I love my job. For more than twenty years, I’ve had the privilege of writing and publishing the stories that are always simmering at the back of my mind. My 100th Harlequin book, HUSBAND FOR A WEEKEND, will be in stores in April, 2012. It was such a thrill for me to mark that number, but there are still so many stories I want to tell …

Writing for Harlequin has been an honor and a constant challenge for me. Within the romance genre,  I’ve been able to write family dramas, romantic comedies, adventure, suspense … even stories about ghosts and psychics … along with the archetypal cowboys, private investigators, cops and docs. And all have had a happy ending, which makes me happy, too. I still have many projects in the works for Harlequin, including an August, 2012, release, HIS BEST FRIEND’S WIFE.

More than a year ago, another type of story began to “haunt” me. Sometimes when I looked in a mirror, I wondered what it would like to see a strange face looking back at me from there, or hear a stranger’s voice whispering from a corner of the room, or find myself with memories that aren’t my own.

That’s what happens to Amanda Holloway in my upcoming Kindle-only release, WAKE ME. Stripped of her own memories, and tormented by flashes of someone else’s life — and death — Amanda wonders if she’s going crazy or being driven by an outside force. Her cynical cop ex-boyfriend wants to know how she knows so many details of his on-going murder investigation, and a handsome musician with possible ties to that investigation wants to get to know her better. All Amanda wants is to reclaim her life and her own memories before someone silences both her and the voices in her head – forever.

WAKE ME was a different kind of story for me to tell, but I loved the challenge as the mystery unfolded in my mind and on my screen. Though it doesn’t quite fit into the romance genre I still love, I stayed true to my storytelling style and voice. I think my regular readers will recognize themes that have always been important to me — the importance of family, the immeasurable value of love, and the universal search for a safe place to call home.

I’ll let you know as soon as the book is available for purchase from the Kindle store (release price will be $3.99). It should be out within the next few weeks. If you don’t have a Kindle device, you can download the Kindle reader for free on your computer, iPad, iPod or smartphone!

I received a Kindle Fire from my husband for my birthday/Christmas gift this year (those of us born in late December use that slash a lot). I don’t do product reviews often, but since this is both directly related to my writing career and a technological advance for me, it seemed relevant to discuss it here.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never owned an e-reader and that I had my doubts about reading “on screen,” considering my deep love of books. Then I tried reading a few times on an iPod touch — and discovered that I loved the freedom of having a book with me at all times, especially in the various waiting rooms where we all seem to spend so much time. The iPod screen is tiny, certainly, but it was still surprisingly easy for me to read on it. Our oldest daughter carries her Kindle reader with her on her bus commute to work — almost an hour each way — and has commented often about how it makes the travel time pass so much more quickly. John decided it was time for me to have a Kindle of my own, and he choose to order the Kindle Fire from Amazon.

The first accessory I bought was a cover. I choose a black leather cover with a bright blue lining from Belkin (approximately $35 from WalMart)  that also folds into a stand. I like this cover because it’s very slim, adding little bulk to the Fire, and had a good feel in my hand. I have to confess, I like the fact that when it’s open and I’m reading inside the cover, it feels like I’m actually holding a book. The photo above is a little dark, but you get the idea. Cover and all, the Kindle Fire is about the size of a paperback, fits easily into my purse (average size, I don’t like to carry the extra-large ones that make my shoulders ache), and weighs about a pound. Not bad at all.

It was ridiculously easy to download a book from the Amazon Kindle store (maybe a little too easy! It’s like living in a bookstore – dangerous for us book lovers). I had no trouble going to facebook or accessing my email. The settings were easy to find for brightening and dimming the screen, turning wi-fi off to save battery life and so on. On the whole, easy enough for even this techno-challenged mom to figure out. I’ve already read two books and two novellas on it, and honestly, I lost myself in the stories just as easily as I ever have. I’ve also read a hardcover book since Christmas (I’ve been on quite a reading binge), and I still love reading from a “real” book — but I wouldn’t carry it with me out of the house the way I can my Fire.

One of my favorite uses may very well be in the kitchen. Using the stand, I can display a recipe from allrecipes.com or one of the other sites I visit very often, set the little Fire out of the way on the counter, and refer to the displayed recipe as needed. I’ve done that several times already.

The Fire came with a free month’s subscription to Amazon Prime. One of the books I read was “borrowed” from the Amazon Prime library (you are entitled to borrow one book a month from the eligible titles), and I streamed a movie from the free choices offered. The film looked fine on the seven-inch screen and the sound was very acceptable from the speakers. Will I renew the Prime membership? Probably not, at least for now. I don’t order enough to make the free two-day shipping worth the (admittedly reasonable) cost, and I wasn’t excited enough by the range of book or video offerings to make it worthwhile for me, though that could change in the future. But I tried it all while I have it.

The battery life has been sufficient for me so far, though of course I haven’t really put it to the test. I had plenty of power to watch the two-hour film and then read a while before I noticed it was getting low. I think it said it would get seven or eight hours of use on one charge. Fine for my uses.

The only quibble I have so far?

That shiny screen and the resulting fingerprints make my somewhat OCD soul cringe! I spend a lot of time polishing with a microfiber cloth. Colors really pop on screen, but it does take some effort to keep it shiny.

If you don’t have a Kindle device, the Kindle app is a free download from your phone, iPod or iPad or PC from Amazon. Books are reasonably priced, and there are many, many free titles available! All in all, I can give this product two thumbs-up (and then scrub the resulting thumb-prints away with my handy polishing cloth). Thank you for my gift, John. I know I’ll get many hours of enjoyment from it (and thanks to the “kids” for Amazon gift cards — which will be put to good use in the Kindle bookstore!).

♥♥♥

Look for my Harlequin Special Edition, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, in stores, at Harlequin.com and for e-readers now! (Click the Books Available Now! tab above for details).

And be sure and “like” my facebook page (link at right) for occasional updates and comments.

Available now in stores, for e-readers, and at Harlequin.com.

Click Books Available Now! tab above for details.

Another busy holiday season has ended — all the decorations put away, too many sweets made and consumed. Although I very much missed having our daughter, Kerry, and her husband, Justin, with us this year (she was on call in Mass.), John and I still enjoyed having Courtney home from Seattle and David here for the holiday weekend on his medical school break. This was the first Christmas in her whole lifetime Kerry hasn’t spent with us, and her traditional place on the carpet in front of the tree seemed awfully empty. We understand the demands of her medical residency, and are so proud of her accomplishments — but we still might have pouted a bit to have one of our brood missing on Christmas. Still, we were able to connect by phone, so she was here in spirit. We did find out who’s been responsible for the before-dawn Christmas awakenings — without Kerry here, the rest of us slept in a couple extra hours that morning! And she always tried to blame her sister and brother …

David starts his second semester of medical school tomorrow. Later this week, Courtney will return to her busy scientific research career. It’s always hard to drive her to the airport and say goodbye until the next visit, but we’re proud of her for forging on in her work despite the challenges she has faced since her stroke on October 30, 2010. Still primarily confined to a wheelchair and with very limited use of her right hand, she still manages to live on her own and to make advances in her research. With post-stroke fatigue a constant challenge for her, some days are so hard for her that she wonders if she can get through them — and yet she continues to display courage and determination when it must be tempting to just give up. There are no words to describe how proud we are of her, and how grateful we are to the excellent doctors and therapists who work with her and encourage her. We know she will continue to make advances both in her recovery and her research during the coming months.

I have lots of plans for the coming year. My new Harlequin Special Edition release, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, is available this month, to be followed by HUSBAND FOR A WEEKEND  in April and BEYOND THE MORNING (title subject to change) in August. The latter two books, as well as the as yet untitled one I’m just starting this week, were inspired by the therapists we’ve met during the past year who’ve worked with Courtney. The previous medical-themed books were inspired by our other daughter’s adventures in medical school. My husband teases me about using our kids’ lives as material for my always-active imagination; I remind him that everything in life we see, read or hear is fodder for a writer’s busy fantasy life!

I’ll also be re-releasing quite a few of my early titles soon for Kindle (I’ll let you know when they’re available). And stay tuned for information about the release of my first paranormal suspense novel, WAKE ME. Can’t wait to share the details about that one with you!

May 2012 be a special and fulfilling year for all of you. I hope you’ll come back to visit me here and that you’ll find a few hours of escape and entertainment in the stories I so love telling for you.

I’ll be participating in a live chat with other Harlequin Special Edition authors from 7 to 9 December 14 at Harlequin.com. Those of you who know me through this blog are aware that I can be technologically challenged, so cross your fingers that I hit the right computer buttons during that hour — and feel free to join us to monitor my success! I’m sure it will be fun. I always look forward to chatting with readers and other writers.

Click the Books Available Now tab above for information about my next Harlequin release, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, which will be available January, 2012. And don’t forget to enter the drawing to take place on my birthday — December 20. Click the Enter to Win tab for instructions.

A week ago today, my husband and I delivered our daughter and son-in-law to the airport for their return to Massachusetts after a lovely week-long Thanksgiving visit with us. On our way back home, we stopped in to a local store to do a little Christmas shopping. While we stood in line to pay, we were greeted by a long-time friend, Elaine Payne, a recently-retired schoolteacher who was on her way for a luncheon with other retired teacher friends. It was obvious that she was looking forward to that gathering. Telling her to have a good time, we added that we would see her again soon. Two days later, her husband called to tell us that Elaine had suffered a massive heart attack. Yesterday, we stood by her bed in the cardiac critical care unit to share in a prayer with her pastor and several dear friends as we bade her a final goodbye. She was 59.

Elaine and her husband, Ken, have been our friends for more than twenty-five years, and we’ve spent many pleasant hours with them, even taking a few nice vacations together. John and Ken are especially good friends, sharing several hobbies and community activities. When our daughter was ill, when John’s dad and my mother passed away, when our house was hit by a tornado — all the difficult times in our lives — Ken and Elaine were the first ones there to offer help and support. A little less than two years ago, they lost their only child, their son, Thomas, and we grieved with them, having watched Thomas grow up along with our own children.

For twenty-eight years, Elaine taught special education in local public schools. She dealt with sometimes very difficult students, but she loved her job and I know she made a difference in very many young lives. If you’ve read my earlier posts, you know how much respect and admiration I have for dedicated teachers, and Elaine was certainly among that elite group. Even after her retirement, Elaine continued to work in the school, spending countless unpaid hours volunteering in the library. She was also very active in her church and other community organizations. She will be missed by many.

During this busy, bustling holiday season, I hope you’ll all take the time to appreciate each fleeting moment with your own family and friends. Thank you for letting me share a few memories of my friend with you here.

Our Thanksgiving leftovers are all gone now, and my daughter, Kerry, and I survived our yearly Black Friday shopping outing. We’ve headed out before dawn every year since she was twelve, with the exception of last year when our other daughter was just out of the hospital after her stroke. “Black Friday” is the day Kerry and I spend together shopping and having lunch out. She wanted to eat at Dixie Cafe this time; having spent the past two and a half years in New England, she was craving Southern food. Once again, the crowds we encountered were friendly and well-behaved, unlike the few ugly episodes shown on the news, and we had a wonderful day together. In a few days, she and her husband will be heading back north, where they’ll be spending Christmas for the first time because Kerry will be on call during the holidays. They’ll be greatly missed by their Arkansas families, but it’s been so nice having them here for Thanksgiving. Our other daughter will be home in two weeks to spend Christmas and New Year’s with us before going back to her job in the Pacific Northwest.

And now it’s time to prepare for the next holiday.  I spent the past couple of days decorating the house while Kerry and her husband visited with his family in another part of the state.  I hung ornaments on two artificial trees. One is in the living room, covered with the many ornaments I’ve collected during the years (I pick up an ornament as a souvenir every time I visit a new place). The tree in the den (pictured above) displays wooden ornaments my husband has made on his lathe and scroll saw for more than a decade. My philosophy is that one can never have too many ornaments on a tree — if there’s a tip, something might as well hang from it! Every ornament has sentimental value for me, bringing back memories of Christmases past as I place it just so.

When I was a child growing up in rural Arkansas, we often cut down our own Christmas trees. I remember tramping through woods with my dad and my brothers, searching for the perfect pine or cedar. Of course, we would point to trees that had to be at least twelve feet tall, not quite comprehending that we had only eight-foot ceilings. Sometimes Daddy would overestimate, as well. I remember him having to cut the tops out of a few trees to make them fit in the room after he put them on a stand. We would watch Daddy struggle with the lights, then the four of us kids, supervised by our mother, would hang the ornaments and drape silver tinsel “icicles.” We quickly grew tired of the process and threw on clumps of tinsel that more resembled shiny hairballs than icicles. Still, no matter how crooked or clumpy our trees, they were always magical to our young eyes, as was the smell of sap and needles and the sounds of carols from the annual television Christmas variety shows.

Mother is no longer with us, and my own three kids are independent adults now, but I still cherish the Christmas memories of my childhood and theirs. It’s my favorite time of the year — which is, perhaps, why it shows up so often in my books. The story I just completed features a single mom who falls in love during the busy holiday season, and finds it hard to juggle family obligations, work demands and a new relationship with an man from her past. I’ll let you know the title and publication date soon. I’ll have two other Harlequin Special Editions available before that one — DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING in January, 2012 and HUSBAND FOR A WEEKEND in April, 2012.

For now, I’ll enjoy these last few days of Kerry and Justin’s visit, then it’s back to work on another book before the next set of festivities. I’ll try to remember to savor the moments this year that will become happy memories during future holidays.

♥♥♥

Don’t forget to enter for the special drawing to be held on December 20 (my birthday). In honor of the holiday season and my 100th book (my 99th Harlequin release), I’m giving away a book and a wooden pen turned by my very talented husband. Click the Enter to Win! tab above for details on how to enter.

Three and a half years ago, John and I helped our older daughter move to Seattle by driving a UHaul truck and pulling her little Saturn on a trailer. We traveled through Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Oregon before arriving in Seattle — several states we’d never driven through before — and we had a great time seeing that part of the country in the early spring. A year later, we drove the UHaul for our next daughter and her husband when they moved to Massachusetts, our path taking us through Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut (with a side trip into Rhode Island while we were in the area). Again, we loved seeing parts of the country we had only flown over before, watching the landscape and building styles changing as we moved farther away from Arkansas, where my husband and I have both lived all our lives.

Three weeks ago, John and I flew to Seattle to spend some time with our daughter, who survived a brainstem stroke a year ago this month. Still in a wheelchair most of her days, she needed some help with some things around her apartment, wanted us to accompany her to a few appointments and we decided to drive her little car home and sell it for her. She is unable to drive currently (she hopes to do so again eventually) and owning, insuring and parking a car are expenses she doesn’t need for now. We had a very nice two-week visit with her, enjoying the refreshing Pacific Northwest coolness after a brutally hot Arkansas summer, and then we set out last Tuesday for the drive home. We chose a different path this time — through eastern Washington into northern Idaho (breathtakingly beautiful), through Montana and the northeast corner of Wyoming, through South Dakota, down the border of Iowa into Missouri and home from there (with a few hours stop in Branson, three hours north of home, because I couldn’t bear to pass that close and not at least pop into some of my favorite places there).

Having never been to Montana or South Dakota, John and I had a wonderful drive home. We explored tiny, historic Wallace, Idaho, where we spent our first night at the vintage 1960s-era Stardust Motel. After a second night in Hardin, Montana, we whiled away several hours at the Little Bighorn battlefield in Montana, soaking in the somber atmosphere and the impressive scenery and imagining the sights and sounds of that terrible battle between two conflicting cultures. The museum there is fascinating, as was the short film that presented both sides of the conflict quite comprehensively. I haven’t studied Western history extensively, so I learned quite a few facts I hadn’t known before and found intriguing both as a writer and an American.

Following a three hour delay at the Wyoming/South Dakota border to replace a tire ruined when something punctured the side (we still don’t know what), we continued on to Keystone, S.D., to see Mt. Rushmore, arriving there in time to view it both in waning sunlight and then after dark with the lights on the faces. We spent that third night in Rapid City, then put in many hours of hard driving the next day to make up for the lost time with the tire, though we couldn’t resist spending a couple of hours at famous Wall Drug in Wall, S.D. (home of free ice water and nickel coffee — if you haven’t heard of it, look it up — fascinating place! I’ll spare you the photo here of us posed sitting on a six-foot tall “jackalope.”) After staying just outside Kansas City, Missouri that night, and our short stop in Branson, we were home by eight p.m. on Saturday — tired but feeling so blessed to have experienced even more of this amazingly diverse country.

It’s funny that we used to dread long car rides, seeing them only as a means of arriving at a destination when we couldn’t fly. Now that all three of our children are out on their own, John and I both love setting out to see new places, new landscapes, to chat with friendly strangers along the way, to stand at the site of events we’d learned about in long-ago history classes. We’d still like to go back to Yellowstone and the Badlands (two stops we had to pass by because of time restraints), and up into Minnesota and Michigan someday. Next fall, we’d like to drive up into New England to visit daughter number two and her husband and see the foliage (we’ve never been north of Massachusetts, so Vermont and Maine would be on that agenda).

But for now, it’s back to work on another Harlequin Special Edition. My next book, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, will be available in January, 2012. This will be a momentous release for me (more about that in my post next week, as well as details for the next contest).

Don’t forget to check my re-releases for Kindle and Nook, and through eHarlequin.com! And for occasional updates, “like” my facebook page (click the Contact Me tab above for details).

Until next week …

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Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.

® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

I have to admit to being technologically challenged. This simple blog requires all of my computer skills (hence, the spaces between the lines of the copyright message above – can’t figure out how to remove them). Web pages confuse me. Facebook befuddles me every time the setup changes (which seems to be often). Twitter? Haven’t even tried. I still carry a “dumb phone” — it makes and takes calls and texts quite well, but does not access the internet.

To paraphrase Leonard “Bones” McCoy — “I’m a storyteller, not a computer whiz!”

So, it should come as no surprise that I was a bit slow coming around to ebooks. Clinging to my treasured library of hardcovers and paperbacks, I couldn’t imagine reading on a screen, when I spend so many hours a day staring at a computer screen for writing. Every so often, when my shelves overflow, I gather bags of books to donate to the local shelters or other deserving organizations, but I still have a lot of books stashed in closets and cases. When I travel, I always try to find extra space for books – which has become increasingly difficult as airlines limit more and more the amount we can carry on or even check. I have sat many times in waiting rooms, wishing I’d remembered to bring along a book, having read every year-old magazine within my reach.

And then last year my son gave me an iPod Touch for Mother’s Day. I’d used the iPod Nano before, but this was the first time I’d had the capability of downloading a book to carry with me using iBooks or Kindle format. Just as an experiment, I bought a couple of books from iTunes, downloaded the Kindle app and bought a couple of books there. And even though the screen is very small, requiring a lot of page-turn swipes – I love it. A book is always at hand, and I have pulled that little reader out more times than I can count already. I’m even catching up on some old classics I enjoyed years ago (many of them free downloads). Now I’m looking at Kindles and Nooks and other readers, thinking maybe I’m ready for a somewhat larger screen.

After her stroke, my older daughter found herself spending more time commuting to work by bus, so she decided to invest in an e-reader. After trying out several formats in the local stores, she chose a Kindle because it was lightweight and easiest for her to operate with the use of only one hand. She uses it everyday to pass the time during her forty-minute-each-way bus ride. I’ve noticed more and more people reading on various types of devices in waiting rooms, on planes and buses and in coffee shops. With pocket and purse sized readers and instant downloads, books have become more portable and available than ever. What a joy for us avid readers!

Quite a few of my older books that were formerly out of print have been re-released under the Harlequin Treasury imprint. They are available for Kindle and Nook and through eHarlequin.com. I love knowing that some of my favorite older stories (such as A VALENTINE WISH, my first “ghost story” romance) are now available to readers again. More titles should become available in coming months.

I will always enjoy curling up in a chair with a new hardcover or paperback and a cup of my favorite tea, but it’s lovely to know that I can have a selection of books always at hand wherever I go now. Bring on that waiting room!

September, 2001, was a busy time in this then-bustling household. Our youngest child, then twelve-year-old David, had recently started seventh grade. Our oldest daughter, Courtney, was just beginning her post-graduate microbiology training in Little Rock and was living with us until she found an apartment closer to her graduate school, a half hour commute from here on the best traffic days. Middle child, Kerry, was ensconced in a dormitory an hour away from home for her freshman year of college. I was on deadline, as always, and my husband was busy with his woodworking and other always-ongoing projects.

The morning of September 11 was hectic. I’d gotten David up, fed him breakfast, made sure he had either a sack lunch or lunch money (I don’t remember which), and had waved to him as he’d climbed onto the school bus. Courtney rushed around the house getting ready to leave for grad school, hoping the early rush hour traffic would have eased a bit by the time she reached the Arkansas River bridge. I remember very clearly sitting in my recliner with a cup of coffee, taking a moment to breathe before starting work, watching Good Morning, America with Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer. Jack Hanna was scheduled to appear with some of his cute animals, and I always enjoyed those segments.

Just as Courtney was gathering her backpack and keys, an announcement came on the TV that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I was shocked, but the details were sketchy, and for all I knew it was a small plane in a tragic accident. I called my husband in to listen, and he sat in his recliner next to mine to learn the details. Courtney hesitated a moment, but she had to leave. The news went to live coverage, showing smoke billowing out of the first tower, and I divided my attention between watching that broadcast and watching through the patio door as Courtney dashed out to her car. Just as she drove away, I looked back at the screen — only to watch in horror as a plane hit the second tower. I wasn’t even sure that was what I had seen, I remember asking John if he’d seen it, too. He had — as had the stunned reporters covering the event.

My first reaction was that something must have gone wrong in a control tower. I asked John if there could be some sort of computer glitch causing the planes to be so horribly off-course.  He looked at me sadly and just shook his head. It was a naive question, of course. I simply could not fathom the kind of evil intent that would have deliberately led to those heinous actions. And then the reports came from the Pentagon. And a field in Pennsylvania. And scene after scene of unimaginable terror flashed across the television screen.

I thought of my friends in New York — my agent and her staff, my editors, other writers. I prayed they were safe. I reached for the phone and called my mother, like a frightened child needing my mother’s reassurance that everything would somehow be all right, when we both knew our world would never be quite the same. I called Courtney, needing to know she had arrived at school safely, and then Kerry, to make sure she was okay at college. I couldn’t call David at the junior high, but I had to trust he was being well cared for there. My first instinct was to reach out to the ones I loved most.

I did no writing that day, nor for the next week. It took a while before I could concentrate on light-hearted fiction again, and many of my writer friends admitted they had the same difficulty. Though I was far from the tragedy, safe in Arkansas, my heart — like the rest of the country’s — was in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania with the heroes and victims there. Our skies were empty, as were our spirits for those few bleak days, and we could think of nothing else. For a few days, we were a country united in grief and anger, our petty differences set aside.

Now, on the tenth anniversary of that day, so much has changed — in the world and in my own life. My mother lost her battle with pancreatic cancer four years ago, and there are so many days I wish I could call her again for her encouragement and reassurance. I am fortunate to still have my dad, and I know I can call on him whenever I need him. I’ve written quite a few light-hearted romances in the past ten years. I believe there is value in occasional hours of escapist entertainment, and always in the celebration of love.

I remember Courtney dashing out to her car; now she spends most of her days in a wheelchair still working to recuperate from the stroke she suffered last October. She is back to work full-time in medical research, searching for information that will lead to better treatments for hepatitis C while dealing with her own physical limitations with grace and courage 2400 miles from her family here. John and I could not be more proud of the brave and independent young woman she has become.

Kerry married a fine young man she met at the university she had just begun to attend ten years ago, completed medical school, and is now a third-year child and adult psychiatry resident in Massachusetts while her husband, Justin, attends graduate school.  Every day she works with people who struggle to survive trauma and addiction and chemical imbalances that make their lives so difficult, and I know she is making a difference there. She knows we are extremely proud of her, too.

David is now a first-year medical student, preparing to begin his own career of service to his community. At the risk of redundancy, I have to admit we’re very proud of him, too.

Our children are so fortunate to live in a country where they are free to pursue their dreams. I hope they comprehend and will always appreciate the sacrifices so many have made to keep that freedom alive.

You’ve probably figured out by now that I tend to be both sentimental and nostalgic. As I write this, it’s late afternoon and a yellow school bus just rattled past the house on this second day of a new school year in Arkansas. That sound and that flash of yellow through the leaded glass in the front door take me back to the days when I’d be waiting for my three children to jump off their school bus and run eagerly toward the house. Snacks, homework and piano practice awaited them – and while I never had to nag my academically ambitious offspring to do homework, the same wasn’t true of piano practice time. I can still hear the sounds of clanging keys from irritable little fingers that would much rather be busy with something else. I don’t miss the piano practice battles, but I do miss the music.

With just over nine years between my oldest and youngest, they were rarely in the same schools, and their home arrival times were staggered. A few years were crazy hectic — one child in elementary school, another in junior high, another in senior high, all busy with activities, sometimes all in the same evening. My husband and I somehow learned to split our two selves into three directions. I can still remember so many of those drama and choir performances, math competitions, academic open houses, piano recitals, drill team practices, prom meetings and other extracurricular activities. Our kids weren’t involved in sports, other than as spectators at the school football games, but they stayed quite busy, for the most part — which meant that we did, too. There are times when I wonder how we got it all done — and times when I miss those days very much.

Last week John and I had the pleasure of having all our “kids” home for the first time since last Christmas. Kerry and her husband came from Massachusetts to spend a few days with his family and a few days with ours, while Courtney flew in from Seattle. Courtney is still recuperating from the stroke she suffered at the end of October last year, still using a wheelchair most of the time and unable to use her right hand, but she gets by remarkably well and has continued making strides in her medical research career. Traveling alone in a wheelchair is a challenge, but she had plenty of help along the way from courteous airline employees, and she enjoyed a week away from work and therapy sessions and doctor visits.

David’s new apartment is close enough that he was able to spend a few evenings with us, though medical school orientation kept him busy during the days. Arkansas was in the middle of a record heatwave — the temperature soaring to 114 degrees one of those days — so our activities were pretty much confined to indoors during the week. We had several good meals (John prepared his famous smoked meatloaf one day, which is always a hit), played some games, talked a lot. One evening we all saw a movie together in a small, nearby theater; we saw “Cowboys and Aliens.” The film was fun, but mostly I enjoyed being in a theater with my entire immediate family for the first time in longer than I could remember. The girls and I went shopping one afternoon – another treat for me. At the end of the week, we all attended David’s “white coat ceremony,” a touching ceremony in which the incoming medical school class of 2015 recited an oath of professionalism, compassion and commitment. All other physicians in attendance were invited to renew their own oaths, so Kerry stood to recite along, causing a woman behind us to whisper loudly, to our amusement, “She can’t be old enough to be a doctor!”

Needless to say, John and I cherished every minute we were able to spend with our busy daughters and son during their visit with us.  Now the girls are back in their jobs, our son-in-law is preparing to start a new semester of graduate school, David’s immersed in medical school — and the nest is empty again. We aren’t sad — we’re so proud of all of them for pursuing the careers they have worked so hard toward. This was always our goal as parents, to see them independent and self-sufficient and productive. Still, because I am sentimental and nostalgic, I can’t help sighing a little when I hear that yellow bus clatter by, or when I wipe the dust from the piano keys or vacuum the three rarely-used bedrooms that still hold a few dolls and stuffed animals and plastic robots.