On our walk in a nature park today, we came upon two teenagers gingerly traversing a huge felled tree. The mother stood below, calmly watching them. My honey, a China-born and raised Canadian, smiled and said, “A Chinese, or any Asian, mother would scream at them to get down.” Having lived in Asia for over three decades, his observation rang true to me. Yet I answered that there didn’t seem a...
My writer friend, Ardis of The Reflective Pen, recently wrote a poignant blog post about crying. In it she describes how too soon after our celebrated first cries out of our mother’s womb, we are hushed to be quiet, to be strong—no need for tears. She invites her readers to reflect on whether a person can live without tears. And whether that is even healthy. As I read her words, she sees stifling...
Yet another year ends and a new one starts. I’m characteristically not disposed to list my accomplishments, nor my goals. Resolutions? Forget about that! 2025 for many of us—me included—was a mixed bag of uneasy mess, humdrum days, and grand moments of merriment and joy, as we went about our everyday living. And, oh my dear, the year whizzed by all too fast. Did yours? Yet I can point to...
A time sensitive invitation. Have you ever wished you’d captured the life stories of a loved one before they were gone? Or maybe you’ve wondered what stories and wisdom of your own you should leave behind? That box of old photos in the attic, those holiday traditions whose origins are now fuzzy, or that family recipe with missing steps because grandma just knew how much flour...