by Elaine Thomas | Apr 16, 2021 | Family, Rural Life, Saving Stories, Western Canada
“Pretty postage stamps? Oh yes, this sheet of ‘Birds of Prey’ is especially nice,” the helpful postal office worker told me. “No birds,” I murmured. Glancing up, she did not comment, but I think she was wondering, “Who doesn’t like birds?” That would be me Before I...
by Elaine Thomas | Feb 19, 2021 | Family, Old Times, Rural Life, Saving Stories, Western Canada
I was in the second grade that long-ago February morning in the Alberta foothills when Old Man Winter had such a fierce grip. To walk the quarter-mile uphill from our farmhouse to the main road where we’d catch the school bus, Mom had wrapped me in multiple layers...
by Elaine Thomas | Jan 15, 2021 | Family, Saving Stories
My sister Shirley and I love cats and always have. Years before she married Harvey, he and his mother gave Shirley a tabby kitten. Furious at being trapped and relocated, the little guy earned the name of Yowler. He’d been born and lived quite comfortably in Harvey’s...
by Elaine Thomas | Jan 1, 2021 | Rural Life, Saving Stories
For as long as I can remember, Mom insisted that tacking up a new calendar before the first day of the New Year was bad luck. Since we don’t need any of that, Emil and I waited until today to take down our dog-eared record of 2020. Flipping through the months, we...
by Elaine Thomas | Dec 4, 2020 | Old Times, Saving Stories
What gifts they were! Bob Odum, sisters Leah Zapalac Tietjen and Lestell Zapalac Villanueva and I remember childhood Christmas presents that made our hearts flip in excitement. Here are our memories. Hop on the bike, Bob Bob Odum of Katy, Texas, and his older brother,...
by Elaine Thomas | Nov 20, 2020 | Family, Saving Stories
Thanksgiving is a holiday that’s woven together with memories of special people, fun celebrations and, of course, great food. I asked two outstanding Texas cooks, Elizabeth (Liz) Ripple of Fayetteville and Linda Harris of Conroe, to each share a favorite Thanksgiving...