Living Your Life

Take A Deep Breath

January 29th, 2017
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Breathe Deeply

 

Dear Resilient Friends:

I have been away for awhile but have not forgotten about you.  2017 started off in a difficult direction for my family.  Both of our parents have been ill, requiring hospitalization and additional involvement from me and my five siblings.  We are striving every day to do our best to give loving care and attention to both parents, splitting our time between the hospital and our parents house often amidst a swirl of new medical terms and medicines while we carry on with our jobs and other personal responsibilities.

We are trying to ease their pain … Read More

Merry Christmas 2016

December 24th, 2016
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Photo Courtesy of Victoria Magazine Just like you, I have surrounded myself this past week with rolls of wrapping paper, scotch tape, ribbons and layers of tissue paper as I have carefully and lovingly wrapped Christmas presents for my family and friends. Some of the presents made me smile for they brought back how I felt when I found the particular item and how I immediately knew it was the right gift.  Score! But as I came to the presents that I had bought for my parents they seemed woefully inadequate. My parents are now in their eighties and at… Read More

Me As Buddy The Elf

December 20th, 2016
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Photo Courtesy of Country Living This holiday season I feel a bit like Buddy from the popular Christmas movie, Elf. Remember the scene where Buddy the elf, who is magically played by Will Ferrell, travels from the North Pole to New York City to find his father and explains to his new family that elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup? That would be me this holiday season.  Except for the candy corn, which I have never liked because I think it tastes like some kind of plastic or wax.… Read More

Give Yourself A Break

December 11th, 2016
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Giving is fun. Whether it’s something you meticulously made with your own hands or something you spent a long time searching for, giving to others is a wonderful feeling. I sometimes feel that giving a present to someone is more exciting than receiving. Watching the other person’s reaction while they are opening your gift is part of the fun and contributes to that good feeling of giving and letting them know they are special. During this holiday season, which can easily turn frantic as we get closer to the time of celebration, I think it is also important to give… Read More

Still Life With Bread Crumbs – Fiction

December 4th, 2016
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I recently finished reading Anna Quindlen’s amazing book, Still Life With Bread Crumbs, and I can’t stop thinking about the unexpected plot that Quindlen beautifully develops and weaves into the touching story about an older woman, Rebecca Winter, who discovers through various hardships that it is never too late to change up your life when you feel it isn’t working. Rebecca, like the rest of us, thinks she has an idea of where life is taking her but then life throws a number of unexpected changes her way and things don’t work out the way she thought it initially would.… Read More

Thankful Hearts

November 24th, 2016
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Wherever you happen to be gathering today, may you be with people who have thankful hearts and giving spirits. The diversity of Thanksgiving menus offered today reflects the healing powers of food, love, family and friends gathering with one celebration in mind.  Lasagna, Vietnamese soup or a traditional roasted turkey with all of the imaginable sides.  Today has been set aside on the national calendar to give thanks for the food and other gifts that are served and shared as a sign of gratitude for the many blessings we have received. While I recognize our desire to be thankful today,… Read More

Let’s Rise Up

November 12th, 2016
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  My late husband, Tom O’Toole, as a young boy   Good Morning Friends: So how was your week? I’m not trying to be flip.  I am genuinely concerned. We live in a topsy turvy world and you would have to be stationed in some unbelievably remote part of the globe not to be aware of the election results in this week’s U.S. presidential contest.  Seriously, it has been quite a freaking week and everyone I know (including myself) is still absorbing what happened. On top of the surprising election results, my family received some sad personal news that I … Read More

Simple Moments To Moment

October 27th, 2016
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Dear Friends, I recently found the below inspiration on one of my Instagram accounts and it really jumped off the screen for me: Just for today, keep it simple. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Look at your life for all you have gained rather than lost. Look at your path for everything you have got through rather than everywhere you think you should be. Celebrate rather than criticize. Experience rather than expect. See how that goes. Just for today.                 ~ by S.C. Lourie Keeping things simple is another way to show respect to your resilient body, mind and spirit.… Read More

Sweet Little You

October 21st, 2016
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      Yesterday morning, one of my nieces delivered her second child and shazam, just like that our large boisterous family has grown by one more! We expected her arrival at any time during this past week with everyone closely following the daily ups and downs of labor; starting, stopping, starting, stopping until the doctors decided that yesterday was the right time to induce and really kick her labor into high gear. At that point, things started happening very quickly and then suddenly Baby Lilly was here! When you are not around babies on an everyday basis, you can… Read More