SUNNY SIDE UP! Kathleen Gibson

I have phantom fuzz. “You have WHAT?” said the Preacher, when he walked into the bedroom and found me inspecting my left foot. “Phantom fuzz.” Toe jam. You know. Dead skin, sock fluff, sand, dirt. All mixed up with accumulated skin oils and bacteria.  A piece or collection of pieces …

Mothers do many things. Grandmothers, too.  One of the hardest is explaining death to those who have barely begun to live. “Nana, wanna come and see a dead robin?” Benjamin asked. “Sure, I’ll come.” “Wobbin can’t fwy,” said Dinah Jane. “It’s in the GARBAGE!” said Tabatha. Their mother and I …

My mother, (God bless her unbuttoned heart) never encouraged me in the kind of relationships that would make me a mother myself. Consider this entry in my childhood diary. I was ten years old. Dear fiancé, I don’t know who you are or even if I’ll ever have you but …

The Preacher and I are filthy rich in our friends. One of them, for love alone, spent ten long days at Hope House recently, helping us develop our cement block basement. His quiet example of workmanship and generosity made a deep impression on our almost-five-year-old grandson. Benjamin spent several afternoons …

When I opened the burgundy binder, I sensed God was trying to get my attention. I began writing Sunny Side Up in March of 2001. Within two years, requests started arriving. They came by email, card, word, and in person. They said basically the same thing: “Won’t you please put …

Since before the last millennium, Friend Glenda and I have celebrated each other on our birthdays. We’ve lunched at home and restaurants; picnicked under pines and strolled beside lakes. Once we spent an afternoon making each other friendship books filled with quotes and collages. This year, before I turned the …

I have one less big mistake to make in life. After praying too little and worrying too much I marched nobly forth and took a job to help fill a few gaps in the family budget. Perhaps the problem wasn’t as much the job as my choice of job. In …

Tomorrow he would hang for love alone, to become the bridge of light and life between God and mankind. To cancel sin’s power over you and me. But Jesus, hours before his crucifixion, prayed in a garden. Please don’t picture a neatly groomed, long-haired man sitting on a large rock …

On a raw winter day during calving season a year or so ago, the Preacher and I visited some rancher friends. “Come out and see the babies,” Diane said. Inside the maternity barn, our breath wreathed around our mouths. We walked down the wide center aisle between stalls pungent with …