by Margaret Philbrick | Apr 30, 2024 | Margaret's Musings
I recently returned to San Antonio, Texas to attend the memorial service of Dr. Coleen Grissom. She was a legend at Trinity University in her capacities as English professor and university administrator. I took every English class that she offered in my four years at...
by Margaret Philbrick | Apr 29, 2024 | Culture, Margaret's Musings
It’s January 9, 2007. Our youngest son is skateboarding with a friend in our basement because the driveway is covered in snow. Our 13 year old daughter is in ballet class working on her pirouettes with bun head girls who will become her lifelong friends. Our high...
by Margaret Philbrick | Apr 25, 2024 | Culture
As a writing and literature teacher, herding my students into the corner of their classroom for unannounced lock-down drills, I could feel their fear. Could this happen here? We live in a small community, could this happen here? We all wonder. We know the inevitable...
by Margaret Philbrick | Apr 25, 2024 | Margaret's Musings
@seasonedpoetess Taylor Swift's Red Lipstick Poem #taylorswiftlipstick #taylorswiftlipcolor #taylorswiftlip #nars #Elson4 #revlonred #rubywooboutique #rubywoo #taylorswift #notoriousrbg #redlips #redlipstickgirl #redlipstutorial #cleopatramakeup @gabriellerohovie...
by Margaret Philbrick | Jan 3, 2024 | Happy New Year Goals
I like goals. I like them even more now that I’m basically grown-up and it feels like there are more things pulling on your time every year. I write the goals in my journal at the beginning of the year and then revisit them at the end. Our family gathers around the...
by Margaret Philbrick | Nov 28, 2023 | Advent, Art, Books, Family, Holidays
In my morning email I received an invite from the Little Traveler shoppe in Geneva, IL to come on out for this weekend’s Christmas Walk. This is one of my favorite holiday events because it takes place in the town where I grew up, you can buy chestnuts roasting on an...
by Margaret Philbrick | Aug 23, 2023 | Family, Gardening, Growing Life, Home, New life
Three weeks ago our first grandchild surprised us by coming into the world a month early, welcome Asher Scott! Countless friends have told us, “Being a grandparent is the most treasured time in life.” So many in fact, that we began to doubt this itty bitty...
by Margaret Philbrick | Feb 8, 2023 | death and dying, Death, Dying, Loss, Family
I think there are two kinds of people, those who watch expiration dates and throw out the ketchup and mustard as soon as the date arrives and those who don’t look at expiration dates or think about them. My dad died on January 24th, 2023 and he did not look at...
by Margaret Philbrick | Nov 11, 2022 | Art
Like Emma Toft before her, my Grandma Lehwald was one of Door County, Wisconsin’s early women entrepreneurs. In the 1960’s she told her husband she wanted to open a “hot dog stand” as a small hobby. We all know how “small hobbies” go. Today, almost...
by Margaret Philbrick | Aug 16, 2022 | Faith, Home, Love, New life
The Wedding is Over, Now What? It was beautiful, but it wasn’t perfect. As I shared the post-wedding download chat over the phone with my dear friend we both concluded that life is “tainted.” Even in the moments of our greatest joy, something icky tries to steal...
