cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
“We do the best we can with what we know at the time,” said my friend. We have known one another for a long time and were talking about shared memories of when our daughters were young. I reflected on how my own formative experiences showed up in the ways I parented my daughters, who…
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“I am not nearly as much fun as I was a year ago.” I made this statement to a friend after she asked what I’ve observed as the biggest change in myself since I started working as a chaplain. Sitting with others in the depths of their despair, pain, loneliness, and lack of resources is…
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“I see you!” Her four-year-old sing-song voice announces she has won yet another round of hide-and-seek. She pounces on me, and both of us roll to the floor in a heap of giggles. “I see your tears. The worst you have imagined is happening,” I observe gently. The young woman’s eyes meet mine. Tears spill…
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Fred Rogers introduced a song in the early 1970’s that was often played on the children’s show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, entitled “It’s You I Like”* I remember the words rattling around in my head and spirit throughout the mid-1990’s when my children were watching the show.
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Decades ago, I went grocery shopping after the funeral of a dear friend who had died much too young and way too swiftly. His tragic death left one of my closest friends without a partner and their young children without a father. Arriving home after the funeral, I was anxious, emotionally untethered, and in need…
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I sat, four rows back on the right, just behind the grandparents of the beautiful little girls being baptized. My Christian faith tradition practices the baptism of babies and children, and that day a young family was presenting their 3-year old COVID baby and her infant sister for this ancient sacrament. In our practice, baptism…
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There is a black-and-white photo that sits in my office. The photo is of a favorite four-year-old. In it, she is outside. Even in black and white, I know the sky in the photo is brilliant blue. She is looking straight into the camera lens. Her lovely little face fills the frame, blonde strands of…
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“Life is decided by inches and seconds.” A wise friend once shared these words with me, asking if I ever wondered about the “what-ifs.” Your beloved dog runs into the street and the oncoming car stops just in time. Another inch, another second, and everything would be different. Your newly-minted 16-year-old casually tells you about…
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We sit quietly in the near-dark room. Wood spindles hug hips and back, bare feet touch soft fawn-colored carpet, worn wooden armrests cradle elbows and arms filled with the weight and warmth of her. Feet push gently against the soft carpet, silence broken by the creaking voice of the old rocking chair. Voice speaking from…
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My sister died a few months ago at the end of May. It was morning. She had been sitting in her chair, in her pajamas, and it seems, she simply passed. She had been having pain issues due to a recent series of falls. Even so, her death was unexpected. She was 59 years old. Truth be…
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