Life by Grace Alone

Today in 2017 many people live with only a little understanding of the roots they have in their families. If they know their extended family it's only through occasional family reunions. Many miles and differing lifestyles separate them. My siblings including my brother's widow live from Georgia to Vermont. In spite of different lifestyles and interests we are glued together by a common heritage. At the center of many holiday meals were my mom's mother and my uncle and two aunts. My grandmom outlived each of her children except my mother. Grandmom was soft spoken partly because of her personality and partly because of her extreme hearing deficit. My mother made sure that Grandmom had everything she needed. There were things that separated her from the larger world but she was comfortable with those God had placed in her world. Grandmom was known for her sewing . Often when I would come home from college on break, Grandmom would be staying at the house. One time the...

My brother Phil died in November one week and one day before he would have turned 72. In December our family gathered in Georgia with friends for a funeral service. In May we knew there would be  another gathering on more familiar ground. Our family made plans to join with family and friends for a final goodbye in Ocean City, Md., familiar territory to all of us and a place frequented often by my brother the fisherman. The gathering happened in a large house overlooking Synepuxent Bay. Soon after arriving for the event friends joined family and the large living room filled quickly. Some of the people I recognized immediately. Others took me awhile as I tried to add  more hair and  darker color to their aging locks. In spite of increased wrinkles the shape of noses, brightness of eyes, or the angle of the chin were often a giveaway. The easiest people were the ones I had never met. After studying one woman's face she told me she had been in Phil's graduating class. I r...