Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
I’m back at the restaurant where I worked throughout university and beyond. There is no organization in staffing, and the customers are smoking at the table by the entrance, and I’m allergic. I try to find someone in charge, but find only cooks smoking in the kitchen. Coming back to work here is obviously a […]
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Dream big. Set goals. And when the need arises, be willing to let go. Dreams are meant to inspire and motivate, to lift us in times of hardship – they should never be the chains that bind us to our losses.
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Five weeks ago, a family of five arrived on our doorstep, distraught and teary-eyed after having fled the war in Ukraine. The dad started working the next day, and the rest of us sorted out beds, groceries and necessary paperwork. Within a week, the kids started school and Mom applied for jobs. It didn’t take […]
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“Will you please write my story, V.J.?” fourteen-year-old Alina asked me recently. She and her family have now been living with Ric and I a month. Alina is a striking young woman, calm and poised, and over the past month, I have come to appreciate the strength of her determination. We talked about interests the […]
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Title is borrowed from a blog post entitled Disappointment and Then. It has me thinking. How many times in my life have I almost talked myself out of progress? Teaching is the example that stands out the most. I wanted to be a teacher ever since I lined up dolls for lessons as a child, […]
Read MoreWhat will come from all this suffering? Why do I keep repeating old patterns? Where is this journey taking me? How can I be a better person? When do things get better? A Question by Robert Frost A voice said, Look me in the stars And tell me truly, men of earth, If all the soul-and-body […]
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I’m on a field trip with several classes of middle school students. We are attending a local theatre to watch a live performance. One boy, in particular, is concerning me. He misbehaves regularly and needs constant monitoring. I rotate between the balcony and the main floor keeping an eye on students and come upon the […]
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“Viewers are cautioned that this next report contains images that may be disturbing to some.” Naturally, I turn toward the television to see what all the fuss is about. Photos of a crime scene where two women have been brutally stabbed to death are plastered across the screen along with images of the hotel they […]
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Five-year-old Sloane came for a sleepover with Grandma and Grumpa this weekend. Imagine the delight when we Sloane and I came upon this mother and her little ones: Mother Mallard was not as delighted to see us and ushered her ducklings into nearby brush: but new life, once revealed, is seldom content with being hidden, […]
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One Woman's Quest II 