Author: Iris Ruth Pastor

It was a day of newness – beginning with driving a cargo van 125 miles to my destination, which was The Annual Deland Outdoor Art Festival, where I had secured a booth to sell my creations for the very first time. I knew going into this virgin endeavor that I’d never recoup my costs:CanopyWagonShabby chic Continue reading

By the time you read this, hopefully, I will have driven a cargo van filled with my craft show supplies safely to Deland Florida – 125 miles from my home. By the time you read this, hopefully, the person who was supposed to help erect my canopy when I arrive at the park will have done so. By the Continue reading

Fannie Landman didn’t live a long life. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 9, 1912 and died on October 6, 1919 at age 7 years, 1 month and 2.8 days – from complications of Scarlett Fever and Septicemia, according to her Certificate of Death. Her family, immigrants from Austria, were too poor to have her Continue reading

I was looking through my “Joke Folder” in my computer. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like years ago, when e mail was more of a novelty than an everyday nuisance, people utilized this tech tool to send jokes. Nowadays I receive tons of E-mails bearing “enticing” subject lines:       HelloFresh – new recipes are Continue reading

My weekly newsletter comes out every Friday at 3 pm. I started writing it when my youngest son Louie was about three years old and he is now pushing thirty-nine. So I guess I’ve written a couple of thousand. My columns used to run about 900 words, but over the decades – along with our Continue reading

Have you ever gone to a craft’s fair and watched the crowds huddle at one booth but barely enter another? I always feel sorry for the craftsperson/artist who sits there – solitary – trying not to appear desperate for customers – perched on a stool staring mindlessly at her cell phone. I’m afraid that in Continue reading

Have you ever gone to a craft’s fair and watched the crowds huddle at one booth but barely enter another? I always feel sorry for the craftsperson/artist who sits there – solitary – trying not to appear desperate for customers – perched on a stool staring mindlessly at her cell phone. I’m afraid that in Continue reading

Five years ago today, my sister and brother and I lost our mom to a very short battle with pancreatic cancer. She wanted to die on her birthday and she did.She wanted to be surrounded by family as she drew her last breath. And she was.She wanted to die in peace, without physical pain, and Continue reading

One morning, I am jolted by an e mail that pops up in my inbox. It is from him – my first love. “Iris, I have something I think you would like which I would like to send you. I need your address so I can have UPS ship it down. If you doubt the validity Continue reading

Let me be clear: my husband is my soul mate. We have been married almost 47 years. However – and this is a BIG however – he was NOT my FIRST LOVE. My boyfriend and I started going steady in 9th grade – although we were already throwing sneaky sidelong glances at each other during Continue reading