“You’re a second alto,” the choir director told me. “No. I’m a first soprano,” I assured him. I was now a freshman in college, and I told this new director that for the past six years I’d sung the highest voice in the choir all through junior and senior high school. How could I suddenly be an alto? “Well, you may be able to hit those high notes, but your strength is in your lower range. You’ll be a great second alto.” I actually came to love singing those harmonies, floating

“So when are my pictures coming back?” In the days before digital photography, we used disposable cameras in our family. I had given one to Jacob, our six-year-old son, to use on vacation, his first independent picture taking experience. “Well, they’ll come back when I take the camera in to get the pictures developed. Just give it to me and I’ll take care of it.” I could tell from his downcast expression that something was amiss. “Oh. I threw it away last week. You said it wa

“Mommy, that little boy is dropping trash all over the park. Tell his mommy to make him stop!” My two-year-old daughter was indignant that someone would be littering. I told her I wasn’t going to tell his mommy anything, but she could if she wanted. To my surprise and amusement, she did exactly that. Marching over to their picnic table, she gave them quite a lecture about being good to God’s creation! My own mother, in her advanced years, used to proclaim, “If I don’t say som

“Now what’s he doing?” I’d been watching this quirky batter at the plate for some time… all of us waiting patiently, the pitcher included, as he went through a series of gestures, tugs at his uniform, swings of his bat, digging his foot into the dirt, hand to his hat in various places, now crouching, then standing up… over and over. “Oh, he’s just going through his good luck routine before the pitch,” my husband informed me. “Baseball players are the most superstitious people

“Charles! Take that attitude and mouth with you when you leave. The office is expecting you. NOW!” Charles was a fifteen-year-old student in my seventh grade class. He had given even the most seasoned teachers the runaround the first three months of the school year. I was a rookie, and I had my hands full dealing with his ongoing disruptive behavior. We all celebrated in the teachers’ lounge the day Charles moved to California to live with his mother. But now several months l