I am not an early riser by nature, but on Wednesday morning, I voluntarily got up at 6:15 a.m. My mama, Nelda Risher, was visiting and made homemade biscuits. She had already buttered the hot-out-of-the-oven-cast-iron-skillet-cooked biscuits.
After 10 weeks at sea, on Oct. 12, 1492, a sailor aboard the Pinta, one of Christopher Columbus’ sailing ships, saw land. In recent years, much of the glory bestowed upon Columbus for centuries has dissipated. Even still, thanks to Columbus, this…
My phone blipped to let me know an old friend sent a message. I was between meetings and had a few minutes to spare. I hadn’t seen her for a while and was looking forward to hearing from her. Her message read:
Some people, my husband included, believe that if they were cloned and passed their clone walking down the street, they would not recognize themselves.
When I saw her walking toward me, I couldn’t quite read the message on her T-shirt. I was at the book store, with good options all around for my next book to read. I did not anticipate an adolescent’s T-shirt to be the thing that stuck with me mos…
As Piper, the baby of our family, launches her senior year of high school, I’ve decided to make it my mission to keep our kitchen sink clean.
With our recent trip to Hong Kong paired with all the news of the island city-state’s general unrest, I’ve thought a lot about Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
After 26 years of unrequited emotion, a quarter horse named Inseparable Love finally brought us together.
The past week has been a sad one. On occasion, I’ve felt the need to retreat to my mental and emotional happy place.
Sitting in Singapore, my 17-year-old daughter, Piper, and I are reflecting on the many things we’ve learned along the way of our trip to Asia. It has been an epic trip, taking Piper back to her hometown where we adopted her nearly 17 years ago. We…
The relationship between time and travel boggles the mind.
The exterior windowsill beside my desk has been dirty for longer than I’d care to admit.
Seventeen summers ago, we were making plans.
Even for those of us long out of school, summer offers a shift in schedule that makes for more time for reading — which makes me a happy girl.
Girls trips are trickier to coordinate than one might expect. However, I have three friends with whom I believe we have figured out a system that works well. The four of us have been friends for 15 years. We all met working together at a newspaper…
Some of my friends have an over-the-top supper club. Thankfully, they invite me on occasion. Two weeks ago, one of them hosted a themed summer picnic supper club. My husband and I were lucky enough to be included. As backyard gardeners, my friends…
I spend too much time thinking about what could change the world for the better. I also love to read. Perhaps a local group of women (of which, in full disclosure, I am a part) has come up with something that could use reading to make the world a …
Seventy-five years ago this week, a 21-year-old Lee Louis Bernard drove a Sherman tank off a boat, into water that was too high and onto the beach of Normandy. These days, the 96-year-old Bernard rides his electric chair up and down the sidewalks …
Home again. Home again. Jiggety jig.
The tiny leaves on the aspen trees outside my studio here in Wyoming are new. They remind me of my 11th grade English teacher, Donna McLean, and Robert Frost’s poem “Nature’s First Green is Gold.”
Years ago, when I was not quite 30 years old, I went home to Mississippi to visit my parents. At some point during that visit, I sat on a green-velvet covered stool in my mother’s bathroom as she attempted to fix my hair. She had been brushing it …
I am not one of those evolved people who appreciates eating in restaurants alone.
Easter morning is the perfect time to consider the events of the past few weeks — those close to home and those far away. On this day in particular, many of us can’t help but think of the legendary phoenix, the mythical bird that dies in a fiery f…
Lately, I’ve been living in that just-before-something-big-is-about-to-happen zone.
On a recent visit to New York for work, I ended up staying in Secaucus, New Jersey, for the first three nights of my visit.
Wednesday night after dinner, my 17-year-old daughter, Piper, posed a challenge. She asked how many songs could I sing (which she defined as knowing at least a verse and the chorus) that had the words memory, remember or remind in the lyrics.
I was late getting on board watching the "Great British Baking Show." Even so, my newfound devotion is sincere. Since January, the show has been a source of comfort when the rest of the world is full of so much madness and meanness.
Some of my favorite moments are the ones when either of my daughters sits at our piano and plays her heart out, oblivious to the rest of the world. Those moments make me realize how fleeting childhood is — maybe because I remember being the kid si…
Considering fostering a child tangles my brain.
The icebreaker for the group of 30 strangers was a simple question: Are you a dog person or a cat person?
The Valentine’s clock is ticking. If you haven’t made plans, now is the time. Like I tell my kids, get gas when you have time — not when you need it.
The adoption agency gave us a document that included everything the orphanage knew about her. She liked watermelon. She hated being hot.
Longtime Acadiana writer Jan Risher has joined The Acadiana Advocate.