I’ve never thought of Mother as my primary role model for relationships with men or with women. Yet she was precisely that, in ways my father never was.
About gatekeepers and me
Gatekeepers: The bosses. The men in charge. In my lifetime they’ve all been men.
Their words and attitudes could make or break a woman’s reputation. Read the rest of this entry »
She remembers me
From long ago
A stranger, yet a friend
She says she was there
The day the war ended.
I don’t remember her. Read the rest of this entry »
I gave this slightly tongue-in-cheek yet totally earnest devotional at a faculty meeting in April 2000. It’s about the way I want to work. I wrote it because I was struggling with boundaries. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m still thinking about my confused and confusing relationships with men. This story is about my Mother and me. It’s also about at least some of my troubling relationships with men. Read the rest of this entry »
Because society would rather we always wore a pretty face,
women have been trained to cut off anger.
~Nancy Friday
Anger repressed can poison a relationship
as surely as the cruelest words.
~Joyce Brothers Read the rest of this entry »
Continued from Part 1. “…I do need to express, however, a part of my experience as a woman in ministry about which I have remained silent.” Read the rest of this entry »
April 1999, Houston. Diane is now on a ventilator—her last major adjustment. Every day and night I hear the sound of air pumping in, out, in, out. Sometimes an alarm goes off to signal something isn’t working quite right. Diane is surrounded by a growing assortment of machines, pillows and sheepskin padding, carts filled with personal and healthcare items, plus tubes and electrical cords.
Is it worth it? Read the rest of this entry »
Taking the day off to remember and give thanks
for the pain-filled beauty and richness of life sacrificed at great cost.
Elouise
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 10 November 2014
Photo by DAFraser, September 2004
noisy commotion
young coopers hawk loses prey
aggressive squirrels score
* * *
Mid-fall games are on
Outside my kitchen window
Hunger games
Power games
Survival games
(Not my backyard, not my vultures, not a fall scene–but it will do in a pinch!)
Outdoor tomcat–also not mine–takes victory strut around back yard
Proudly displays doomed sparrow clutched in mighty jaws
Enforcer squirrels rush into the fray,
Intimidate giant predators with much ado about everything–
Unexpected heroes in a bloodless war to the death
Seasoned hawk swoops to snatch juicy rodent
Young coopers hawk goes hungry for now
Are we having fun?
Not really
Too many victims
Too few heroes
* * *
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 10 November 2014
Photos from open stock on internet
Telling the Truth 