By NANCY PATRICK My upbringing, though a simple one, taught me about worthwhile values. I confess that I have materialistic moments and desires, but I strive to keep them at a minimum. When I contemplate my New Year’s resolutions, I try to keep them simple, unselfish, and realistic. I consider several categories of behavior for my own life. One area
Read moreNancy Patrick at new home in Illinois, far from home, on Christmas 1974. Nancy and her husband, Mike, had just moved to Illinois for Mike’s first pastorate and they were among strangers for the first time. By NANCY PATRICK Every year by Thanksgiving, our society transforms into a charitable, adoring, nostalgic, and sentimental group of people who seem to
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By NANCY PATRICK I enjoy Thanksgiving more than any other holiday. Its position between two of the most publicized holidays of the year—Halloween and Christmas—offers a chance to breathe and focus on something other than commercialism. Thinking about Thanksgiving actually makes me feel good. It reminds me of the plans for my fall wedding back in 1968. Enrolled in Hardin-Simmons
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By NANCY PATRICK I thought about starting this paragraph with a string of happy emojis. The reason for my elation—my husband, Mike, and I will celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary on Nov. 23. When we married, Mike had completed two years of college, while I had just graduated from high school. Neither of us had a clue about the
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By NANCY PATRICK Abilene, Texas, a relatively quiet, safe place to live, has had a recent increase in violence. This has prompted me to ponder the causes of such unusual behavior not only in Abilene but also around the world. My dilemma relates to the apparent fear and anger felt by many people who behave badly—both verbally and physically.
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK American author Sandra Cisneros wrote “House on Mango Street,” one of my favorite stories to teach in a literature class. The story focuses on the protagonist, Esperanza, and her life growing up in a poor Latino neighborhood in Chicago in the 1950s. Most critics agree that Cisneros bases Esperanza on herself and her frequent negative childhood experiences,
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK I recently celebrated my high school reunion for the 1968 graduating class of Abilene High School. I surprised myself by my own anticipation and emotional reaction to this event. The actual weekend far exceeded my expectations. Although some of us had stayed in the area and seen each other throughout the years, most
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK I grew up in a simpler time than today’s society. My dad was a child of the Great Depression, born in 1928 in the dirt poor farming community of Blevins, Arkansas. His parents had five children; my dad, the second. He grew up working hard, leaving his home at age 14 to move 17 miles away to
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK Tragic, unexpected suicides bring the issue of depression to the forefront of many minds. Although always traumatic, some suicides are more understandable than others. Sometimes victims have suffered unimaginable horrors in wars or experienced excruciating pain related to an illness. However, sometimes people who seem to have no reason to be suicidal do take their own lives.
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Spirit Of Abilene 