Loving Your Family

Back To The Garden

November 7th, 2014
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My son and I recently spent a Sunday afternoon meandering around the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia and it reminded me once again of the importance of taking time to immerse yourself in the calming and healing beauty of nature.

I was not particularly stressed out when we entered the spectacular gardens but after walking around among the themed gardens and gentle water fountains for about ten minutes, I found myself slowing down and suddenly stopping on the path to take a deep breath and truly look and listen to where I was at that moment.  We sat … Read More

A Poem Of Comfort

October 27th, 2014
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Today I send heartfelt prayers to a wonderful woman and mother of three children who has been a close friend of my family’s for decades and is tragically in the process of saying good-bye to her beloved husband currently being taken care of in an ICU unit of a local hospital. I know that words cannot take away her deep pain but I send them in hopes that they may bring some small measure of comfort.  Perhaps there is someone in your life who is also bearing a burden of sorrow and is in need of words that lets them… Read More

An Amazing Gift To Yourself

September 17th, 2014
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For the past four years, I have been watching a member of my family refuse to forgive someone. Sounds incredible right? How could someone voluntarily lug around that much baggage every day?  How could someone consciously decide, all on their own, every day, that they would rather be angry with someone 24 hours a day, than try to fix the problem by opening up an honest dialogue and talking about it to the other person? How can you constantly refuse to accept the hundreds of apologies that have been offered? I guess it’s too hard.  I guess it’s too painful.  … Read More

Someone by Alice McDermott

September 4th, 2014
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Someone  by Alice McDermott was given to me as a Christmas gift but I purposely set it aside because I knew that I wanted to savor every word of this novel.  I knew it was going to be special and I was right. I thoroughly enjoyed reading McDermott’s award-winning book, Charming Billy, and so I was familiar with McDermott’s incredible gift of creating characters that you feel you know, sentences that make you stop and go back and reread them several times and her mastery of quietly leading you into her magical stories. Someone is set in Brooklyn in the… Read More

6 Unbreakable Sibling Bonds

September 2nd, 2014
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Today is a post giving you a little slice of my family life.  A shout-out to my brothers and sisters if you will. I am the oldest of six children.  We are four girls and two boys and are incredibly close in age: there is only seven years between me and my youngest siblings who are twins. I have written a lot about the healing gift of friendship and the important role that my friends play in my life but I haven’t said much about the healing gift of my siblings mainly because I know they don’t want to read… Read More

Why Is Listening Powerful?

August 29th, 2014
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Texting is fun, emailing is great but I find the best skill I can practice is one that is not electronic: listening. Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing, according to Rachael Naomi Remen, a pioneer in the mind/body holistic health movement and author of Kitchen Table Wisdom.  Remen writes that it is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are able to effect the most profound changes in the people around us. Listening to another person is not just about hearing the words that someone… Read More

Baking Zukey Bonanza Bread

August 22nd, 2014
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Many of our most powerful memories are tied to food. A spectacular cake served at one of our birthdays, a delicious meal eaten at a special restaurant, or a dish made by someone we love. One of my favorite summer memories is remembering the dinners I used to have at a beach restaurant that sadly doesn’t exist anymore.  It was a comfortable family restaurant with great food and friendly service and it was a relaxing place to go after a day spent on the beach.  Our son was about seven or eight years old when my late husband and I… Read More

Can Adversity Be Useful?

August 8th, 2014
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When my world becomes full of too many problems, I look to others for their unique advice, inspiration and strength.  I find socializing is a good positive answer to lifting a bad mood. Having coffee and a long conversation with a friend can help me sometimes see that there is a way out of my stress; that things may feel overwhelming right now but it’s not a permanent situation.  Something better might be right around the corner and I just need to hang in there and ride this bad time out. Besides hanging out with family and friends, I also… Read More

24 Candles

June 25th, 2014
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Thousands of babies are born every day but today I am focused on one particular birth that happened 24 years ago. Please indulge me a bit while I use today’s post to send birthday love and well wishes to my sweet son.  I wish I could be with you today, but since I can’t, I am sending you the biggest birthday hugs in celebration of your special day!! Happy Birthday Ryan! You are a healing and energetic bundle of unique talents and skills and you are always ready to share them with whoever you think might need them.  When I… Read More