Callie J. Smith

author

Category: grief and memory

The Miracle of Dust (Kat’s Dreams)

Feb 15, 2023

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by

Callie J. Smith

in grief and memory, hope and imagination, spirituality and creativity

Sometimes it’s from the dust and ashes that God brings blessing and even new life.
Our Imperfect Saints

Oct 10, 2022

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by

Callie J. Smith

in grief and memory, hope and imagination

Autumn makes me think of my grandmother’s pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies. She’d cover them in orange buttercream frosting and then decorate the tops with Jack-o’-lantern faces using a rich cocoa icing. I loved those cookies. My grandmother sold them for 35 cents apiece at the local pumpkin festival, and they sold out every year. My grandmother…
Remembering Hope

Apr 6, 2022

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by

Callie J. Smith

in grief and memory, hope and imagination

All winter I watched a neighbor’s deck lights from my back window as they glowed against the grey and cold. The string of lights stretched between tree branches above the wooden deck. Morning and evening, I watched those lights create a small space of warmth against the dark woods beyond. I suppose I needed that…
What God Does with Dust

Feb 28, 2022

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by

Callie J. Smith

in grief and memory, hope and imagination

It layered itself like a fuzzy film along baseboards I didn’t often clean. It gathered on books I hadn’t opened in years. Dust marked what I liked to forget. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” the clergy would recite on Ash Wednesday in the church of my childhood. I remember…
On What We Choose To Keep

Jan 12, 2022

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by

Callie J. Smith

in grief and memory

Something struck me as I moved to a new home with the new year. Entering a new year, like moving to a new home, often inspires me to evaluate what does and does not go with me. I think of myself as relentlessly practical about that. Anything not used in the last year becomes fair…
Anything But Gone: On An Advent with Grief

Dec 9, 2021

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by

Callie J. Smith

in grief and memory

“Who was it?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know if I ever knew.” A ceramic Christmas tree sat on my bookshelf. I’d just switched it on, and its multi-colored lights glowed. That little tree had been part of Christmastime as far back into my childhood as I could remember. It wasn’t…

About the author

Callie J. Smith writes about women who, like her, are finding themselves. Her stories and essays explore everyday things like hope, creativity, and grief.