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 …

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 …

My Sandlot Days…

By Aaron McDaniel - August 22, 2020 "1993 Sandlot Kids" Recently my teenage grandson, Aaron, was browsing Facebook and came upon a post with a picture of the Sandlot kids that included the following quote: "At some point in your childhood, you and your friends went out to play together for the last time and …

Drinking and Driving Don’t Mix!

The article that follows is a true story as told to me by son as we reminisced back 31 years and now can laugh about it: It was the Summer of 1988.  The weather ranged in the mid-80s to lower 90s.   I was 20, my Uncle John was five years older than me, and only …

Norma Florence (Ford) Boling: 22 Aug 1927 – 16 Mar 2018, Age 90

It is with great sadness that I share with you the passing on Friday, March 16, 2018, of my mother, Norma Florence (nee Ford) Boling at her home of nearly 60 years in Forestville, MD.  She was 90 years, 6 months, and 3 weeks old and courageously fought a long battle with Alzheimer's and heart-disease-related conditions. …

Our World Is Full Of Circles

Our world is so very large and yet we seem to travel in circles For example, today I had an absolutely delightful and rare lunch date at a small cafe at Friendship Maryland's Herrington Harbor South Marina Resort on the Chesapeake Bay.  My daughter and I joined a mutual friend who we have had only limited contact with …

Remembering Our Mount Calvary School (MCS) and Community

June 6, 2016: FYI: Dan Dusseau, former Mount Calvary School student  received this email about Mount Calvary's School Closing Mass on 06/12/16 @ 10:30 am . . . As you may have already heard, Mount Calvary Catholic School will be closing our doors at the end of the School term on June 10, 2016. Alumni …

Remembering Our Mount Calvary School (MCS) and Community

June 10, 2016 Thanks to Rob Maloof and his visit to Mount Calvary School this week, we have some new photos from inside and out.  Hope you enjoy them and we will see you tomorrow, June 12,  2016 at the special 10:30 Mass to Honor the Students and Mount School for its long and honorable …

100 Year Old BFFs

Best Friends Forever (BFFs) Last week I wrote a post on this blog, "Our Kent Island Experience," that was a story about my best friend of about 20 years (at that time) and our husbands' day of "boating." Some of the events of the day tested our relationship. Yet, nearly 40 years have since past …

20 Signs You Went to Catholic School

Honoring, laughing with and apologizing... I am honoring, laughing with, and apologizing to our three children who may relate all too well to my reblog of the 20 Signs You Grew Up in Catholic School, below.  I read this post on the heels of my daughter and I attended a Catholic funeral a couple of …

Our Kent Island Adventure

On Saturday, July 3rd, 1966, (nearly 48 years ago), the closest available weather station to Kent Narrows on Kent Island, MD, was at Stevensville, a distance of 2.2 miles, 3.5 kilometers, or, 1.9 nautical miles. The historic weather conditions reported (and concur all too well within my still vivid memory) that the thermostat hit a whopping …

Sharing Two Months of Moments…

It’s been nearly two months since I have posted anything new on my blog site. No, I haven’t had writer’s block, genealogical brick walls that I couldn’t break down, or been outside experiencing the snow and extreme winter temps. To the contrary, I believe I just became overwhelmed by the volume of my every day …

Revisiting a 20-Year-Old Oral History from Frank and Norma Boling

Oral History Interview American Studies Class – 1993 the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus By Student, Jennifer L. Dickinson About the Interviewees Frank Burton and Norma Florence (Ford) Boling [my maternal grandparents] are in their mid-60's.  Frank is a retired Federal Government Employee—a pressman by trade.  [Born in the mid-1920’s, and married in their teens], …

Chance Encounters and Instant Connections

As Bob made a very long and wide turn from the drive with our Ford F-150 truck to park it in a handicapped space another car came from the opposite side of the drive and pulled straight into the space next to us. We were both laughing about our similar aches and limps as we …

My Life’s Five Most Embarrassing Moments

In no specific order: I was 7, some people referred to me as being very demure for my age, and I was usually seen and not heard (because my Great Grandfather preferred children this way).  My Uncle John, Grandfather, Roy, and Dad, Frank, had just returned to the farm in Glenn Dale, Maryland, with a …

Dogs Are Family, Too – Part 2

UPDATE - June 30, 2013: My brother in 1973 at the age of 15 tried with all his might to build a wheelchair for DeeDee but the technology wasn't there yet.  If DeeDee had been alive and became crippled today, new options are available, see below: ------------------------------------------------------- On Presidents' Day in 1970, Bob and I …

Best Friends Forever–What Can Be More Important?

Sunday was another glorious day for us. My lifelong friend since we were toddlers was in town from Rhode Island. And, we spent most of the day together. Bob and I drove to her sister’s home in historic Mount Airy, Maryland, about 75 miles from where we live. The first thing we did was hug! …

Diversity Among Friends in the 1950s

My maternal grandmother (mamma) Alice Loretta Lathrop Ford and her son, my Uncle John Austin Ford, were known for liking people and keeping them close. A few of these people stand out in my memories from the 1950s (in no specific order). Robert Peterson, “Pete”: A 30ish, handsome, slightly built man of American Indian descent …