Reading Life Between the Lines
-
sometimes life’s better than a fairy tale
I felt so alone that September morning, sitting under the big oak tree behind my Aunt and Uncle’s home. A pool of tears blotted out the “apartments for rent” in the Sunday paper. The remaining tears clogged my heart. Several months earlier I had moved to the United States with my toddler son to join Read more
-
dung and stars
Before moving to Nepal, I did my research. Lonely Planet, the Internet, and an uncle who had lived here. But my information sources obviously did not prepare me enough. As I stepped out of the airplane, the smell hit me, almost knocking me over—the warm, pungent combination of diesel fumes, animal dung, and human sweat. Read more
-
a zum zum attitude
Twenty assorted sizes of tape securely hold down on my desk a very old and wrinkled piece of paper that measures 4 x 3 inches. It is a special piece of paper. From margin to margin, in elementary scribble, is a message: “Hardy-Hee-Hah! La-Lop Lee! Ubee-Ubee-oop-Oop! Koo-Koo! Yipa-Zipa Lipa-Hipa! Ookee-Ookee! Eek-Eek-Eek! Bo-ba-bee-bap! Oopa-Loopa! Zum-Zum!” Sky Read more
-
uncle solomon
He hibernated in our home, sleeping till noon and waking up groggy and strange. He never spoke until he brushed his teeth, so he’d murmur and mutter, shake and nod, until he did. Why he waited for precisely an hour, I don’t know. But then everyone stopped trying to figure out Uncle Solomon a long Read more
-
booger flips and snot
The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD made them both.–Proverbs 22:2, New Living Translation The hospital where I worked (in Nepal) has big, deep trash cans to collect the obvious–trash–and the booger and snot deposits of employees and visitors. In Nepal it is not bad manners to insert your finger or Read more
-
a lesson from cruddy underwear
It’s bedtime and everything in my mother’s home is perfect. The kitchen is spotless. Magazines, books and mail put away. Furniture dusted. Bathrooms washed. Carpets and floors clean (My children seriously believe that anything that falls on Grandma’s floor remains clean). Next, she showers and puts on a freshly pressed nightgown (Don’t even try explaining Read more
-
figuring people out
Three of his wife’s sisters married three of my mom’s brothers. Through this weaving of marriages, he evolved into Uncle Edward. There is nothing Uncle Edward loves more than good food. But it’s a lot of work having him over and making sure the food is “good”–especially since his wife’s the best cook ever. (While Read more
-
telling people apart
We’re walking to work. A man in a housekeeping uniform throws down his mop puts his hands together in a “namaste,” greeting Roy, the boss, and me, his wife. Roy courteously responds with a namaste and says, “I saw him with a stethoscope yesterday. What’s he doing with a mop today?” Roy’s done it again. Read more
SAYS FYL 