Shellie Rushing Tomlinson

Can I tell you a story? It’s one with deep roots that reaches across several state lines, spans a couple generations, and connects the present with yesteryear as if there were no moments between the two. It begins with my maternal grandmother, Grandma Rushing. Grandma Rushing came to live in my home state of Louisiana as a newlywed, transplanted from the hills of Kentucky.

It was one of those days when the Muse refused to appear. Nothing I wrote was right! Sitting before my keyboard, I struggled with writer’s block, staring blankly at the nearest wall. Suddenly, a picture frame on that wall came into focus and I read the caption beneath the photo of an antique typewriter: “Write your own life story.” My eyes wandered to the opposite wall.

1. Preheat oven to 450°. Whisk vegetable oil with lemon juice. Stir in crushed garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. 2. Place asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet, and sprinkle with Romano cheese. Drizzle with dressing. In 2001, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I wasn’t a good candidate for chemo. I took tamoxifen instead and gave my trouble to God—just as Dr. Peale suggested in his book, "Thought Conditioners". Since then I’ve remained cancer free.