Tag: Louisiana
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Book Review: Through an Open Window by Pamela Terry
First, thank you to NetGalley and Pamela Terry, through her publisher Penguin Random House, for the ARC of this new novel, to be published on August 19, 2025. This is Pamela Terry’s third novel, and I feel that her work becomes stronger and stronger with each new book. She is a true Southerner, and her…
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Friends, Family, Food, But No Funeral!
My husband and I just recently returned home from a nine-day trip to our home state, Louisiana, where we had the time of our lives. This trip was planned around my nephew’s engagement party, bookended by family time and some really great food. When my husband and I married, we were both living in Maryland,…
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My Two Special Saints
On an unseasonably warm March day this year, I attended the 5:00 Vigil Mass at my parish, which was also Confirmation with Bishop Evelio Menjivar of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. The large church was packed, with folding chairs lining the entire interior perimeter of the church and chairs outside the doors of the…
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Book Review: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
The Husbands (Knopf Doubleday, 2024), debut novel by Holly Gramazio, a writer and video game designer, is an interesting read. I waited for quite some time to get a copy from my local library. I read it quickly, but it’s taken me several days to decide what I want to say about it in this…
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Book Review: Southern by Design by Grace Helena Walz
The title of this ARC, graciously provided to me by NetGalley and HarperCollins, called to me on many levels, and I immediately requested this debut novel by Grace Helena Walz. As a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Southerner (born and raised in southeast Louisiana), I just knew instinctively that I would enjoy this book, and I did. I…
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You Say Tomato, I Say Creole
When my mother deemed me old enough to cross Highway 23 South alone, she would give me a $5 bill and tell me to walk to Mrs. Benandi’s house and buy a box of Creole tomatoes. I would walk there, buy the box of tomatoes, and start my walk back home. The tomatoes on the…
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Holding Hands for 32 Years
From almost the exact moment that we became a couple, my husband has held my hand. If we are sitting in different chairs on either side of a table watching tv at night, he will reach across the table and hold out his hand for me to grasp. When we are out together in the…
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Small Town Girl in a Big City
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which aired from 1970 to 1977, was a sitcom about a young single woman moving to the big city of Minneapolis. The show began my freshman year of high school and lasted through my junior year of college. It was designed as a star vehicle for Mary Tyler Moore (1936-2017),…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 