I accepted a friendly challenge to reflect on confinement. I thought of them as wistful questions. None of us will forget the year 2020. Our lives turned upside down, inside out, and tangled with emotion. Most of us know nothing about confinement or forced stay-at-home orders—until now. What will you [...]
Forgive Others First All she ever wanted was for someone to love her. She didn’t deserve to die. The man shot her at point-blank range. The gunshot wound at the temple left her breathing but not alive for two days. Not her first brush with domestic violence, but on [...]
In the Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath call us to think in moments "to recognize where the prose of life needs punctuation." Chip and Dan help us understand that, “Our lives are measured in moments, and defining moments are the ones that endure in our memories.” Today, [...]
This morning, I woke up full of hope and captured a lovely morning sky. All seemed rosy until I began to read stories about the pandemic. My inherited worry gene kicked into full gear. Will our granddaughter enjoy her new school? What about the tires on the car? What if [...]
I didn't want to lean into sorrow today. As I started my morning, a song from the Broadway play and movie, Camelot kept playing in my ear. The song expresses the hope of spring when we throw our cares away after the long winter. Trying to shed the sadness [...]
Stumbling Stones Stumbling stones reminded me of a past I would rather forget. I must not. As we strolled the cobblestone streets of Mainz, Germany, the guide pointed out a small brass memorial. I took a photo of the Stolpersteine with the name of someone I would never meet. [...]
“Live life to the fullest.” Cliché? No, a warning you don’t want to miss. During the COVID shutdown in 2020, we sat in the pool, floating along with the sunset. The water still too cool, but warm enough to sit on a float. Young people have a pristine and [...]
Finding Nemo is a story that can teach you how to build persistence. In the backdrop of the Great Barrier Reef, Marlin and Cora wait for their Clownfish clan to hatch. Tragedy strikes when a barracuda invades their sea anemone. Marlin finds himself with only one egg and no [...]
Joy is in front of us; if we look. You don't need to search for joy. That feeling of well-being or good fortune doesn't elude you if you choose to open your eyes. “Find ecstasy in life: the mere sense of living is joy enough.” —Emily Dickinson Trista Ainsworth [...]
My sister sent me a text. Not unusual, except for her request. Can you send me a recipe from mom for chicken and dumplings? A simple straightforward request, right? Our mother never wrote down the recipe. Her mother never wrote down the recipe. I have never written down the [...]
