Elin Stebbins Waldal

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Backseat Memories

Apr 10, 2016 By elinwaldal 26 Comments

Backseat Memories

One of my earliest childhood memories finds me nestled in the back of a wood-paneled station wagon with my brothers and sister, crocheted afghans pulled to our necks, eyes fixed on the ceiling of the car, and little padding for our backs. Above us, centered in the beam cast from streetlights and traveling cars, our hand-shadow puppets danced across a stage until the […]

Filed Under: Aging, Memories, Travel Tagged With: Aging, Backseat, memories, Road Trips, travel

Pictures of You, Pictures of Me

Mar 13, 2015 By elinwaldal 22 Comments

Pictures of You, Pictures of Me

The Kodak paper envelope with its signature yellow color is as familiar as my reflection once was. And I feel my heart sink just a little when I realize there is not one picture of me in the 36 images from the developed role. It was 17 years ago. Other than I was the one […]

Filed Under: Living, Memories Tagged With: Aging, Motherhood, pictures, Time

Books and Memories

Dec 9, 2014 By elinwaldal 14 Comments

Books and Memories

Books and memories…for me they go together in a way that elicits feelings of love. When I look back as far as my mind’s eye will take me, I can’t see a period of time that didn’t include books. According to my mother, my first favorite was Pat the Bunny. Mom had a story, which by all appearances was […]

Filed Under: Memories, NaBloPoMo Dec 14, Parenting Tagged With: Bedtime Stories, Children's Books, memories, NaBloPoMo Dec 14, Parenting, reading, Rituals

Home is My Church

Dec 3, 2014 By Elin Stebbins Waldal 25 Comments

Home is My Church

Reflection: something that shows the effect, existence, or character of something else.”–Merriam Webster Dictionary By the time I was born my family had all but given up church. My memories of going are more like snapshots, the first of which is of leaving. It was winter in Connecticut, I was probably three years old. All […]

Filed Under: Memories, NaBloPoMo Dec 14 Tagged With: Christmas, church, Family, Home, Love, memories

Grandma’s Sweet Rolls

Nov 27, 2014 By elinwaldal 7 Comments

Grandma’s Sweet Rolls

Crouched down I retrieved the binder which is beyond bursting with recipes—some clipped from newspaper, some from magazines, while others were passed on. I knew what I was looking for when I flipped the tab marked “BREADS” to the side. Her long-hand penmanship came into view — Grandma’s Sweet Rolls — involuntarily I sat on […]

Filed Under: Memories, NaBloPoMo Nov 14 Tagged With: Caregiving, cooking, End of Life Care, Grandma, Love, NaBloPoMo14, sweet rolls

The First Time I Was Raped

Nov 24, 2014 By elinwaldal 18 Comments

The First Time I Was Raped

The first time I was raped was in the back seat of a car. I was 16. In those days the legal age to drink was 18, and underage drinking mostly went unnoticed. It was pretty typical for all of us kids to first hit the Connecticut bars, then, once they closed, head to either Port Chester or Purchase — state line […]

Filed Under: Memories, NaBloPoMo Nov 14 Tagged With: memories, Rape, Secrets, Shame

The Magic Hat, A Love Story

Nov 14, 2014 By elinwaldal 49 Comments

The Magic Hat, A Love Story

Stories. Every family has them. My family’s story began with my parents both on skis. Legend has it they were at the top-turn-of-the-nose-dive in Stowe, Vermont when they met, the year was 1950. Once home, my mother, along with the yarn, cast her spell of love onto the needles she used to knit a long stocking hat for […]

Filed Under: Marriage, Memories, My Parent's Letters, NaBloPoMo Nov 14 Tagged With: How my parents met, Love Story, The 1950's

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An excerpt from Tornado Warning, read by the author

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© Copyright Elin Stebbins Waldal and Beyond the Backyard Blues 2011 – 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Elin Stebbins Waldal is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links must be in full and with clear credit given to Elin Stebbins Waldal, and Beyond the Backyard Blues, additionally, the appropriate and specific direction must be linked to the original content.

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