A wonderful book by one of my longtime favorite authors.
Everyone reading this shares a common experience. All have, or have had, a mother. This is true even if you and your mother were separated at birth. Who mothered you may be the woman who adopted you, or a grandmother or other family member who took care of you. Many of you are now mothers and understand the role much better than you did before you became a mother. Continue reading
While this implies it isn’t just about us, we can only control our words and actions.
We may never know the impact our words and actions have on others. Or if and when we do, it may be many years later. I had two examples of this in recent days, and I am still amazed by them. Since I can’t get these examples out of my mind, I thought hearing about them might be interesting to my readers. Continue reading
How do you plan your days, weeks, months, and years? Or do you? Perhaps you are more likely to take time as it comes, without even a thought of planning. After all, isn’t there too much to do in the time available anyway? What difference does planning make? Well, quite a lot, if and when we make decisions about how we are going to spend our time. Continue reading
The older I get, the more I find the need to hold on loosely to whatever I have. If I hold onto things too tightly, I have more difficulty letting them go when it is time, or when they are ripped from me. When I was younger, I thought things would last forever. I thought the same about relationships. What was once thought to be a secure job, was gone. A marriage that was assumed to last forever, didn’t. Financial security when it is most needed is not there. Or the Notre Dame Cathedral, which stood for more than eight hundred years, seriously damaged and almost destroyed this week, the holiest of weeks. Some of these we assume will last forever, only to find otherwise. Continue reading
Our gracious hosts, Alexander (L) and Andrei (R) and Mike outside the Erwin Restaurant where I experienced Sea Urchin!
Mike and I recently returned from a trip to Moscow, Russia. It was business for Mike, pure pleasure for me! I have had many thoughts about our experience there and want to record those before some of the details fade from memory. These are my lasting impressions. Continue reading
“ There were many steps on this journey!”
Mike and I flew to JFK airport from Raleigh/Durham, arriving there about 1:30 pm on Saturday. We were going to Moscow, Russia via Warsaw, Poland. (Business for Mike, pure pleasure for me!) We were prepared for a long day at JFK, or we thought we were prepared, because our flight to Warsaw did not depart until 11:30 pm! Ten hours in an airport is a long layover, but we were prepared with computer work we could do, or so we thought. We planned to spend the day working in an airport lounge. Little did we know that we would not have access to an airport lounge until 8:30 pm that night, seven hours after arrival! That was not the worst of the experience, however. But I am getting a little ahead of myself. Continue reading
Mike, Rosie’s son David, Rosie, Dad, and (behind the camera) Patti celebrating Rosie’s 86th Birthday!
I have written more than once about the difference in New Year’s Resolutions and Commitments. Riding home yesterday from a short visit to Hendersonville, NC, to visit Mike’s Dad’s wife, Mum Rosie, for her 86th birthday, it occurred to me to broaden this clarification. I believed that this distinction was worthy of being compared to more than Resolutions, such as “Plans.” Now, I have never researched the difference in any of these words. It has just made sense to me that there is a difference. I, and you, my readers, are about to find out! Continue reading
There are times that our well is dry, and words won’t come. This is problematic for a writer committed to a weekly blog! Although I have few of these times, this is one of them. Beauty can stand alone and speak when words won’t come. Continue reading
The title of this post comes from a verse stitched in crewel by a dear loved one years ago. It was given to me when my daughter Tara was little. Tara is now the mother of our three granddaughters; Mary Grace, who turned fourteen this week, twelve-year-old Elsie, and six-year-old Virginia. I am amazed at how the years have passed so quickly. Time and years that will never return. Memories that are forever embedded in my heart. Memories and Traditions that will live on longer than we will. Continue reading
Sometimes I think what I own owns me. This is not a new thought, but it is a current one. Like many of my readers, I am in the process of cleaning out; clothes, collectibles, and stuff. I have long since known that I have too much. And I have also known how hard it is for me to part with it. I know where the problem comes from, and how deep it is. So, my process of cleaning out is slow. But I am in process. Continue reading
