Each year since Julia’s death in a car crash, August 16, 2004 is a day to pause to remember her in a special way. Here’s what I said for Julia’s fifth anniversary. Each year changes my relationship to this date. The last poem of “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” is “Anniversary.” You can listen to it…
Today, August 16th marks the 5th anniversary of my sister’s death in a nasty car accident. In many countries…includking Ghana and Tibet, it’s common to mark and honor the anniversaries of deaths. not that these are needed to keep memories alive. And not that they need to be solemn or sad times. My sister’s grave…
Last year we gathered together and I presented a special event for Hayner Public Library in Alton, Illinois. I gave a talk combined with music (Daddy and I played) and poetry followed by a workshop on memory. You can read this talk “Memories: Each Day Radiant with New Meaning” by clicking here which will take…
There are very few birthdays I know by heart, but my sister Julia’s birthday is one of them. March 13th will always be her day. I wrote “Reaper” in 2005 when she would have turned 62, 7 months after her death. This year, 2007, 2 years and 7 months afterwards, I pause to think, still,…
My sister–Julia Ann Thompson–died on August 16, 2004 in a nasty car accidernt. She was younger than I am now…even though until her death she was always six years older. That’s one of the hardest things for me to get used to. That I could now be older than my older sister. So, doing the…
JUNE Week One 1 Velda Brotherton on “On Being a Writer” includes Janet Riehl as part of her stories woven in time. Velda and I are both members of Women Writing the West 2 Kendra Bonnett & Matilda Butler welcome Janet to Women’s Memoir where everyone has a story to tell. Guest post on the…
Over the Labor Day weekend I offered a service at the First Unitarian Church in Alton, Illinois, on the corner of 3rd and Alby. This was my sister Julia Ann Thompson’s church and my cousin Irene Riehl’s church before her. Now it is the church of my niece and her husband and their daughters. My…
On August 16th we remembered both my sister Julia Ann Thompson’s and my mother’s Ruth Evelyn Johnston Thompson’s passing (hard to tease out one from the other sometimes). After we viewed mother’s newly placed grave marker at the cemetery, we retired to Jerseyville’s only Chinese restaurant to partake of its buffet. In general my father…
Lake County Artists and Writers gathered at Redbud Library in Clearlake to celbrate International Women’s Day. Lake County Poet Laureate, who hosted our event, invited us to share creative work that honored women we admire. I read a series of poems from my 2006 book Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary honoring three generations of women in…
A downhome family love story beyond death told in accessible story poems and archival photos. Janet Grace Riehl’s “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” received honorable mention recognition in the 2007 DIY Book Festival contest. A beautiful collection filled with 90 poems, 190 pages, 25 photos and tribute to a loved family. Sightlines offers a frank portrait…