What’s In A Name?

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I’m fascinated with names. Maybe all of us writers are. I like creative names and creative spellings. I’m intrigued with old-fashioned names that come back in style, and I like unique names I’ve never heard of. I’ve chuckled at names, like one of my college friends, whose first name was “Holly” and she married a gentleman with the surname “Wood.” She said she had trouble cashing checks with the signature “Holly Wood,” so she eventually stuck her maiden-name initial between the two words. My brother had a friend named William Williams, but at least he went by the name “Bill.”…

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Relationship Glue

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  “What did she use this time?” The kind man who cleans my white carpets squats down to inspect the splashed rainbow. “Acrylic and oils.” I show him the finished masterpiece displayed on the easel above the carpet’s danger zone. He nods appreciatively, and from his arsenal of stain removers, sprays over the area what I assume to be an anti-acrylic and an oil neutralizing solution. “You must see this kind of cleanup project a lot in your business.” I think of the dropped plate of spaghetti he cleaned last time he was here. “Not like this.” He gives the…

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Sunday Reflection: Early Easter Morning

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Easter for a child can often only mean candy, ducks, bunnies and an Easter egg hunt. And for the first six years of my life, I am sure waking up to find out how many jelly beans and chocolate bunnies were in my Easter basket must have been my priority– that is until one Easter, when my mom’s best friend recognized how much we needed the Easter message: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…

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I Deserved the Traffic Ticket

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Greetings from Kathy Collard Miller in the desert of Southern California where we are finally seeing the end of the heat and welcoming cooler weather. Driving down a California freeway on a superbly beautiful day of fluffy clouds, I just felt very happy. My happiness pressed my foot against the accelerator as I didn’t see the Highway Patrolman until the red lights from his cruiser caused me to pull over to the side of the road. He came up to my side of the car and asked me questions. Then I said, “I don’t expect you to not write a…

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