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valerieluesse

Alabama

Freelance writer/editor and Southern storyteller

Recent Activity

Sunday Morning Serenity

We had an early Father’s Day celebration at our house yesterday—Chinese food, Daddy’s favorite. When Mama and I were making arrangements over the phone, he was LOUDLY offering suggestions in the background: “Tell her JUST a barbecue sandwich and NO sides.” I sent word back: “Tell him it’s not up... Continue reading

Posted Jun 19, 2022 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

Mama and Daddy came over yesterday for a belated birthday/early Mother’s Day celebration for her. I think this is only the second time in my life that I haven't been on her church pew on Mother’s Day. But I know she understands why I can’t be there because she’s one... Continue reading

Posted May 8, 2022 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

I’m sitting in the Story Shack with the front and back doors open, listening to the birds sing and looking at a beautiful blooming vine a friend gave me years and years ago. I thought a storm destroyed it a while back, but this year it pushed its way out... Continue reading

Posted Apr 17, 2022 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

Back when Daddy and I used to do a lot of shopping together, we had a little motto: “Whoever said ‘things won’t make you happy’ wasn’t buying the right stuff.” It rang especially true at Parisian, my favorite store of all time (and I miss it even now). I still... Continue reading

Posted Feb 6, 2022 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

I woke up this morning thinking about salt—specifically, salt’s power within our bodies. Just this week, Dave and I came home from what I think was his fifth hospital stay since June. I had to call the paramedics on Christmas Day, and we rang in the New Year at what... Continue reading

Posted Jan 9, 2022 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

It’s a strange thing, the way time and circumstances change our priorities and our limits. Priorities: I’ve often used weekends to catch up on work, but now it seems more important to watch an old movie and eat popcorn with Daddy than to “get a jump on next week.” I... Continue reading

Posted Dec 5, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

My keyboard’s getting rusty:) Just when I thought I could get back to Serenity, well . . . we got a little busy again with health issues. But I’m thinking this morning about a song we learned in choir a hundred years ago. The words were something like this (old... Continue reading

Posted Nov 14, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

Long time, no Serenity:) How are you? I’ve been a little busy. Too busy to write on Sunday mornings. Busy with the business of healing. I always thought of healing as a passive process, but it’s not. It’s a daily, active, arm-yourself-with-knowledge-and-prayer-then-hit-the-battlefield-and-fight-till-you’re-exhausted proposition. At the end of June, just as... Continue reading

Posted Oct 17, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

Life is strange. You can write that down. I didn't copyright it or anything. I don't have a lot of time this morning, but I wanted to write that much at least. It's strange—because you can feel the least alone when you're isolated. You can also feel lonely in a... Continue reading

Posted Aug 15, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

We need to laugh—even when we’re at our worst. We really do. But when you feel like you don’t have much to laugh about, you can forget how good it feels—what a release it can be. I have my friend Lil to thank for that little revelation. Last week, Lil... Continue reading

Posted Aug 8, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

For the past month, I haven’t been writing very often because I’ve been on a healthcare journey with Dave. He’s not much for Facebook sharing:) So I’ll just say he had a cluster of issues that silently progressed over time until they converged like a bad weather system and kicked... Continue reading

Posted Jul 25, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

We just had our first family reunion in . . . We can’t quite remember if it has been 20 or 30 years since we all gathered. Probably closer to 30. My cousin’s wife told me she had prepared their young children: “You’ll probably see a lot of people who... Continue reading

Posted Jun 27, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

My friend Gary introduced me to a Sandi Patty song called “In the In Between,” and it's speaking to me this morning. It’s all about how it’s easy to celebrate God when you’re on the mountaintop, and it’s natural to call on Him when you’re in the valley. But sometimes... Continue reading

Posted Jun 13, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

Did you ever go through a period in your life when you felt like somebody stole your compass and you lost all sense of direction? That was me of late. And while I know better, from past experience, I chose not to admit defeat but to wallow in it, wrestle... Continue reading

Posted Jun 6, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

We have a tendency to talk about war in the big picture—battles won or lost, territory taken or surrendered, objectives achieved, zones stabilized. But what could be more personal than sending our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors away from home and into a place where they... Continue reading

Posted May 30, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

For the sake of my physical and emotional well-being, I’ve decided to strive for something I call Modified Cat. Why Cat? Because they have no problem saying, “This is what I need right now.” Cheeto says it all the time. He’ll park himself on the floor beside the spot on... Continue reading

Posted May 23, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

Am I really free? Many of us have been asking that question since the CDC lifted the mask mandate for the vaccinated. It’s still hard to believe, after all these months of masking and sanitizing everything but the cat, that we can at last free our faces (with the exception... Continue reading

Posted May 16, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

I’ve never considered myself photogenic, so I don’t have many pictures of myself that I care to dwell on. The few that I do like were taken by Southern Living photographers or my cousin Richard. (Our friend Blake Sims, who worked with me at the magazine, gifted Dave and me... Continue reading

Posted May 9, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

Today is a little bittersweet for me. It’s Mama’s birthday, so lunch and . . . CAKE! But it’s my last “Movie Sunday” with Daddy. Once he and Mama were fully vaccinated, she was MORE than ready to go back to church, but Daddy’s still not quite up to it.... Continue reading

Posted May 2, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

There’s joy in pleasing a bird. That’s my great takeaway from the pandemic. Little things make me a lot happier than they used to, and I’m hoping they always will. When the weight of the world seems to be knocking at your door daily and your whole life has been... Continue reading

Posted Apr 25, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

Sunday hasn’t felt like Sunday in a long time. That will change soon, but for now, I “find Sunday” in two things: music and nature. Whenever I find myself feeling off kilter on a Sunday, I turn to both. To feel nature around me, I just open the door to... Continue reading

Posted Apr 18, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

When I did a Genesis-to-Revelation study of the Bible (we won’t talk about how long ago that was and how lax I have been lately), I read some commentary that said some of the dietary restrictions God gave the Israelites—rules that might sound arbitrary to us now—actually helped prevent disease... Continue reading

Posted Apr 11, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

“What’s today?” There’s no telling how many times I’ve asked Dave that question in the past year. I never realized, until now, how much we depend on markers—large and small—in everyday life. For me, each week has always begun with Monday-back-to-work and ended with Sundays at church. Seasons were marked... Continue reading

Posted Mar 28, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Sunday Morning Serenity

I have no idea why I’m excited about the time change. I work from home, so it’s not like I’ll relish the extra daylight after I make it through rush hour—there is no rush hour. My doctor encouraged me to get vaccinated before I go back to church, so I... Continue reading

Posted Mar 14, 2021 at Goin' Down to Mama's

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Absolutely!

Commented Mar 8, 2021 on Sunday Morning Serenity at Goin' Down to Mama's

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