When I look back at my life, I am amazed to still be alive and hopeful that life can be beautiful, no matter the craziness of this life. I think of the reality, for me any way, that from the time before I was even born until the gray that permeates my hair today, God... Continue Reading →
Surviving the Worst Pain Ever
I was heading into the airport, on my way to Montreal, Canada to give a presentation. In my excitement, I nearly forgot to wave goodbye to my youngest child, Malcolm. He was the only one of my five children who came from my body. I had suffered three miscarriages before I was able to carry... Continue Reading →
The Little Bug that Took Down Two Bloggers
The flu is epidemic in our part of he world, and having taken a flu shot, I assumed that Douglas and I were immune from the flu bug. But, alas, we were not! Douglas came home early last Saturday, which was telling in itself. Douglas' picture should be next to the word hardworking in the... Continue Reading →
Too Old? Too Old? Rubbish, My Dears!
Sitting in a Sociology class on family and marriage with a group of twenty-somethings, one young woman suddenly asked me how I managed to make all As on my exams and papers. I told her that because I started college at age 36 and had been raising children for 25 years, I had lived everything... Continue Reading →
Blessed and Fruitful: Psalm Wednesday
Who or what is most responsible for what you think, believe, and do? It's important to know, because the most influential aspects of your life, whether people or things, control your destiny in this world and after death. Each of us are socialized by individuals or ideologies that impact our decision-making processes. Socialization refers to... Continue Reading →
Going Where No One Knows Your Name
In 1998, I was sitting alone at a table in a nice restaurant in Madrid, Spain, preparing to eat lunch, when a Spanish man invited me to join him and his wife for lunch. I was hesitant, because I was alone in Madrid, and I did not know how to relate to other people, always... Continue Reading →
Feed One End, and Wipe the Other
All I knew about taking care of children when I became a mother to my sister's four children was that you feed one end, and you wipe the other, and you never get the two places confused! It's true that there are no manuals that help new mothers, whether you are having one child or... Continue Reading →
The Night God Cried!
I was looking for love in the wrong place. My soul was bruised each day at school by bullying, people running by me calling me, "Little Monster," and boys teasing and taunting other boys with assertions that I was that boy's girlfriend. I never said a word, not wanting to make things worse. Feeling ugly... Continue Reading →
What If We Could Choose Our Parents?
A picture I saw on another blog site of a father congratulating his daughter on an award started me to reflecting on the question of what if we could choose our parents. What would be the criteria we would use to decide who would be the perfect fit each of us. It is downright intriguing... Continue Reading →
The Day My Life Changed for the Better
What do you say to a four-year-old child when she asks, "Gina, whose gonna be our Mommy now?" I didn't expect the question, so I was not ready with an answer. But, as I looked into those big, soulful brown eyes, wet with tears after hearing that her mother wouldn't be coming back home, I... Continue Reading →