Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald served in parish ministry for nine years before being called into conference ministry as Area Minister for the Grand West Association in Michigan. She retired in 2023 from that position. Ruth served on the community board for Pilgrim Manor, then a United Church Homes community, and has been an active board member for the Fountain Hill Center for Counseling and Care, and Ele's Place--West Michigan (a healing center for grieving children and teens) all in Grand Rapids. Ruth has two grown children and three precious grandchildren. Travel, hiking, knitting, and reading fill her “spare” time.
Memories Forty-five years ago today, I was standing at Lands’ End in England with a group of young people and adults from my Methodist Church. We were on the Methodist..
Each time I sit down to write for this Abundant Aging blog, I find myself reviewing my life. Sometimes it’s just a cursory glance at the past week of inconsequential..
Happy Easter? In this season of Eastertide — a word I love and remember from my growing-up years — we prolong celebrating the good news of resurrection. When I was..
“Make new friends, but keep the old…” I can hear my Brownie troop’s voices singing the old song. I loved Brownies and Girl Scouting, and singing was just one part of its..
First Sunday in Advent Every year as Advent creeps up on me — how, exactly, is it the last of November already — and my heart turns to contradictory reflections.
If You’re Not Getting Older… I was widowed at a young age. Before his death, my husband was subject to his younger brothers’ teasing about getting older. As soon as he..
