Shirley Belk
Bio
Mother, Nana, Sister, Cousin, & Aunt who recently retired. RN (Nursing Instructor) who loves to write stories to heal herself and reflect on all the silver linings she has been blessed with :)
Stories (348)
Filter by community
Gift of the Epiphany
I have come to love the Mike's monthly unofficial challenges. They spark my imagination and cause me to dig, explore and search out truths. They also cause personal memories of mine to sparkle for a bit. January's challenge was no exception. In fact, the events that I'm now journaling still amaze me because those steps felt so ordered, yet unmistakingly, not mine.
By Shirley Belkabout a month ago in Wander
Colors and Such
Before I retired in 2020, I worked as a Nursing instructor in one of the nation's largest community colleges. It was a job I thoroughly enjoyed for fifteen years because I had a heart for the students and genuinely wanted to invest in them and their futures.
By Shirley Belkabout a month ago in Education
Let's Don't Do This. Runner-Up in Nothing But Voices Challenge. Top Story - January 2026.
"I just can't do this anymore..." "Do what?" What can't you do? Put gas in your own car? I swear to God you make me take care of everything, don't you? You know I'm on my way to work right now but that never stops you from bothering me, does it?"
By Shirley Belk2 months ago in Fiction
You Asked me Why?
"Aunt Shirley, why do you believe?" It was a very simple question, but it was the kind of question that immediately took me to the core of inward parts of me. Important parts. In truth, I had to dig in the treasure chest to retrieve the book that held that answer and then had to blow the accumulated dust from its cover.
By Shirley Belk2 months ago in Humans
Good Reasons
According to vocabdictionary.com, a "good reason" means "a justification or explanation that is considered acceptable or valid." A further understanding: "A good reason is a logical basis or a righteous motive for making a decision or taking action. It implies that the reasoning is sound and can be universally accepted as appropriate."
By Shirley Belk2 months ago in Humans
Best Cotton Pickin' Behavior
When the Sally Field movie, Places in the Heart. came out via VHS tape in 1984, I was so excited to rent it for my family to watch. So, I gathered my mother and her two sisters together one afternoon and we popped the tape into the VCR. I'm sure we all had a cup of hot coffee (and they had their nasty cigarettes...eewe...but that's what they did in that generation.) I was thirty at the time and my children enjoyed any movie as long as there were snacks available or they busied themselves outside on their bikes. My aunt's husband, Uncle Bill was busy taking a long afternoon nap.
By Shirley Belk3 months ago in Chapters
The Hobo from California
I am from a family who made memories and saved memories. I found the non-descript small cardboard box, full of letters over ten years ago when I had inherited them. I'd known the letters were there because I had opened a couple to find out the overall topic/years written. The year was 1938. They were of love letters past between my mother's oldest sister, Louise, and her husband-to-be, Bill. I frankly felt a bit voyeuristic with my discovery, so put them aside for "another day." Today was that day!
By Shirley Belk3 months ago in Chapters
