cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
I was first a daughter who was born to a beautiful young mother near Sarita Vihar, India. My First Mother loved me deeply, and she called me hers. I was then an Orphan, as I was unjustly separated from her arms. I never knew my First Father’s face or arms, and for that I grieve.…
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“Disconnected” is the word I would use to describe how I was feeling during 2020. As a grandmother of six grandchildren, I slowly began to realize that I was missing them. Connecting through social media felt too invasive, too quick, and too sterile, as my heart drifted away from them. I was experiencing the losses…
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“Can I watch Joy’s movie, Mama?” “Joy’s movie?” “Yeah! The yellow lady with the blue hair!” Frantically searching my memory bank for the missing puzzle pieces, I stare confusedly into space until a bright light blinks into existence above my head. “Aha! Joy! You mean Inside Out.” My sweet boy, with swollen eyes and a…
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“I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish.” – Mother Teresa Fixed in my gaze are two single stars that hang in the black sky as if preparing to fall into the dazzling smile of a bright crescent moon. Sitting on a back porch and sipping hot mint tea, I hear the…
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The sign above the door said it all: Lake Rules: Relax, Relax, Relax. I had intentionally pulled away for a couple days of solitude. The use of the home, situated on a lake, was an unbelievable gift from friends, one that undid me as I walked in, taking in the beauty and stillness around me.…
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Raising children is not for the faint of heart. Experts upon experts have researched the most effective methods and strategies for families and professionals, giving us tools to use when raising children from their most dependent state to their most independent selves.
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When I signed up last fall to host a Red Tent dinner, all I was sure of was my desire to step outside my comfort zone as I began to make plans for what the evening would look like.
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“… and I can already tell I will adore you too.” Her words in an email caught me off guard since I had only met her once through a mutual friend, though nothing about her struck me as anything but sincere.
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I sit on my yoga mat in the dim studio. The morning sun sends shafts of light spilling across the hardwood floor, and one by one, people drift in and unroll their mats around me. Soft music plays in the otherwise quiet room.
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I sent a dramatic SOS text message to my husband this afternoon.
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