Mary Jane Hanson
Roberta's Tree
When my sister, Roberta, died of cancer at age 49 in July of 2004, I decided to plant a small mugo pine in our front yard. Like others who have lost loved ones, I wanted to have a living memorial for my sister. I named the mugo pine … Read more
A Reason To Give Thanks
Yesterday, about noon, we had the first snowfall of the year. I was out running an errand over the lunch hour, when, as the weather reports warned us, the snowflakes started to fall. Anyone I met during the course of the afternoon was not … Read more
Reusable Shopping Bags
On a recent trip to the grocery store, I was annoyed with the cashier who was putting too many items into each bag. She indicated that the store was saving bags. I was annoyed enough to stop shopping there for … Read more
Christmas Eve In Holten
On Christmas Eve after supper, we like to attend the Christmas Eve worship service at our church. It is usually a wonderful service, full of candlelight, music, and readings. Sometimes we participate as lay readers. When we return home after … Read more
Christmas Letters
It's time to send out those Christmas letters to our family and friends. We might call them our annual report, and if we were to save them and make them into a collection we would have compiled our family history. … Read more
Cheerleading Championships
Several months ago, I attended the Power Athletic Cheerleading Competition for Western Canada at the new Physical Activity Complex on the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) campus in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Previously, I had witnessed such events only on … Read more