The Bounty Of Family

What a joyous holiday our family had this Thanksgiving just past–four full days of wonder. Here is my little grandson, who sat at Nana’s holiday table for the first time, built trucks and trains and Duplo houses with me, went hand-in-hand to the playground, and drifted off to his parents singing my childhood lullaby. And now onward, into…

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Food Equals Love

My sister and I are sitting on opposite sides of the table in a drafty Vietnamese restaurant, slurping up bowls of Pho, on the afternoon before New Year’s Eve. We are each consulting our disintegrating copies of The Key To Chinese Cooking, authored by Irene Kuo. In the midst of planning what we are calling…

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Waitin’ For The Good Stuff

Today, a Carly Simon lyric is running through my head non-stop: “Anticipation is makin’ me late, is keepin’ me waitin’.” I am trying to be patient, but suppressing excitement about my trip to New York just makes time drag more: November 17th is only two days away, but I feel like a little girl holding…

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Our Spin On Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is only a week away, and I have a lot to be grateful for. Perhaps first and foremost is my good fortune in having an exceptional family, one that was originally torn apart when my husband left me, but which has been reunited over the years that followed our split. I am very lucky…

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Let Your Own Sun Shine

Look back over 2015 and what do you see? A string of experiences and dilemmas to which you responded, reacted, or resolved. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. The “worse” is what helps us formulate our “New Year’s Resolutions.” I do it just about every year: when I was sixteen, I resolved…

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The Gift of Words + Year-Long Book Giveaway!

Maya Angelou said it best: “When you get, give.” In the spirit of her sentiment I am running a contest to gift to you any one of my books, your choice. Gratitude for my readers was sparked not only from the recent holiday that embodies the emotion, but from my latest writing adventure as well.…

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WRAPPING IT UP!

At this time of year most of us are buying and wrapping multiple gifts. We are focused on all the happiness that the season can bring, and not much on its complications. We plan how to decorate our homes and our trees and what will accompany the roast beef for Christmas dinner. We don’t often…

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THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

While for some people December is a season of joy, filled with the happiness of giving and receiving, it can be a tough time of year for others. Amidst the happy revelers ringing their bells and singing their carols, and among those who live for and love the holidays, there are those who walk alone…

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