The Journey
Welcome to The Journey, a space where Mary McKSchmidt shares her transition from business executive to advocate, photographer, poet, and storyteller. Here, she invites you to walk alongside her as she explores life in the Great Lakes region, its beauty and fragility, and the bonds that connect us all.
Celebrating Mothers
After tediously tucking twigs and grasses into the juncture of the service berry tree outside Mother’s window for days, the robin nestled her plump body into the mud-lined floor of the nest and poked her tail in our direction as if to say, quit...
More Than a Tax on Tea
Could the king be checked by the people? That was the underlying question asked by the Sons of Liberty 250 years ago, according to author and historian Heather Cox Richardson. In a talk given April 18th in Boston’s Old North Church on the anniversary of...
What is Hope?
(Reprinted from May 21, 2017) Although there were thousands crammed into the Vatican Square in Rome, it was as if the Pope was talking directly to me. Speaking of Mary, the mother of Jesus and the woman for whom I was named, Pope Francis called her the...
So Much Wrong—So Little Cardboard
One look at the hundreds of people lining River Avenue April 5th in Holland, MI, the multiplicity of messages on hand-painted signs, the photographs and videos of similar peaceful protests across over 1300 towns and cities in the United States, and it should...
With Love, Anne
My dear friend, so many things are bombarding you, so few over which you have control. If I were there, I’d send the boys down to the man cave, pour each of us a glass of merlot, and usher you into the sunroom to chat. It would be like old times. You do not...
Do Not Go Gentle
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. ...
When Minutes Matter
One night when I was requiredto leave her side at the facility,a hand the soft hue of umbertouched my armand a voice whisperedI'll keep an eye on herAnd that next morning she greeted mewith arms open wide, just like the motherI remembered and if I had it to do...
People of the Dune
In addition to sharing my own art, this year I am reintroducing interviews with Great Lakes artists who focus on nature—its beauty, its fragility, its essential value to all life on this planet. My first interview of 2025 is with legendary environmental...
Game Day
Influenced by the nickel bets Mother, Rubin and I have been placing on the scores of NCAA playoff football games, several weeks ago Mother and I began singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” (football . . . baseball . . . no matter) The song was created in 1908,...
One Sentence to Change the World
When I thought about how I might describe myself on my new website, I realized I am about the many people throughout my seventy-two years who have given me the confidence to venture into the unfamiliar landscapes of life. Often without saying a word, they...
Onward
Following November’s election, it was tempting to tuck myself into a cocoon of comfortable retirement—after all, I am in my 70s. But I cannot find peace in that decision. God gifted me the ability to think, to write, to observe and photograph the beauty of this...
So That I Might Not Worry
for Mother She agreed to move to respite carewith its unfamiliar view and borrowed chairsso that I might not worry while on vacation. At ninety-seven, she did notwant to leave her home of nine-plus years, her independence, her schedule, her...