Woohoo, your Simple Hospitality FUN MAIL has arrived! 📬
Hi First name / friend,
I wanted to begin this month’s note by sharing something personal.
A few weeks ago, my beautiful mom, Beverly Moline passed away. She was beautiful because she was so full of joy and kindness.
It’s been a hard season, especially coming just a few months after losing my dad. But there’s also a deep sense of peace woven into the grief. She passed away just a few hours from what would have been her 93rd birthday, and she is now in Heaven with Jesus — free from pain and reunited with my dad after 70 years of marriage. His birthday fell on the day after hers, and I’ve found so much comfort in thinking about how they never missed a single birthday apart from one another. 💞
My mom would teasingly say she was 39 years old. You would even see it on her calendar each year: “Bev’s 39th birthday.” :) Her email address was hilarious: b4ever39@gmail.com. She was truly young at heart. She had the most beautiful smile, sparkling eyes and a warm and welcoming presence. She had a way of making everyone feel accepted and special. Hospitality wasn’t something she tried to do — it was just who she was. I grew up observing her “visit” with people wherever we went…in the bathroom as we washed our hands next to another lady, in the grocery check-out line, walking in the neighborhood and wherever else life took her. She was so very friendly and it was as natural as breathing for her. She loved people and they loved her back!
I miss her deeply.
I’m also incredibly thankful that my four siblings and I were able to be together in Minnesota in the days leading up to her passing. We shared stories, laughed, cried, and remembered — and those moments are something I will always hold close. The five of us came from Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado and France. We were all there.
As I’ve been reflecting, I keep coming back to this: so much of what I love about HOSPITALITY, I learned from her. I watched her live out that word; all the time. Up until the very end of her life she was being kind to others. Thanking doctors, nurses, caregivers, people who brought her meals and people who tidied her apartment. She embodied love and gratefulness.
A Legacy of Hospitality
My mom didn’t make things complicated. Sometimes it was just the neighborhood moms sitting together chatting on a summer day after they had each done their morning chores at home and took turns meeting in one another’s front yard. The neighborhood kids played outside within their view while the moms drank their coffee. Each lady brought her own coffee cup and the “hostess” of the day brewed the coffee to share. She would bring out her coffee pot and pour. No $5 Starbuck’s back then. That was it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Gathering to connect and it was simply over a cup of coffee on a summer day.
She welcomed people in. She noticed others and was incredibly open to making new friends. She had the warmest smile and a pure and genuine heart. She created a home where people felt comfortable, loved, and cared for.
With 5 children, most of the time it was very casual and simple but she knew how to do “fancy” at just the right times, too.
I found a letter I had written to her a year ago Christmas. I told her my gift to her that year would be a “gift of words.” As I read it over a few days ago, I felt like I was reading about some of the qualities I see in myself. So much of who I am today is because of who she was. She taught me how to be a wife, a mother and even a grandmother. I will miss her forever. I am eternally grateful God chose her to be my mother!!
And now, in this season, I find myself wanting to carry that forward in simple, everyday ways.
Not perfectly. Not elaborately. Just faithfully.
💐 A Thought for Mother’s Day
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I know this year will feel especially tender for me.
After losing my mom just a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking so much about her and the many ways she shaped who I am. This day will look a little different, but I also feel incredibly grateful for the years I had with her and the example she set.
I also know Mother’s Day can hold a mix of emotions for many of us. For some, it’s a joyful celebration. For others, it may feel quiet, complicated, or even heavy.
Wherever you find yourself this year, I hope you feel encouraged to honor the women who have shaped your life in big or small ways.
If you’re looking for a meaningful and lasting gift, Simple Hospitality was written with women like this in mind—women who create homes where people feel loved, welcomed, and cared for.
An easy, fresh recipe that’s become one of our favorites — perfect for both weeknights and having people over.
☀️ A Little Summer Reflection
This time of year always makes me think back to when our 3 kids were little and how I approached our summers. I always looked forward to this time together.
I didn’t try to fill every day or create something elaborate. Instead, I tried to create a rhythm — simple things we could return to again and again. Time outside, easy meals, a few special outings, and lots of space for just being together. I tried to plan a few day trips to Silver Springs, science center, picnics, parks, or even Disney since we live in Orlando! But most days were slow; we went to the playground or library or just played at home.
We were blessed to visit my parents each summer in Minnesota, usually for 3-4 weeks at a time. My husband, Scott would fly up with me, and stay that first week. He’d come home to work a couple weeks and fly back up to spend our last week together and help me get home on the plane with 3 little ones. We have so many wonderful memories with my parents that I treasure even more now. I was brought up to look for “free things” to do; activities that didn’t cost a lot of money. There are many free things you can do in your city, if you look online and keep your ears open. I would try to write a list of ideas at the start of the summer then “pencil in” ideas on our calendar. Now our girls make “Summer Bucket Lists” with their kids, too. As our children got older, our summer calendar would quickly fill up with camps, tournaments, and our vacation. I’m so glad I kept a folder of some of our summers because it’s fun for me to look back at all the things we’ve done over the years!
You don’t have to be busy all the time. We used to have “home days” and “go days!” I didn’t want to be out and about all the time. One time, I remember we went to the Webster Christmas House and our son, Michael was not too thrilled about it. When we got there, I let each of them pick out a Christmas ornament to remember our day together. It can feel like you’re the social director for your kids. Listen and hear what they would enjoy and put together a summer plan that makes everyone happy (at least most of the time!!)
I’ve been thinking about that again lately — how the simplest plans often become the most meaningful memories. I’d love to hear some ideas from you, and I could share more ideas about this next month! How do/did you plan your summers?
🍃 A Small Memory I’ve Been Thinking About
There’s a poem called “The Last Leaf” that’s been on my mind lately by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
I remember when my Great Aunt Jo was 94 years old, she recited part of it from memory. She and her four sisters were all teachers—just like my grandmother—and I remember being so struck by that moment.
She was “the last leaf on her family tree.” And recently, I’ve found myself thinking about that poem again.
I realized that both my mom and my dad were “the last leaves on their own family trees”—the last of their generation in their immediate families.
There’s something tender and sobering about that. And yet, also something beautiful.
A life well-lived. Roots that ran deep. A legacy that continues on through children, grandchildren, and all the lives they touched along the way.
I wanted to share part of the poem with you—it feels especially meaningful in this season 🤍
In Closing… 🤍
Thank you for being here, your kind expressions of sympathy these past several weeks, and for being part of this little community.
Until next time —
✨ Will you accept this month’s invitation to spread some simple hospitality?
with LOVE,
P.S. Did you know? All proceeds from my book, Simple Hospitality, go directly to support the new Orlando Health Children’s Pavilion—a place of hope, healing, and care for families in our community. Thank you for helping make a difference with every book you gift and share.
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If someone forwarded it to you—welcome! I'm so glad you're here. My name is Jennifer Boyd, and I recently published Simple Hospitality: An Invitation to Add Kindness to Your Everyday Life, a dream 25 years in the making. In both my book and newsletter, I share the heart behind hospitality—simple ways to bring kindness and connection into everyday life.
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