Simply Southern Cappy
Where Angels Gather
Nowhere is God’s grace more evident than when a Hospice Angel walks through the door. When Tom’s daughters had a heart-to-heart talk with him last April, he was the picture of a man at the end of his rope. Five months of caring for his wife, Jenny, had kept him awake most nights. Occasionally he catnapped in the afternoons, but it was n...Read More
A Kodak Moment
“Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away.” ~ Paul Simon I have a picture of the Valentine birthday party my parents threw for me when I turned six-years-old. It is a day that will live in my personal infamy. Daddy took the photo with a Kodak Mama made him buy especially for the occasion. The photograph showed ten small bodies seated in a circle on...Read More
Twist and Gout
It’s date-night at the Senior Center and Babe and I are perched at a table not much bigger than a Frisbee. If we can manage to squeeze onto the microscopic dance floor we plan to boogie all night long. My man loves to dance. When the band starts up with, “Sixty Minute Man,” Babe connects with the song and immediately yanks me on to the dance floor ...Read More
Cats In The Cradle
I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away I called him up just the other day I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind,” He said, “I’d love to, if I can find the time You see my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu But it’s sure nice talking to you. It’s been sure nice talking to you” The cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon Little ...Read More
A Christmas Feeling
“Oh my! It’s fruitcake weather, Buddy.” ~ A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote Our house is unusually quiet today while Babe recovers from serious but incredibly successful surgery, one that saved his life. He sleeps a lot. After a certain age recovery is no walk in the park. Emotionally, I swing between an overwhelming feeling of relief th...Read More
It Ain't Over Till It's Over
When it comes to food, Babe doesn’t complain about my cooking because he doesn’t do kitchens, he does football and golf. His remote speed clicks ESPN. He easily swings a golf club and catches a football with one hand, but so domestically challenged is he that he could get government assistance. B.C. (Before Cappy), he was the go-to guy ...Read More
Heads Will Roll
Welcome to the Church of the Holy Cabbage. Lettuce pray. ~ Author Unknown I always loved the sound of my mother’s voice. It was unadulterated Southern and magnolia smooth. I heard it as she was wheeled into surgery. She said not to worry, that she would be back. She was wrong. Once while grocery shopping, I heard it again. As if she were whee...Read More
My Other Mother
Entirely too much time had passed since I visited the mother of my childhood friend. I looked at the diminutive woman seated across from me and marveled that at eighty-four years old, her unlined face showed not a trace of sorrow or sadness. Her smile was wide, her eyes brighter than mine, her laughter a violin lightly plucking the strings of my he...Read More
Postage Due
It is April 15th and much too close to five o'clock and within minutes the Post Office doors will slam. I race against time, alongside other last minute taxpayers. The parking lot runneth over but I spot a space about to open up. Drat! A Volkswagen zips by and grabs it before I can shove my car in gear. The driver leaves his motor ru...Read More
It's All Gone
“His body is here,” my friend said, “but the rest of him is in a place where I can’t go.” Susan’s husband of forty-four years has Alzheimer’s, the dreaded disease of so many seniors. Fortunately for Dan, Susan is a trained nurse with the compassion and patience of Mother Teresa. A spiritual person, she lean...Read More
Village Vibrations
The word village puts me in mind of a country hamlet in Ireland or a Swiss chalet snuggled inside a valley framed by snowcapped mountains. I love villages. Louisiana has parishes; Pennsylvania has townships; New York may still have a few touristy type villages, but authentic villages are becoming a thing of the past. That makes me sad. I discovered...Read More
He Moves Me
Confession time. My entire adult life has been one long passionate love affair with sports cars. Some say the state of being in love is temporary insanity; mine is forever. I had my first affair in college with Rex, a dusty red English Ford. Rex looked pretty much like a Singer Sewing Machine with wheels, but I didn’t care … I was smit...Read More