Tynette, Tania, Leta, Alexandria, Tommy, Billy, Mathew, Raymond, Kenny, Javier, Lisa, Ashlie and Michael; great-grandchildren, Brendan, Joseph, Karissa,... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias
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