SIX-WORD MEMOIRS ON LOVE

 

SIX-WORD MEMOIRS ON LOVE         

     

  Several years ago, I read a book edited 

by Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith.

Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak 

by Writers Famous  & Obscure:   Love boiled down to just six words.    

Here are some samples from the book:

“One diamond necklace later, I’m single.”  Michael Collins

“Wonder-filled, and never a dull torment.”  Diane Ackerman

Never one to ignore a challenge, here are some chapters of my love story each in six *pithy words. 

               (*Pithy is a term I became familiar with in my college English                                 composition classes.)

That smile—no guile—stayed awhile.                 

Love letters in sand, washed away.

I was his.  He was mine.                                         

May date—but we couldn’t wait!

Love, marriage, then a baby carriage.                

Love came my way.  Didn’t stay.

Good looking.  Good timing.  Good grief!           

Two hearts as one—now broken.

Hugs, kisses, laughs, wishes.  Over.   Out.             

Soul mates!  Cell mates?  One escaped. 

      

           Even when love hurts, succinctness tells it all.

NOTE:  

I wrote this around the time my first husband left the family.  One of our

 children had died.  He and I grieved differently.  Finally, it was easier

 for him to go find a new life than it was to pick up the pieces of the old

 one.  We had been married 29 years...experienced birth, life, and death

 together.  It was unthinkable that after all our love and unity as a

 couple, we could not sustain that relationship.  It devastated me.  But I

 still remember with fondness of our time together lo, those many years

 ago.

And LIFE goes on....

THE MAGIC OF BOOKS

 

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it or explore a dangerous idea without fearing it will go off in your face.  It is one of the few sources left where information is served up without the silent black noise of a headline or the hullabaloo of a commercial.  It is one of the few havens remaining where a man’s mind can get both provocation and privacy.                                                                                                         Edward P. Morgan

 I loved the Reader’s Digest magazine.  “An article a day of lasting interest.”  I read it at home from cover to cover from the time I was a little kid.  Then in the 7^th grade, each student got an issue every month to study in one of our classes at school.  Plus, I learned a lot of vocabulary by taking the word test every month.  It used to have 20 words in the quiz. As the years went by, that dwindled to 18, then maybe 15.  Then a few years ago, the Reader's Digest quietly went out of my life.  I still miss it and think often when I am in certain situations how my perception of something, or a nugget of information was gleaned by those articles I read lo, those many years ago! 

In several of their monthly features, the Reader's Digest advertised that they would pay for the first submission of a published item.  I had read the above quote in an issue of Ball Corporation's glossy company magazine, which came to my husband as their employee. I love books, so the quote resonated with me. I promptly sent it to the Reader’s Digest for their monthly feature “Points to Ponder”.   Anyway, I thought it was an exceptional point of view.  Apparently so did the RD editors. 

Imagine my surprise when I received the following correspondence in the mail a few weeks later:

January 22, 1979

 Dear Ms. Nichols:

We’re pleased to enclose our check for $35 in appreciation to you for sending us the attached item, scheduled to appear on page 220 of the February [1979 Reader’s] Digest.            

 Sincerely yours,

Catherine Conklin

WOW!!  I had been "published"!  It was a pretty heady feeling for quite a while and totally cemented my devotion to the Reader's Digest for the rest of my life. 

                   

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026!

 

January 2026

I have always loved the hymn “Ring Out Wild Bells” which is in our current Latter-day Saint hymnal.  It is based on one of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s 131 short poems in a longer work titled “In Memoriam”.  Tennyson wrote the long poem over a period of 14 years as he worked through the grief of losing his close friend who died when they were in their early 20’s.

Tennyson sometimes referred to his own long poem by the subtitle, “The Progress of the Soul,” because it describes the steps by which his intense personal grief finally brought him to greater compassion and spiritual sensitivity. 

“Ring Out Wild Bells”, was one of the poems from this long work mentioned above.  Tennyson was determined to leave behind the disappointment and narrow vision of the grief-filled past he had been living in.  This phrase from the poem “the larger heart, the kindlier hand,” indicates his ability to finally reach outward to others and extend himself in good works to those around him.

One of the reasons I like this particular hymn is that it is written in a minor key which, in a way, reflects Tennyson’s sadness and sorrow.  But the final line of the hymn, “Ring in the Christ that is to be,” asks us to rise to the full stature of Christ within ourselves as the very last note of the hymn ends in a major key.

I just find that positive ending such an uplift in a new year with fresh prospects and opportunities to do greater things and to be better people as we become the light that draws other people to Christ through our example.

I invite you, and me also, to make this verse from Matthew one of our goals for 2026.

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR  2026 !

Note:  Alfred, Lord Tennyson is probably the best known of the English Victorian poets in the 1800’s.  We readily recognize this famous quote of his which is also from the same poem “In Memoriam”.                   

 ”Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Every December we celebrate a birth that happened more than 2,000 years ago because it was the beginning of a life and mission that hold critical and eternal significance for all of us.  It was the birth of Jesus Christ which manifested the supreme love of God for all His children.

                                 

In a recent Devotional Meeting at Brigham Young University, newly called counselor to President Dallin H. Oaks in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President D. Todd Christofferson, spoke about the Savior’s condescension to leave His divine throne above and live like every other mortal on the very earth which He helped God the Father create.

“It is almost impossible to grasp the magnitude of the Savior’s condescension”, President Christofferson said in his remarks.

“He came as a helpless babe, born in a humble stable, with a manger used for feeding animals as His cradle. He experienced what all of us experience: growing over time in knowledge and ability, developing from infancy to childhood to youth to adulthood.  While on the earth as a mortal man, Jesus experienced hunger and deprivation, pain and fatigue, persecution and rejection. In the end, He was crucified and put to death.

 “We are fully justified in joyously celebrating the birth of Jesus. It is this tender beginning that eventually led to His Atonement, which, in turn, leads to the new beginnings in our lives and faithfulness to the end of our lives.”

No wonder we sing “Joy to the World"!

"Joy to the World" was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnist Isaac Watts.  The hymn is usually sung to an 1848 arrangement by the American composer Lowell Mason of a tune attributed to George Frideric Handel. The hymn's lyrics are a Christian interpretation of Psalm 98 and Genesis 3.

Since the 20th century, "Joy to the World" has been the most-published Christmas carol in North America, even though it originally was unassociated with Christmas.  It was initially written about the Second Coming, not Christ’s first coming as a baby.

But I love how W. W. Phelps, a poet and early member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, changed the words in the chorus from “Let heaven and Nature Sing” to “Let Saints and Angels Sing”. We sing this version at Church.

I believe we were all in that numberless throng of angels proclaiming joy at the birth of Jesus Christ and His mission on that “ONE WONDERFUL NIGHT”!

This December let us include in our celebration of Christmas, not just Christ’s birth, but also a re-consideration of Christ’s remarkable atoning mission as a new beginning in our own lives with a fervent personal commitment of faithfulness to Jesus Christ forever.

                                     Merry Christmas!

SHOPPING NEWS!

 

We got a "new" Walmart!

After months of renovation and lots of rearranging, our "new" Walmart is finally finished!  Complete with a shiny new Walmart logo on the front of the store.  There is also a new expanded Pick-up area, a refurbished parking lot, and wider aisles.  In all, it is a nicer shopping place.  So far, the prices seem to have remained steady to what they were before the do-over.

This is the Walmart we most often went to--until the shelves seemed to be empty of what it was I needed and I didn't want to be around hammering inside and lots of activity outside which was the center of the remodeling operation.  Or sometimes it was the frustration of "store open during remodel" but whole departments seemed to have disappeared, and the store didn't feel like it was easy to navigate like it had been before.  I couldn't find anything.  All the paper goods disappeared!  Then I found out they were on the back wall where the infant department had been.  No wonder I hadn't been able to find a cute little play toy to put on the package of a baby gift I was preparing to take to a friend.

But all that is over now.  Surprisingly, for all the work that was accomplished and the amount of time it took to complete, it really wasn't very long at all.  From summertime to the first part of November.

Though I still am trying to navigate better as I look for the items I usually purchase, I like the addition of pods that have "showroom setups" complete with mannequins and furniture to make the products attractive and inviting to try.  And the shelves are filled to the brim with inventory now like they used to be.

Though it is still kind of a shock to go inside the store and see a completely different look, I like it.  Several of the other Walmart stores in our area got remodeled first, so it was nice to be part of the plan, too.

Progress... move forward or lose your place!  Guess we have a place in the community once again.  Just nicer.

VETERANS DAY

Today is Veterans Day 2025

I'm inviting you to honor our Veterans today because they have defended the principles of freedom with courage and blood and quiet, unheralded sacrifice.

As Americans, we love the United States, our country—not because it is flawless, but because it was founded upon principles of liberty that go directly to heaven itself—and there is a striving within the TRUE heart of our nation to adhere to those principles.

I took these thoughts from many, many things I have read about Veterans Day, but they are also MY thoughts. I hope they are YOURS, too. 

TODAY AND ALWAYS!

SERVING GRATITUDE THIS YEAR FOR THANKSGIVING

 

FORWARD:

If you are like me, Thanksgiving is a much loved—and very favorite—holiday.  But don’t wait exclusively for November 27th before you focus on the blessings in your lives or to give thanks for the abundance God has bestowed on you and your loved ones. Since November is our American Thanksgiving holiday month, I am inviting everyone to "Choose Gratitude" as their personal priority. 

HERE ARE MY REASONS FOR THIS INVITATION:

I opened up my computer the other morning and saw an interesting article about yet another scientific study detailing how giving thanks is beneficial to healthy living.  What a shocker!  And yet, a lot of people still don’t seem to think this simple little practice can make a world of difference in their lives.

A few years ago, I felt so strongly about the encroachment of commercialism on Black Friday versus what I called Bright Thanksgiving Thursday, that I penned a couple of pages about my feelings in the monthly Nichols Family Newsletter I wrote for my kids over a ten-year period.  It was November 2011.   

I told them scientists have set out statistics for what many religions—including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—have taught for years:  Gratitude is good for both the body and the mind.

Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California-Davis has done a lot of research and writing about this subject, so I quoted to my children some of the interesting findings he had made.   Dr. Emmons reported that over a ten-week period, the people in his study who wrote down five things they were grateful for were 25 per cent happier than the people who wrote down five hassles they had had during the week.  He wrote that gratitude can in fact actually have the greatest impact during crisis conditions.  “In the face of demoralization, gratitude has the power to energize.  In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal.  In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope….  Gratitude provides a perspective by which we can view life in its entirety and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances.” 

Dr. Emmons went on to say that grateful people don’t deny or ignore the negative aspects of life.  Their continued awareness of problems in their lives brought positive action to make things better.  Hence, they were happier people in spite of challenges.

Former General Relief Society President Bonnie Parkin of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told in a General Conference talk a few years ago about a family who had suffered some hardship.  But they wanted to maintain a positive outlook. Every day at their dinner table they each shared something good that had happened to them, something they were thankful for that day.   Soon their “blessings basket” was overflowing. 

I liked the simplicity of this family’s intent to still be thankful for what they had.

That year for Christmas I purchased a basket for each of my children’s families and filled it full of little tablets and pencils along with a copy of the story Sister Parkin had shared.  I suggested that they might want to hang the basket so it was convenient for each person to write a sentence or two—or draw a picture—on a regular basis about a blessing or something they were thankful for.  Then set aside a regular time to share with the rest of the family all the wonderful bounties they were receiving. 

I’m almost sure you have already read/heard about ways to focus on gratitude.  But I thought I would include the short list Dr. Emmons published.  It might have some ideas you hadn’t already thought about.

1.    **KEEP A GRATITUDE JOURNAL

2.   **REMEMBER HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME FROM A BAD SITUATION

3.**ASK YOURSELF THREE QUESTIONS:

“What have I received?”  “What have I given?” and “What troubles and difficulty have I caused?”

4.   **LEARN TO OFFER PRAYERS OF GRATITUDE

5.   **COME TO YOUR SENSES. 

          Through our senses—the ability to touch, see, smell, taste, and hear—we gain an appreciation of what it means to be human.

6.   **GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS

           Grateful motions include smiling, saying thank you, and writing letters of gratitude.

Do it now.  Do it every day.  Doing that will make you happy.  I know!