It's hot. Oh, and it's humid, too! That must mean the dog-days of summer are here. I volunteer at the animal shelter and the dogs there are all wanting the same thing we are: to belong. We all want to belong to a pack, it's instinctual and necessary. And we all want a leader who makes wise decisions and takes everyone into consideration. Because, i…

I was so depressed one day I couldn't even make a decision about whether or not to eat an egg. Then a shot rang out and I thought I was in a true crime drama. But what happened next reminded me that the world is still filled with magic.By Donna Marie Todd

Racism is ugly stuff. I thought we'd left it behind but I guess it was just hiding. I didn't know what racism was until I met it in the kitchen one day after a party my parents gave. The person targeted was someone I loved dearly. Remembering the story, even now, makes my face grow hot with anger and shame.…

Back in the 1960's our country was divided over racism. We'd long ago fought to end slavery but civil rights were still a dream away. This was especially true in the heart of coal country, up in the hills of West Virginia. This is a story about the time my Dad stood up to The Three Kings: who ruled the town, the mines, and the church. Since what's …

I wish my Dad was still here so I could celebrate Father's Day with him just one more time! But this little story will have to suffice! When I was a kid, we didn't play organized sports. We roamed the neighborhood like feral cats. But we mostly behaved because, back then, any parent that caught you doing something wrong had permission to punish you…

Trump reinstated the death penalty by executive order in January 2025. As we reconsider capital punishment in America, this is a story worth hearing. It took place back in the 1940's. What happened in this story was so powerful it pushed my father into the ministry. It's a powerful reminder that family violence has multiple victims. Please share th…

Memorial Day invites us to honor those who have given their all to protect our Freedom. On a visit to the vet, a scared little Jack Russell mix has the opportunity to do just that. A magical story that just happens to be totally true.By Donna Marie Todd

Ever wonder what your legacy from this life will be? What have you done worth remembering? What will you leave behind that anyone else will want? When my sister died this year these legacy questions began coming one after another. And then during a week at the beach, I saw something that helped me name exactly what I hope to leave behind when I'm g…

With all the chaos in America these days, it's good to remember that man is never really in charge. Our power is more of a delusion than a reality. And, I highly recommend a springtime walk as a way of scrubbing the soul from all the dirty grunge of our current political fiascoes.By Donna Marie Todd

I'm so overwhelmed by all the stuff hitting the fan these days, all the weird goings on with American politics, I've needed a lot of naps. And, it's been fascinating to see what I become aware of when I wake up!By Donna Marie Todd

What we plan our lives around matters. I'm the one that always seems to figure that out too late. My sister died recently of ovarian cancer. She taught me a lot about living by the way she chose to spend her time.By Donna Marie Todd

It seems like friendships are in short supply these days. Could you use a few more?By Donna Marie Todd

Nature is always modeling things for us. I had another chance to contemplate that this past week when four inches of snow fell and turned the Great Smokey Mountains into a fairyland. Always claim the uniqueness that makes you who you are! The world needs all of us to show up and come together.By Donna Marie Todd

If you've lost power in a storm or found yourself in a state of depression, you may have found yourself sleeping more. I've been sleepimg more after the difficult death of my sister. Winter is a time for rest. Perhaps tonight you should nourish yourself with a warm bowl of soup and a long winter nap. It's a beautiful way to take care of you!…

Christmas is a celebration of a homeless birth. Here's another story about another homeless birth and some questions we all need to be asking about when babies will be entitled to a safe home.By Donna Marie Todd

Sometimes our vision, opinions, and judgment, becomes clouded. It's amazing what a fresh look at life can to help us see clearly again! As a new year begins, let's try looking at one another with a fresh set of eyes, and look for what we have in common instead of what divides us!By Donna Marie Todd

I'll never forget what happened in the Zickafoose sisters cabin the Thanksgiving day the moonshiners arrived. Once you hear this, you won't forget it either.By Donna Marie Todd

I lost my husband when our son was newly sixteen. His birth was relatively painless, since it was a C-section. (The recovery from surgery, was not much fun, but epidurals are pretty amazing things.) But I just delivered the placenta. This is the story of a mother's love and the length of time it often takes us to finish birthing our children.…

When you get that call that someone is dying, you leap in the car and go. Death doesn't keep an appointment book and cancer plays by its own rules.By Donna Marie Todd

The catastrophic events of climate change (like hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and floods) force you to abandon your sense of safety.By Donna Marie Todd

I remember writing a report in 3rd grade on the reason for Thanksgiving. Mine was a little different than Tommy Spencer's. But then, I didn't dress up in a headband with a rooster feather in it either.

No matter what is happening in the world of man, nature has her own rhythm. Something amazing is often right in front of us, but in our rush to "accomplish something" we miss it. Take a break to listen to this story about just such an almost-missed opportunity, and then take a break to walk in nature and see what she's up to. What you find is likel…

Have we gotten to the point where our lives are for sale?By Donna Marie Todd

It feels like time is running out to do what we came here to do. How are you spending your days these days?By Donna Marie Todd

When you sell your house, it's a lot of change all at once. I've been finding hidden messages at the back of the sock drawer, flipping through memories from childhood, teen times, and adulthood. Memory after memory flashes from every corner, from every found item. Some of our memories are like life preservers, they hold us up when we're in deep wat…

I like to think of myself as discriminating (in a good way) but not prejudiced. But in today's times, it's important to think about how we contribute to prejudicial attitudes about other people based on political opinion or childhood conditioning. This is the story of how I first met racism and the way that impacts my life today.…

This isn't the first time America has had a housing crisis. A recent encounter with a homeless camp brought back a story about my great-grandmother. Twice widowed, she solved a problem for herself and for others. Maybe it's time to let stories from the hard times of the past inspire how we address problems today.…

I think most of us worry about money more than we'd like to admit. No matter how much we have, it seems like it's never enough. But have we entered a time like the one that made my Grandmom put her money in the mattress? Listen to her story, and mine. Maybe it's time to give that idea some new consideration.…

With all the political huffing and puffing in advance of the 2024 election cycle, the big issues we face as Americans are, again, off the table. Affordable health care, homelessness, food insecurity, mass shootings and more. Social media is slicing and dicing us like a red tomato into little voting segments. We're being fear-mongered into seeing ea…

God has a strange way of putting us exactly where he wants us to be.By Donna Marie Todd

The formation of a human soul is complex business. As children we sift through ideas but also marinate in the stories of our family and the rituals that are passed down from one generation to the next. This is the story of one such formation.By Donna Marie Todd

After hearing a Easter sermon about "taking up my cross" I saw a cat torture and kill a baby bird. And thus my ministry to save the birds of Elm street was born.By Donna Marie Todd

Sometimes you meet the right one and the right one takes you on the ride of your life.By Donna Marie Todd

I feel all caged up by winter, until I look out my window.By Donna Marie Todd

I picked the wrong year to start coloring my hair. Over twenty years ago I waited 9 months to have a baby. Now I'm waiting to have a knee replacement and feel like I'm 90. Getting old is NOT for sissies.By Donna Marie Todd

New Year's Eve festivities in my childhood were exquisitely boring, the ones in San Francisco so celebratory I can't remember them, and then my husband rolled one in by having a massive stroke, but we won't dwell on that. You never really know your relatives until you spend the holidays with them. Here's an introduction to some of mine!…

I wrote this for Appalachian Voice magazine many years ago. It's a story about a boy I knew back in the hills of West Virginia. If you're in need of a feel-good story this holiday season, this might just fit the bill! Merry Christmas from my heart to yours.By Donna Marie Todd

I never had a birthday party until I turned 25. Then gave myself one and never looked back!By Donna Marie Todd

I was always on the outskirts of high fashion. But when the fishnet hose and mini-skirts arrived in my school, I was determined to have them!

It was a dark and stormy Halloween eve when I ended up somewhere I wasn't supposed to be.By Donna Marie Todd

We've all had one: a bad hair cut that just can't grow out fast enough! This is the story of a sheep-shearing beautician who gave me just such a haircut, and it scarred me for life. (Well, not really, but I do have an un-natural fear of scissors and clippers.)By Donna Marie Todd

Back when I was a kid in West Virginia, we didn't go to the pool, we went to the swimming hole, down at the bottom of Old Man Reynolds pasture. This is a story about the time we almost drown there. Best enjoyed wearing your Big Girl Pants.By Donna Marie Todd

When I was 12 I knew a woman who was bedfast with rheumatoid arthritis for 14 years. When her caregiver could no longer care for her she was sent to a home for invalids, where a difficult new thing called Physical Therapy was tried on her condition. She earned her Badge of Courage when she survived it and learned how to transfer herself from a bed …

Back when I was in middle school, we took a survivalism class. It was called home ec. All girls had to take it. The boys took shop. We learned to sew and cook; they learned to change their oil and hammer a nail. We should never have dropped those mandatory classes. Now we have young parents who can't cook a potato or change the oil in their car.…

I don't guess that there's s a way to prepare to see your mother fully naked. I know no one tried to prepare me. I was maybe thirteen, and it just happened, on a stormy afternoon in late summer, just as I was developing my own "woman's body." Seeing her changed everything.By Donna Marie Todd

I learned very confusing information about sex in our "health" class during PE. When I got my first period, I assumed I was dying, since "periods" were mentioned but no one said anything about blood.By Donna Marie Todd

When you don't get picked for volleyball or asked to the school dance, a horse may just end up as your best friend.By Donna Marie Todd

I was rescued during a difficult year in middle school by a cook named Tiny. She taught me that the bullies torturing me were just as insecure as I was. After all the positive lessons she provided in self-esteem, I watched her give her own up to keep a man.By Donna Marie Todd

My pastor father was a white man involved in the Civil Rights movement. This is the story of how he stood up to the Three Kings, the power-brokers in a mountain town determined to keep things as they were. When trouble is looming, you need your Big Girl Pants.By Donna Marie Todd

Social intrigue begins early. There are always the popular ones, the bullies, and the things we don't want to do that others think are "good for us." This is the story of how I "got to" go to Scout camp where the first thing I "got to" do was dig a latrine. Things went downhill from there.By Donna Marie Todd