This is a response to Rita Buettner’s blog post singing the praises of fidget spinners. Though I’m a huge fan of Rita AND her poem, I can’t stand fidget spinners. Although they are not a problem in my art classes at St. Joan of Arc School, I can’t imagine trying to teach with a whole...Read More

Even though we’d been preparing for months, Collin was nervous about receiving his First Holy Communion. I would pretend to be the sacristan in front of the kitchen counter, administering unconsecrated Triscuits and water from a Waterford goblet. Time after time he’d forget something when he approached the “altar.” Hands folded in prayer, a bow,...Read More

I live in a small city outside of Baltimore called Aberdeen. It’s a modest town, born of the canning industry and railroad, where most people work hard to live peaceful lives in little neighborhoods. Unfortunately, just under two hundred of our neighbors are unable to afford homes for a varietyRead More

My grandmother, Marion Thuma Snyder Johnston, told me this story many years ago and said that she wanted to write it someday. She passed away peacefully on March 30, 2017. She didn’t get a chance to put it into writing, so I’m going to make sure that herRead More