The Corner of Spirit & Brave

NEW FRIENDS IN OLD HALLWAYS by Pennie Hunt

9/27/2026

I was afraid to go. I am used to walking into crowds where I don’t know anyone. I am used to introducing myself, having conversations, and building relationships. But this was different.

It had been decades since I walked into this building. Decades since I walked the halls, carried books, and sat next to these people in class. Yes, I will admit, my high school reunion frightened me. I almost backed out of going at the last minute. After all, why should I go? No one knew me then, so I was certain no one would remember me now. But I went.

Walking in the front door of my old school, it seemed familiar in an unfamiliar way. Lockers still lined the hallways. The auditorium I remembered as huge, seemed small. The classrooms seemed tiny. The stairway where I slipped and fell, breaking my ankle when I was a sophomore, didn’t seem as daunting as it did when I tried to maneuver it on crutches.

When I was a student, I passed my classes with good grades but failed in the social aspect of high school. I was painfully shy. I didn’t go to one party, one football game, or one pep rally. I never went to a prom.

My senior year, I had classes from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm with no break and had to be at work at 2:30. I graduated mid-term, so I was only there the first half of the year.

Add this all together, and high school was definitely not my glory days. I have always been envious when I hear people talk about high school as being the best time of their life. I have always felt like I missed out.

I take full responsibility. Looking back now, from the standpoint of being an extrovert who is far from shy, I wish I had engaged more and created my own glory days back in high school.

The reunion turned out to be a fun time. Classmates would look at my name badge and say they remembered me, but I am not sure they did. They were kind and friendly. Many came up to talk to me about my column and how they now know me from seeing my writing every week in the newspaper. And then there were a couple of people who had become, and remained, my friends long after high school. This group of over 100 people came together and laughed, told stories, and bonded.

Maybe it was our high school days that brought us together that night, but I believe it was the common bond of being human that made the night special. We all came from different backgrounds. We all took different paths. We have all lived different lives. We all have different stories.

But we were all people who came together as friends. Some were bonded because high school was their glory days, and they relived all the memories of that time. For me, it was a time to meet new people. Their names and faces may have been familiar in an unfamiliar way, but they didn’t remember me, and I never really knew them.

I have written before about how in life you have to make friends on the playground, or you will stand alone. I stood alone most of the time in high school. When I went back to see the hallways of my old school, I made new friends. Maybe these are my glory days.
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Pennie’s Life Lesson:
It is never too late to make new friends.
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YOUR TURN...
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Thank you!
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HOW DO THE FLOWERS KNOW? By Pennie Hunt

9/20/2026

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This week I cleaned out many of my flowerpots. Although a few marigolds are hanging in there, even they are looking like they are ready to give up. Most of the flowers were straggly and tired. The blooms were shriveling, the stems were long and laying in the dirt, and there were no new flower buds in sight.

It was time.

As I filled my compost bin with the worn plants I began to wonder how they knew. How do flowers know when fall is coming? We have had an unusually hot summer. The temperatures are still ranging in the hotter-than-normal area. It hasn’t been very cool at night. How do they know when it is time to give up and concede that cold weather is coming?

Of course I had to research this. It seems that plants know fall is coming by using internal circadian clocks to sense changes in the length of daylight and the temperature. When they sense this, it signals buds to harden, leaves to turn yellow and drop off, and growth is paused for the coming winter.

So even though we continue to have fairly warm weather, the shorter days are signaling to my flowers that their time to bloom is over. Change is coming.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could tell when change is coming in our lives?

Sometimes change comes out of the blue. It hits us with no warning. No time to prepare. But, for most change, I believe we do know when it is coming. If we are paying attention.

If our job is coming to an end, we typically hear rumors of layoffs, downsizing, or restructuring. There are signs.

If a relationship is coming to an end we may believe it came out of the blue, but did it really? In hindsight there were probably subtle hints and indications of trouble. There were signs.

During our life there is a natural progression of change. Childhood to adolescence. Graduation typically means you are entering into adulthood. Then with birthdays come aging. With each progression there are signs.

Change can be difficult. We may be shocked by it, be angry at it, deny that it is happening, and even try to run away from it. No matter what our reaction is, change is going to happen in life.

I believe the happiest, healthiest people are the ones that accept and adapt to change. Yes, it may catch us off guard, but most of the time if we are watching we will see signs. Our intuition tells us when a change is coming. There is a reason you hear terms like, ‘my gut feeling, inner knowing, or hunches.”

It is because our minds, hearts, and bodies pick up on these knowings. Our body gives us signs when things feel off or are not quite right. When change is coming, there are signs. We may not be able to stop change, but we can learn to accept and adapt.

And yes, our human circadian clocks are picking up on the signs of fall. The air smells a little fresher. The days are getting shorter. Conversations include talk about sweater weather and pumpkin spice. And yes, it is time to clean out the flowerpots.
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Pennie’s Life Lesson:
Pay attention to the signs of change. And then, accept and adapt.
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I WON’T BE HERE LONG by Pennie Hunt

9/13/2026

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“I won’t be here to see that.”

It was the last time we were all together.
My two sons had baby girls 8 weeks apart. The babies were lying on a blanket, cooing and looking at each other in the sweetest way. My oldest son said to his younger brother,
“J.T., it is going to be so fun watching these two grow up.”

J.T. responded with, “I won’t be here to see that.”

His older brother got angry and said, “Why do you always say that? Stop saying that!”
J.T. matter-of-factly shrugged his shoulders and said, “Because I know I won’t be here that long.”

I think he was about 5 years old the first time I heard him say it. I don’t remember the circumstance, but I remember the shock I felt hearing it. Why would a 5-year-old say that, and what would make him come up with such a statement? I didn’t question him, but I never forgot his words, “I won’t be here that long.”

Over the years, it became a statement he recited many times. Not as a proclamation or a loud, bold announcement, just a quiet comment in passing at interesting times, when future events were being discussed. I never got used to the comment; I just tucked it in my mind that he had said it again.

Then, one night I had a dream.

My mom made quilts for many members of my family. She made one for J.T. during his cowboy stage. He loved putting on his boots and hat and riding his bouncy horse as he watched the Three Amigos movie. She poured love into this blue western quilt. Each square had a different horse print circled with ropes.

He was in 4th grade when I had the dream. I was at a funeral. I walked around talking to people and then walked up to the casket. As I got closer and closer, the feeling became stronger and stronger – I knew it was one of my children. As I stood at the casket, I couldn’t see a face, but I began tucking a quilt around the inside edges of the wooden box. It was J.T.’s beautiful blue horse quilt. I didn’t need to see the face - I knew who I was tucking in.

I jumped and flew out of bed. The dream was in vibrant color. The clarity was like I was living the experience, not just dreaming. The experience lodged permanently in my heart.

Every time J.T. said he wouldn’t be here long, the dream ran through my mind, clear, in color, and frightening.

This week will be 19 years since J.T. relocated to heaven. That day, watching the sweet babies kick and smile as babies do, was the last time I heard him say he wouldn’t be here long. Four months (122 days) later, he was gone.

How did he know? I believe we all do. Somewhere inside our soul we know how long we will be here. I believe we all have a date. We may leave at different times and in different ways, but we have a date. Our souls know, and some of us know it on a human level more than others. J.T. knew.

As for the dream? Maybe it was to prepare my mama’s heart, who knows, but I do believe we are given signs along the way in this life. Quite soft messages about what is ahead of us. Maybe J.T. and I were given a glimpse of our future in order for us to be grateful for the short time we had together.

Whatever the reason, he was right. He wasn’t going to be here long. The reality is that life isn’t long, no matter how long we live. It goes by in a breath. Twenty-two years isn’t long, but I am grateful for every breath of it.
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Pennie’s Life Lesson:
Life doesn’t last long. Be grateful for every breath of it.
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TEN SECONDS CAN RUIN YOUR DAY by Pennie Hunt

9/6/2026

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It took ten seconds to hurt my heart.
It was a quick, sharp jab that pierced straight through me with a force that jarred my balance.

I was in a group of people and went up to talk to someone I admire and look up to. I was greeted with a comment that I felt was out of character for them. It didn’t match the person I believed her to be.

I turned and walked away. I wasn’t sure if I should be angry, embarrassed, or disappointed. I thought about it for at least an hour. Then I made a decision -- I wasn’t going to allow a ten-second event to steal my whole day.

I thought an hour was enough time and energy to give to the moment. In the scope of life, it wasn’t worth even an hour.

I realized I could hold on to it for much longer. I could replay it in my mind over and over. I could allow the anger to boil. I could feel embarrassed that it happened. I could be disappointed in the person who jabbed me and allow that disappointment to skew my perception of them. I could retell the story to everyone who would listen and allow their perception of this person to be changed in a negative way. I could let ten seconds take over my thoughts, ruin my mood, and consume my entire day.

But I didn’t.

What I did was wonder how many times I may have allowed a small moment to change everything. How many times have I been in a great mood and one little thing shifted me into a dark, sad, angry mood? How many times had I given over my power to someone else for something they said or did? Can a quick ten seconds really do that?
Yes, it can and when I thought about it, I realized I had allowed that to happen many times in my life. I also wondered if the person even realized that what they did and said was hurtful. Maybe they didn’t even know the impact it made on my heart.

And then, thinking about this, I am sure I have done this myself. I am sure I have said or done something that was an unintentional jab to someone’s heart. And the worst part is, I didn’t realize what I had done. And, I know I have done it to myself through negative self-talk.

Think about how ten seconds can change everything. Think about how a comment, an action, an unintentional event can hold so much power.

If it happens to you, allow it to hold space in your mind and heart for a brief time. Try to understand what you can learn from it. Understand that everyone is human and we all say and do things in life that unintentionally cause hurt. Give the person grace when they do it to you.

And then…let it go. Don’t allow ten seconds to steal your day. Don’t give the negative moment any space to live in your mind and heart. Allow yourself a short time to analyze it quickly, learn from it, and continue forward with your fabulous day!
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Pennie’s Life Lesson:
Don’t allow ten seconds to ruin your day.
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NEW FRIENDS IN OLD HALLWAYS by Pennie Hunt

HOW DO THE FLOWERS KNOW? By Pennie Hunt

I WON’T BE HERE LONG by Pennie Hunt

TEN SECONDS CAN RUIN YOUR DAY by Pennie Hunt

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​NEW FRIENDS IN OLD HALLWAYS by Pennie Hunt

HOW DO THE FLOWERS KNOW? By Pennie Hunt

I WON’T BE HERE LONG by Pennie Hunt

TEN SECONDS CAN RUIN YOUR DAY by Pennie Hunt

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NEW FRIENDS IN OLD HALLWAYS by Pennie Hunt