Last night I wrote this post, which was inspired by a piece about Bill Clinton’s sixty-sixth birthday. That article questioned if the former president could have known, the day he met then-President JFK, that he would someday succeed the great man. That question spawned another musing for me: Did it ever dawn on Bill that he might someday have a … Read More
Facing My Fears, Pema Chodron Style
“You focus on another person’s suffering and breathe it in,” a friend of mine told me about a Tonglen meditation group she recently participated in, “and then you breathe out compassion.” Her group’s attention had been directed to the victims, families, and friends of those affected by the recent Aurora, Colorado shooting rampage. I couldn’t comprehend this model from the purpose … Read More
Taking Stock of Bullying, It’s Much More Than a Facebook Issue
At the beginning of the school year, the students at our local high school spent a week of assemblies, presentations, and discussions, all on bullying. The hallways are plastered with pledge signs and anti-bullying campaign pieces. Earlier this year, my daughter was involved in a situation where classmates were talking poorly about her on Facebook because she had unfriended them. … Read More
Happy Happens™
Happy Happens.™ Just like the proverbial shit happens, happy happens.™ Short and sweet, happiness is little more than a collection of the simple moments that bring a smile to your face, instances that surround all of us each and every day. Beautiful, soothing, or heartwarming moments that exist in both your “glory days” and within the crevices and … Read More
Family Momentum
Yesterday, my beautiful daughter turned sixteen. So many years. So many smiles. Such a delightful part of my life, our lives, she has been. I have watched her grow into a stunning young woman. “You’re a swan,” I recently told her. And she is. Everywhere we go, people that knew her when she was younger stop and stare. “She’s soooo beautiful,” they … Read More
Things I’m Grateful For Tonight
So I haven’t taken the time to write a post… Or, as my thirteen-year-old son said about a week ago, “I haven’t found the time.” HA! On the heels of the time post, no less! “There is no such thing as ‘finding time.’ Time is. You must take time to do things you need to do.” This I tried to … Read More
Breathing
My husband and my youngest son are no longer plagued with an awful cold. Generous boys that they are, they gave it to me. Until last night, I hadn’t slept one night through since Sunday; my runny nose kept waking me. I don’t remember waking once last night, though I know my nose was running because I woke with snot … Read More
At the Helm of a Shooting Star
My oldest son turned twenty yesterday. My, oh, my; that doesn’t seem possible. Twenty years ago we experienced his joyous birth; twenty years since the painful separation brought about in his death. Twenty years… And now I celebrate his life once again. We went to the cemetery on Mother’s Day, dug out the few weeds that had surfaced since Easter, removed the Easter … Read More