All Posts

This may seem strange to some, but perhaps relatable to others. Before, during, and after this trip, I prayed. Mostly for safety, because I am a bit of a nervous traveler. Here’s the weird part—the answers I hear in my head come in my mother’s voice. Somehow, after my mother passed away, the Almighty inherited her voice. This was our first time traveling across the Atlantic. I don’t want to bore you, my readers, so I’ll just give you a quick glimpse of each place, along with

Chapter 1—Sometimes a baby becomes part of the thread that holds a family together.

Chapter 2—At her first Pentecostal service, a little girl discovers that fitting in can be harder than having faith.

🌳Chapter 3—A wedding dress sewn by hand, a cotton patch ring earned through sacrifice, and two young people standing at the altar with more faith than certainty. This story follows Joy and Ray as they begin a marriage that would shape generations to come.

🌳Chapter 4—Ray and Joy marry, move to Oklahoma City and all the way to Germany.

🌳Chapter 5—Ray and Joy's time in Germany and coming back to Oklahoma.

Chapter 6—Joy believed the hardest years were behind her. Then a folded slip of paper fell from the glove-box.

Chapter 7—My piano career lasted exactly one lesson. Mark's love of music lasted much longer. From beneath the piano bench, I learned more about my brother than I ever learned about playing the piano.

Chapter 8—From my hiding place beneath Mother's sewing machine, I watched fabric, thread, and determination come together one stitch at a time.

Chapter 9—A fishing trip, a waterspout over an Oklahoma lake, and a glimpse into the complicated man I called Dad. Some storms leave a mark long after the clouds are gone.

Chapter 10—Every family has a day when the routine breaks. Mine happened in kindergarten, when the people I counted on to remember me... forgot.

Chapter 11—The dog I loved most never belonged to me.

Chapter 12—This story isn't really about hunting—it's about recognizing danger, childhood innocence, and the complicated ways we remember our parents.

Chapter 13—Sometimes a single sentence changes the course of a life. Mine was, "Run, Robin."

Chapter 14—Last night when my mother told me to run, I did.

Chapter 15—Grandmother never hovered. She fed us, loved us, and then sent us into the Oklahoma summer with one unforgettable blessing: "Go outside and try not to die."

Chapter 16—At seven years old, I was certain the hens had accepted me as one of their own.

Chapter 17—The Killingsworths weren't big on talking about feelings. They simply folded us into everything they did.

Chapter 18—Sunday clothes, dinner in the fellowship hall, and a little girl beginning to discover who her mother had been before she was her mother.

Chapter 19—As we headed toward the French farm, dark clouds gathered on the horizon.