These past four weeks, I have not cried. Haven’t shed a single tear. Not when presented with missed opportunities, lost experiences (and financial reimbursements), and the monotonous daily grind. Not when discovering that the worst was yet to come. Not when reading heart-breaking accounts and watching soul-ripping moments. Not even when I could not see …
“Everyone has inside them a piece of good news. The good news is you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is.” – Anne Frank Can you imagine writing this piece of literary goodness, this lovely gem of hopeful kindness, while …
When September days arrived this past school year, I again faced the reality that I was staring down the homestretch with my precious second oldest. As when my very Oldest was in Grade 12, my only son, it was again, a bittersweet milestone to be reached. I (as mama) was so proud and so grateful …
Speaking of normal parenting things we did last night… We watched home videos, together, on the couch— in an act of complete and utter solidarity. God bless us everyone. ********************************** Providing some context, dear reader. {And we, as amatuer writers these days have been clarifying in these spontaneous blog posts, that emerge out of nowhere …
Fighting the dark. Filling the empty spaces. Finding light. First, fighting the dark. I felt a cloud of darkness pushing in around me. Felt it for days. Heavy, ominous: it started with the light-hearted feeling of having done something helpful and hopeful, but left me feeling pinched for air, as if being suddenly choked by …
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are …
I look out the double windows this evening at sundown, while wiping down the kitchen counters from a late supper. Noticing Husband out by the road, talking to an unrecognizable couple and their dog, I am drawn to the over-sized glass on our entryway door. Pausing for a moment, I take stock. Who is this? …
Dear Tired Mama: You wonder if it will ever get better. Wonder, too, if there really is a light at the end of the tunnel. Wonder incessantly if you will ever have energy again. All while you also wonder if you ever will see a semblance of your former self again. You are so exhausted. …
“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” ― C.S. Lewis I notice lately more pain within the body. Aching pain in fingers as they type and play piano. Stabbing pain in …
How to really get along with people? Well, I think it starts with seeing the best in people. Starts with finding the good. That is: it all starts with adopting a kind view to the people we encounter in our day-to-day lives. So someone messed up? Look for the plausible reasons why so as to …
I wonder if we have ever considered that our willingness to share from exposed places is what connects us in experience to others? If we do not share stories of vulnerability, share moments of weakness, share the things we consider our failures, share perceived inadequacies or share areas in which we feel insufficient, how will …
It’s indoor recess. I am making the rounds, and uncharacteristically, having a fairly easy time of it. I head into each classroom, make some small chat and then move my way along to another room to do more of the same. I arrive in one room where a student sits at his desk, a scowl …
