Shining Moments

There are few pleasures that compare to tea time     that time in the day when you fix a hot cup of tea     preferably with a friend        or family member and sit   and talk      and sip tea together. My memories of tea time go back to when I was in school. I’d come...

Shining Moments

From the time when I was very young I wanted to play the piano. So when my parents bought an old upright piano when I was nine, I was thrilled. I sat down with my mom’s old piano books and worked to figure it out. One note at a time    I began to play.       First the...

Shining Moments

Growing up my books were my friends. Frequent moves often left me without a friend and feeling lonely. Yes, I was the one standing on the outside in PE class longing to be picked and chosen. Time after time the PE teacher just shook his head and assigned me to a team....

Shining Moments

Rocking chairs have a particular fascination for me.     From the time I was a very young girl  I have enjoyed the gentle, rhythmical movement of a rocking chair. Back and forth. Back and forth.    All the time my thoughts coming into that soothing rhythm. When I was...

Shining Moments

Her feet were so tiny when I first met her more than nine years ago in Kostroma, Russia. And as I slipped them into those pink little shoes that had I purchased in Kiev     more than a year before     I marveled at the perfect fit. God knew that they were her shoes...