by Barbara | Apr 10, 2020
By: Barbara Lishko I love the holidays. What an awesome opportunity it presents to get our large family together. This past Thanksgiving, we were especially blessed to be in full force with all twenty-nine of us. The two military boys and eight college...
by Barbara | Apr 3, 2020
I can remember back to a time when I was the blessed mother of five kids, all under the age of seven. The looks and remarks I would get were priceless. Of course, there were always the comments from kindhearted souls who would often say, “Don’t you know what causes...
by Barbara | Jan 31, 2014
We were driving to a family event the other day with several of the kids in tow. Kids in this context refer to a seventeen, twenty and twenty-three year old. My dessert was carefully stowed in the back of our suburban. The back-seat inhabitants were safely plugged in...
by Barbara | Jul 13, 2013
"Marriage changes people, she's different now" stated the young man speaking about his new wife. “We lived together for two years, then suddenly”, claims the new husband, “the ring popped on and she changed?” Is she really different, I wonder? Did the marriage really...
by Barbara | Sep 9, 2011
This summer we had the opportunity to do a road trip together again. It would be the seven of us, packed in the old gray Suburban, just like old times. A few years have passed since we have had the occasion for six hours of this kind of togetherness and I was waiting...
by Barbara | Aug 12, 2011
Ever since moving back to Arizona in ’97, we have lived in the same neighborhood; quite a feat these days. Only a few houses were finished back then, and the desert seemed to begin right where our yard ended. We had met on rare occasions, as our homes were being...
by Barbara | Aug 2, 2011
It’s that time of the year in Phoenix, when we really do question why we live here. Could it be because it only gets down to ninety degrees at night, or perhaps because massive dust storms hit without warning? I would suggest that it is something more fundamental than...
by Barbara | Jul 26, 2011
This is the second year I have decided to invest in a home garden here in the desert. That means we start planting by late February or March when most places are still shoveling the nasty white stuff. The only reason I toy with this fantasy has everything to do with...
by Barbara | Jul 7, 2010
The implements of discipline have changed over time. Back in the old days, some pretty harsh punishment was used to keep one’s offspring under control. I can remember my father talking about the barber’s strap being the preferred “rod of discipline” utilized most by...
by Barbara | Dec 24, 2009
This tale of a Christmas long, long ago is what makes me appreciate the more uninteresting holidays of the past few years. Let me take you back to a time when daddy was gone far too much, and the children and I were stranded up in the cold north, far away from family....