Cooper Shortcut Camping Journey Blog

You may have seen the saying on a T-shirt, bumper sticker, or maybe hanging on a wall somewhere: “American by birth, Southern by the grace of God.” I say it just a little differently. “American by birth, Michigan born by the grace of God.” Now,… Read more: Grandma Cooper’s Reading Stone: Sometimes You Have to Look a Little Closer

There are some things we inherit from our families without anyone ever sitting us down and formally passing them along. For us, watching birds was one of those things. One of Grandma Cooper’s greatest joys was watching birds flutter around the yard. My mom shared… Read more: Grandma Cooper, a Mockingbird, and a Birthday Gift I Never Forgot

Did you ever have movie night at Grandma’s? I suppose that question means something quite different today than it did when I was growing up. When we have movie night with our grandchildren, we have choices. Lots of choices. We can find something on the… Read more: Movie Night at Grandma Cooper’s Was Never Really About the Movie

I remember Grandma Cooper and Mom going to garage sales to buy things for a garage sale. You might want to read that sentence again. They went to other people’s garage sales, intentionally bought things they didn’t need, brought them home, and eventually put them… Read more: Grandma Cooper Knew a Bargain When She Saw One

There probably wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about a package of graham crackers sitting in Grandma Cooper’s kitchen. That was the thing about Grandma. Something didn’t have to be remarkable for there to be a story behind it. You could be eating something you had eaten… Read more: Grandma Cooper, Graham Crackers and a Lesson in Too Much

Last week, while writing about lightening the load in our RV, I found myself spending quite a bit of time with two little words: need and want. Anyone who has packed an RV knows how easily one can disguise itself as the other. We need… Read more: Grandma Cooper Knew the Difference Between Need and Want