A Flabbergasted Winner

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 14 Comments

Flabbergasted, Surprised and Astonished Have you ever been totally astonished? Even flabbergasted? (That’s one of those words that just sounds exactly like what it means. Love those kinds of words.) But back to being flabbergasted. I was last Wednesday when my book, Love Comes Home, won the Selah Book of the Year Award.  My books have been in the running …

Sorting through the Odds & Ends of Mom’s Life

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life. ~William Morris Mom’s been gone for over a month now. For a while it’s felt like she’s still at the memory care facility and I need to go see about her. But that’s not so. She doesn’t need anybody to see about …

Grandma Camp and Book Clubs

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

Did you ever go to “grandma” camp? That’s what I call it when the grandkids come to spend a few days. We don’t worry too much about anything except food on the table at mealtimes, having plenty of Popsicles and doing something fun. One of the things we did with them this year was go fishing. I think my son had taken his …

The Saddest Disease – Dementia

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

“I want to go home.” That’s my mother’s constant desire these days as her dementia continues to worsen. She’s not talking about heaven as some people might think. She’s quick to say she’s not ready to move up to heaven just yet. Most of the time, the home she’s talking about is her mother’s home where she grew up. This is a …

This Old House – Saying Goodbye

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” ~Harold Wilson Things change. That’s the one thing in life you can be sure will happen. Maybe not every day, but then again maybe every day. Sometimes we want to hold time in a bottle and keep the world from changing …

The Winners but the Biggest Winner – Me

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

Tonight I’ve finally got the winners of my Scent of Lilacs Celebration Giveaway. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. I pick the winners by random numbers. Each e-mail I get goes into a special folder and the sender gets numbered according to when I receive the e-mail. Well, imagine my extreme distress this a.m. when I click on that …

A Jewel of a Grandmother

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

“The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children’s children. It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future.” ~Charles and Ann Morse One more week to enter my Scent of Lilacs Celebration Giveaway, …

The Saddest Times of Dementia

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

This is my beautiful mother enjoying her grandchildren forty years ago. At the time, she was younger than I am now and a very loving grandmother. The grandkids thought she was the best. She let them stand at the sink and wash dishes. She pretended to let them help her make doughnuts. She played Rummy with them and didn’t always …

Savoring the Christmas Spirit

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

Figuring out the nesting Santa puzzle Christmas Day is past. The kids came, shared lots of laughter, food and fun and then went home. My daughter and her husband and their two dogs just took off about an hour ago. The snow was only a dusting here so no problem for them to go south.   Lots of chores waiting for me. Got …