Sharing memories a parent’s duty

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:26

“Stories make you think and dream; books make you want to ask questions” —Michael Morpurgo, author of “War Horse”

I tried hard, honest, but I just couldn’t stop myself. I hope she forgives me. As my daughter finalized a music lyric video in some kind of movie-maker program the other day, I fought the urge to spew out one of those “I remember…” comments from my teen years.

I fought it, and then I lost.

Basically she types in all the lyrics to a song and sets it to music and images on the computer. She can adjust when the frames change, when the music starts, stops and fades out.

Watching this, I remembered being her age and barreling to my cassette deck to catch a song off the radio and record it onto a cassette...

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There’s room for all at Christmas

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 13 December 2011 16:36

“So we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change. We keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change.” —John Mayer

I grew up in a Catholic home, in a family that went to midnight mass every Christmas Eve, back when it was still held at midnight.

Year after year, I was one in a long line of kids wearing white robes and silver pipe cleaner halos and grasping tiny candles, marching up the aisles of the church toward the alter, where we would form rows in front of the packed church and sing “Away in a Manger.”

To and from mass, I sat in the backseat with my head pressed against the window, searching the black sky in furious silence for that small red glow. I always hoped to see it, but was also a little nervous—afraid we...

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Gratitude for the ‘extra stuff’ of life

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 22 November 2011 15:51

“Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.” —Dr. Seuss

Do you have your Thanks­giving list ready? They’re almost as fun to make as a Christmas list. Mine includes my daughters, my health, my family, my friends, my home and my faith. I can’t be thankful enough for any of these because I don’t deserve them.

I know a lot of words, but none that convey what it means to wake up every morning with these realities. To recap, I really, really don’t deserve them.

I used to keep a gratitude journal. Just a simple notebook where I wrote down five things I was grateful for every morning. It’s good...

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Some days technology overwhelms

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 08 November 2011 15:58

“Isn’t it funny that Americans are furious at corporate greed but watch reality TV stars squandering millions of dollars on parties, weddings, etc.? And they keep watching them….” —Wichita Eagle Opinion Line

Cable’s equivalent to crack, the Hallmark Channel, aired a movie this weekend set in the time of horseback lawmen and hand-pumped well water. Once I caught a few seconds of it, I set down the remote. It had me at “mighty obliged.”

There was a tall, dark and handsome widowed sheriff, the kind free-spirit deputy falling for the heroin, and to round it out, a bad guy pointing his gun at kindly folks along the trail as he stole their money and terrorized their women.

I’m not a huge fan of westerns but I don’t know...

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