Joan Smith Grey’s birthday provides the perfect time to acknowledge how deeply we all still miss her and how all of us in the ‘best friends’ club’ channel her vision to guide us – especially in tough times. Probably because of that rapidly approaching birthday, I feel particularly bereft of her wisdom and her great…
IndexCardCure™ is back! With my co-blogger’s Joan’s spirit to guide me, I’m posting some things to think about in the new blank slate of 2026: DON’T MAKE ANY RESOLUTIONS – YOU ARE PERFECT JUST THE WAY YOU ARE! Yup – don’t try to lose 10 pounds or eat more leafy greens, or exercise more…
Well, Yankee was a derogatory name for a colonist (we weren’t even Americans yet!). It is unclear exactly how it was coined (one theory is it’s a Native American mispronunciation of English (Yen-gees), another blames the Dutch settlers –‘Janke’ is a term of endearment for ‘little Jan’.) But it is clear the British army officers…
All of Captain Joan Smith Grey’s best friends gathered in Arlington National Cemetery at her Funeral Mass on January 23rd. There are hundreds of us! Our tribute began at a funeral Mass at Old Post Chapel. Colonel Dan G. Grey, her husband (and hairdresser!) gave a moving, memorable and compassionate eulogy that captured her essence…
My visionary friend always gathered her groups of friends at the New Year to help us concentrate on visualizing goals for the upcoming year and remain focused on living an intentional life. Here it is, the end of another year, and my friend Joan is only with us in spirit. But I can still feel…
We see Halloween, All Hallowed Evening, the night before All Saints’ Day, in the rear view mirror. Yesterday we sat at the table with our loved ones and thanked God for all our blessings. My greatest blessing were the people gathered with me and the ones not gathered but present in my heart. Do you…
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award Committee for excellence in historical fiction is please to present its 2024 Award to: “Fresh News Straight from Heaven: A Novel of the True Mythology of Johnny Appleseed” by Gregg Sapp. From 1970 to 2017, the Wilder Medal recognized authors or illustrators who made substantial and lasting contributions, over a…
A circle of friends remembered our dear friend Joan S. Grey, co-founder of this blog, on the anniversary of her death. They gathered at the labyrinth where Joan often walked and dedicated a bench to her honor and in remembrance. Joan stepped out of the ‘Long Grey Line’ into our hearts, and there she will…
My daughter Jocelyn’s wonderful and humbling post (reprinted in full with permission of the author below) reminded me of the true motiving spirit behind our IndexCardCure™. The call to all to dwell for a moment in contemplation and togetherness came mostly from the vision of my co-blogger Joan Smith Gray. I was just a foot…
After Joan got her diagnosis I made a point of trying to see her in person every few weeks. (My first husband and I got pretty good at keeping ourselves awake and entertained on the New Jersey Turnpike. Sometimes the drive from Connecticut to Washington DC seemed endless.) On one of these many visits I…
IndexCardCure™ 