Brenda Sutton Rose's Blog

Frightened settlers and their children traveled to the home of Reverend William Pate, hoping he would give them comfort and an explanation for what they called falling stars.

Several days ago, Polly told me to come over and she’d walk me through the process of making bread with yeast. I put my painting and writing aside, loaded the ingredients I needed for cooking, and headed over to her place. We worked in the kitchen for some time, humming along with Brandi Carlile. From […]

Derick Thompson, better known as Candid Coal People, a one-man band, released a new album, Big River and The Infamous They, recorded while stuck at home as a result of Covid restrictions in 2020. And the album is a prize. Though I’d been following his journey on Facebook, I didn’t realize until a few months […]

This separation, this island, this fading color, this leakage of my inner self—I’m left searching for words. I wonder if they are leaking from me.

Outbound Train is a wonderful book about a family of strong women. Its written with perfect pacing, pitch, and the sweet rhythms of the South. Renea Winchester tells this story as only an insider can.

When my husband controls the steering wheel he heads toward his destination and notices little else. I, on the other hand, slow and stop along the way to satisfy my curiosity. My most exciting discoveries have happened while out gallivanting, wandering the countryside with my feet in brogans and no destination in mind. During such […]

My first visit to McMillan Cemetery located in the countryside near Alapaha was about twelve years ago, and I’ve been back several times since, most recently during the summer of 2019. According to historical documents, Daniel McMillan’s five slaves were buried near him in the cemetery. Their graves were marked with cypress cut 1″ thick, […]

It’s been twenty years since I worked with low-income pregnant teenagers in Tift and surrounding counties. In 1999, I left Georgia and those struggling teenagers. For the longest time, after leaving, I felt that I’d left a piece of my heart behind While living in Illinois, I received a letter of thanks from one of […]

Motherhood is a journey. Sometimes we stumble.

Free libraries are popping up in Tifton. My friend Polly Huff has a free library provided by Tifton Twentieth Century Library Club. Made from a vintage newspaper kiosk, it is located in Pebblebrook and filled with children’s books. The day I spoke to her she’d placed rooster feathers, cool rocks, and shells from her farm […]