Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.~John Wayne “We’re going where!” It was more of an exclamation than a question. “We’re going to do what?” Now that was a real question, because I wasn’t sure I had heard right. And so my daughter repeated it. “We’re taking you to Colorado to celebrate your eightieth birthday. And we’re all going on a hot-air-balloon ride.” I almost star...

For every mountain there is a miracle.~Robert H. Schuller “Thirty-seven… thirty-eight… thirty-nine… Yay, Mica! Woohoo!” Mica’s excited barks rang out in the frozen stillness. Atop Blackhead Mountain in January, I stamped my feet and clapped my hands to stay warm and also to celebrate Mica’s amazing accomplishment. Making it to the summit of Blackhead is no mean feat, as the trail ranges from ...

Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.~Anatole France Experience fostering retired racing dogs led my husband and me to believe we could handle anything. Yet nothing prepared us for what padded into our lives the day we adopted Ray. Steve and I had inquired about a sleek, handsome boy who sported a black-and-white tuxedo coat. Retired due to injury, he had tran...

A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.~Agatha Christie I stared at the pregnancy test, willing the lines to appear. Then I saw the faint pink squiggles morph into two deeper pink lines. “Oh, my goodness! I’m pregnant!” I screeched to my husband who was waiting ou...

Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue.~Adam Clarke “Winter storm on the way!” the radio blared. I glanced out the window. Dark clouds were already forming above our small subdivision in rural Illinois. Just then, I heard, “Mom! Mom!” In blew my three bundled-up boys and a crisp October wind. “Mom!” cried five-year-old Robin. “There’s a cat down in the ground!” “Oh. You mean som...