by Bela Johnson | Jul 2, 2013 | musings, personal, philosophy, poetry, relationships, Uncategorized
Now fold your arms, and bow your head. And listen, while the prayer is said. ~ from my childhood Stop. Look. Listen. I learned them well as a child growing up on concrete and asphalt; backdrop of mountains and trees. Sitting in Sunday school, arms...
by Bela Johnson | Jun 11, 2013 | home, lifestyle, love, personal, relationships, Uncategorized
My husband used to share this ritual upon arising. Decided years ago by both of us as an act of caretaking a loving relationship, making the bed has fallen to me of late, as he’s up and gone, often shortly past sunrise. These are the rhythms of our lives – the...
by Bela Johnson | Jun 4, 2013 | family, personal, relationships, travel, Uncategorized
The tall, well-nourished Japanese man smiles as, with a tight smile, he manually indicates that it’s okay for me to sit near him in the Parlour Car. A somber looking ten year-old sits across from him, raven hair spilling into dark eyes riveted upward. It’s clear he’s...
by Bela Johnson | May 28, 2013 | family, happiness, personal, relationships, Uncategorized
I’m afraid of going home. Clad in layers of Sherpa wear purchased at an outdoor store to keep me warm and waterproof in Portland, I feel out of place boarding a plane bound for the Hawaiian Islands. While I’m homeward bound, excited visitors gather in flip-flops,...
by Bela Johnson | May 21, 2013 | family, love, musings, personal, relationships, Uncategorized
My mother kept things. She didn’t quite know what to do with people: seven children; two husbands; countless grand- and great-grandchildren. She also rescued or fostered several dogs and a few cats in her almost eighty-nine years. She might have made it to...
by Bela Johnson | May 8, 2013 | family, personal, poetry, relationships, Uncategorized
She doesn’t want to let me go – it’s in the blood. Like cells, we divide, move apart; couple up with others, and revel in the familiar of an original template: family. Our mother is leaving us, hysterical now with dementia. It’s fun to watch her laugh, as we...
