“We Do Not Remember Days, We Remember Moments”

On January 30th, we celebrated our son-in-law's 50th birthday! Yet another instance of moments in our lives passing too quickly. Our daughter, Jennifer, first introduced Brian to us 31 years ago. Our introduction to Brian's father, Bill, (who was 50 years old when Brian was born), gives way to an amusing story. Jennifer's dad, Bob …

Love and Respect–Our Family’s Cycle

In the Old Testament's book of Genesis, Noah was the tenth and last of the biblical patriarchs. He was chosen by God as the only righteous man of his time and is known infamously as the hero of the Flood story (2,000-10,000 BCE). The name Noah peaked in 2016 when nearly 20,000 newborn babies were …

Elderly Parents Say The Darndest Things

I posted the following scenario to Facebook on November 16, 2016, and decided it so typified the humor my parents shared with others that I am compelled to capture it in my blog about our family’s heritage. When caring for the elderly (our Matriarch and Patriarch who were 88 and 89 at the time), I …

Writer And Adventurer -I’m Still Going Strong!

I have authored three children's books since my last post here, and two of them have been released. My first book "If Only I Was Special" is about a little dog named Hashbrown, who has forgotten he is unique. His wish-filled quest for specialness is vividly illustrated in colorful images. My second book, "Hi I'm …

Play Fair

In the early 1970’s the women’s rights movement was recognized as the “second wave” of feminism. Every aspect of women's lives, including work, family, and sexuality were included in this movement.  However, not everyone was on board with this equal rights for women’s evolution. In fact, some of the fathers and coaches on our Catholic …

From My Family Tree–

Founding Father Fables & Folklore I received three gifts from the Ages of Enlightenment (1700-1800) and Reform(1830-1850).  My family tree revealed that I am descended from three distinguished founding fathers -- our first, third, and 12th presidents: George Washington (1732-1799) My 6th paternal great-granduncle was Virginia's Robert Bolling IV. His wife, Sally Washington, was the …

Language Isn’t About Being Perfect…It’s About Creating Authentic, Human Connections

Let it be known that I excelled in English and writing course assignments despite the English language's ranking as one of the most difficult languages to master. Because of its unpredictable spellings and difficult-to-learn grammar, it challenges native speakers and second language learners, too. The poem below is a prime example: In contrast, language experts …

” FUNNY AND NOT SO FUNNY MOMENTS “

Our son-in-law, Brian, turned 50 on January 30, 2022! Our daughter, Jennifer, first introduced Brian to us 31 years ago. Our introduction to Brian's father, Bill, (who happened to be 50 years old when Brian was born), gives way to an amusing story. Jennifer's dad, Bob was on call at Maryland's Forestville Volunteer Fire Department …

If Only I Was Special!

By: Joanne Carol Boling Dickinson and Grandson, Robert Joseph Dickinson IIIJune 12, 2021 Below is a short story that I wrote as a writing assignment when I was 13 years old and attending Junior High School. With help from my eldest grandson, Joe, we recently added a few descriptive adjectives and adverbs and updated the …

SLÛ-Bi`

By: R J Dickinson, II Note to readers:  This account of SLÛ-Bi` is only to be read by those who first have read the post entitled “Fast  and Furious on Bee Oak Road” dated May 27, 2021, by author Joanne Dickinson as told to her by my sibling.  My tale that follows is a mere …

Fast and Furious on Bee Oak Road

The Columbian Squires, the official youth organization of the Knights of Columbus, is a leadership and character development program for Catholic young men, 10-18 years old. My husband, Bob, was the Chief Counselor in charge of the St. Pius X Knights of Columbus Squires Circle in Forestville, MD. It was late summer 1978, when Bob …

Family Matters…

As a result of the clean up and out of my parents items in their home for up to 61 years, to prepare for its sale, I made a specific promise/decision to myself and my children. That decision: not to leave my family with such a task when I go home to be with Our …

Mom’s Address Book

I set mom's address/phone book aside about two months ago when we first started cleaning out our parents home of 60 years. She had always kept her cookbooks, hotpads, and address book in a drawer under her wall oven in the kitchen which was in close proximity to their wall phone and kitchen table. That's …

2020–A Tough Year and Formidable Fall Cleanup

During this month of September 2020, a few of us "Boling/Dickinson's" have been going daily to our parents home of 60 years to declutter it and to let go of family treasures before readying the property to go on the market.  This task was definitely not our usual fall cleanup.   Following our recent losses and …

“Between the rails” by: Jennica Bayne

BACKGROUND I have dedicated more than half of my life to genealogy and researching my family's ancestors and history.  I also dedicated nearly as much time as a Census Bureau employee during four of its 23 censuses (1980, 1990, 2000, 2010), primarily in the communications areas where we shared the history and day-to-day activities with …

Hakuna Matata (No Worries)

Now septuagenarians, Bob and I just exited the Flagship Premium Cinemas--the same movie theatre location in Prince Frederick, Md, where we took our four grandchildren, one niece, and one nephew (ages 2-9) a mere 25 years ago to see the original June 24, 1994 release of "The Lion King," animated movie.  The day was Saturday, …

NO TURNING BACK

A Captivating Title A captivating post title is often hard to nail down so I routinely refer to other sources for inspiration and ideas.  This morning was a little different--an apt title leapt out at me while I was in church.  The image appeared on a 300" HDTV that had a viewing area of 146" x …

♬Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh.. Here I am at…♬

Camping has always been one of kids favorite activities. Hence, my lifting of the 1964 Alan Shermann song seemed an appropriate fit for this post's title. Earliest records show that girls attended camps as early as 1917 in the Washington-Metropolitan Area. In 1935, the Prince George's County Girl Scout Council was chartered from the Washington, …

𝄞We are F-a-m-i-l-y ♬

If you are a grandmother you may be one of a select few who understands the gravity of your intimate relationships with your grandchildren and their parents who by the way are your children that hopefully you and their father raised together. Now, none of us was handed a parenting guide when we discovered we …

75 Years Later – Couple Avows Their Love and Commitment

The Bolings are celebrating their 72nd wedding anniversary on Feb. 5th, and the family will gather with them this weekend to honor this rare event in the world's history of lifelong marriages. The couple decided at ages 14 and 15 when they first met that they were going to get married someday and now, 75 …