A Generous Heart

August 13th, 2013
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I saw this letter yesterday and it reminded me that a new school year will be starting soon.  With the beginning of a new school year, perhaps teachers and student will be dealing with conflicting emotions about losses or illnesses that happened over the summer.
When a friend or an acquaintance is grieving from the loss of a loved one, it is natural to want to reach out and make them feel better.  One of the greatest gifts we can give is listening.  Even if you don’t know what to say, we can always listen; listen as the person talks … Read More

Tweeting A Mother’s Life

August 12th, 2013
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Over 340 million tweets are sent and read each day. In the midst of all those competing thoughts, messages and trending topics, Scott Simon posted a large number of tweets late last month that broke through the rush of chatter and caught the attention of  a large part of Twitter’s world wide audience. Simon, National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday host, was sitting beside his mother’s hospital bed and relaying intimate, tender and immediate thoughts about his precious time with his mother in the last days of her life.   I can’t imagine having the clarity of mind to tweet… Read More

Make Each Day Meaningful

July 29th, 2013
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Resilience is a quality we all have within us.  We can take that resilience and make it work for us and strengthen ourselves if we choose. Resilience is a tenacity of spirit; a determination to deal with adversity in our lives.  I know it doesn’t feel like it at the time we are trying to handle one of life’s stressful or sad times, but the courage and patience that we find inside ourselves as we process hardships can help us come out on the other side of it a better person. A better person, you ask?  How can that be?… Read More

A Peaceful Soul

July 20th, 2013
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Thought For The Day. . . Photo Courtesy of The Secrets of the Sea For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.                        ~ Judy Garland… Read More

Cheerios With Nana

July 18th, 2013
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While watching television last night, this commercial came on twice and I had to stop and watch it both times. It’s only 31 seconds but it’s so sweet! It reminded me of my wonderful Nana and how I miss her so much.  She died a long time ago but she is still very special to me and also to many, many of my cousins.  We all adored her!  How I would love to be at her house today just to hear her talk or sing or play the piano.  I think food also brings back strong memories of loved ones;… Read More

Widow Chick

July 16th, 2013
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I don’t know the woman who writes the amazing blog called “Widow Chick” but I feel as if I do. She (aka Catherine) is to-the-core honest and humorous in writing about her daily travels as a widow and a woman who is trying to be Mom and Dad to three young children.  I regularly read her blog and it always gives me a boost! Widow Chick’s Husband Yesterday she wrote a particularly touching post about an important anniversary in her life and I would like to share it with you because she is right on point in expressing her thoughts… Read More

Embrace Your Journey

June 13th, 2013
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“Embrace Your Journey.” You may have wondered why that phrase is listed at the top of my blog underneath the title, “Cry, Laugh, Heal. “ “Embrace Your Journey” is something called a tagline, a phrase to give you — my fantastic, wonderful and supportive readers — a heads up about the things that I’m going to write about.  Things that have helped me to slowly but surely work my way through the loss of my husband, learn to be both mother and father to a young son and develop resilience.  “Embrace Your Journey” helps me to set a tone of… Read More

Renewing Friendships

June 12th, 2013
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Academy of the Holy Cross Yearbook 1972 Making friends for the world to see Let the people know you got what you need            ~ Elton John Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to catch up and renew friendships with two women who went to high school with me. Both women are incredibly talented and very smart: one is an internationally respected sculptor and the other is a retired teacher/photographer. They both look great and we easily fell back into conversation about our lives since high school graduation which was (unbelievably!) many decades ago. We lost… Read More

Life’s Garden of Loved Ones

June 11th, 2013
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Two tropical storms have moved through the Washington, DC area recently and we are getting more than our usual dose of rain.  Not complaining because I like the rain.  It’s good for our gardens and everything feels clean after a good downpour. This summer I am trying to pay more attention to the plants in my yard which I guess I think of as my garden even though they are not all planted in one contained space.  I planted some lettuce, rosemary and basil along with geraniums and marigolds.  Watching things grow is hopeful! As you wake-up and embrace today’s… Read More