The Lady’s Hug

A beautiful story, especially for parents who get asked the question, “Is Santa real?”~ Angela Gentile 

The traffic in town crawled. Shoppers walked faster than the bumper-to-bumper cars could move.

“Just a few more blocks,” I muttered. There was so much to do and the heavy traffic was wasting precious time.

Finally, we found a parking spot right in front of Mapes, our destination.

Mapes was one-of-a-kind store that sold hardware, sewing notions, corny greeting cards and household goods. The kids loved the toy aisle, which was stocked with board games, puzzles and “must-have” items like silly putty, jump ropes and slinkys.

Christmas was just weeks away. Frankie, Sarah and Caitlin took the opportunity to verbally add… Continue reading

Published on Tuesday December 6, 2011 in Love, Parenting, Spirit and Writings. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The Power of “And”

For far too long, we’ve worshipped at the altar of “or.”  

Mine or yours.
Right or wrong.
Black or white.
Good or bad.
Acceptable or unacceptable. 
Republican or Democrat.
Gay or straight.
Rich or poor. 
Friend or foe.
Your way or my way. 

 I believe in the power of “and.”

 My dream & yours.
 My faith & yours.
 My marriage & yours.
 My sexuality & yours.
 My country & yours.
 My ancestry & yours.
 My child & yours.
 My reproductive choices & yours.
 My generation & yours.
 My point of view & yours.
 My freedom & yours. 

 It’s time to drop the “ors.”

 This country is big, beautiful and bountiful. There is room for everyone. Our founders didn’t ask us to choose between life, liberty OR the pursuit of happiness. They knew there is no freedom in “OR” – only when we make room for “AND” can we all live peacefully. 

So this June, when I’m ordained as an Interfaith Minister, I’ll wear a stole embroidered with different symbols of world religions. But perhaps the most powerful symbol on that cloth will be the ampersand. 

Because I believe in the power of “and.” 

 

(The above image is called “Ampersand Love” by Laura Pavlo and can be found here.) 

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Published on Thursday January 19, 2012 in Blogs and Self. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Gentle Woman

This week the world lost a gentle, kind, loving woman.

I first met Mary in 1996, when our children started school together. Although we weren’t friends in the “Let’s have a glass of wine and get a pedicure” sense, I counted Mary among the women I really admired.

Mary and I began to bond when we shared carpool duties in Kindergarten. I’d pick up her son Robert, along with my daughter Sarah, and bring them back to my house. Mary would pick up Robert a little while later, depending on her changing work schedule, and we had some time to connect, mom-to-mom. From the beginning, I loved Mary’s tender style of parenting. Her kind eyes, sweet smile and easy laugh put children and adults at ease. 

Continue reading

Published on Friday January 13, 2012 in Blogs and Healing from Cancer. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

The Greatest Gifts

At the risk of stating the obvious, it looks like the holiday season is in full swing. Parking lots are overflowing with traffic and normally organized store shelves look ransacked. 

Watching all the hustle and bustle this week brought back a memory of a holiday season from long ago. I was sixteen and working as a waitress in a department store restaurant. (Yes boys and girls, before malls had food courts many department stores had restaurants where tired and hungry shoppers could refuel.)

It was my first real job and although I’d been working at the restaurant for months, I was totally unprepared for the insane lunch crowd on the Saturday before Christmas. A line of people waiting for tables snaked out the door. The hostess looked frazzled. Bus boys… Continue reading

Published on Thursday December 15, 2011 in Blogs and Love. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

Allow Allow Allow

‎”The first step toward change is acceptance. Once you accept, you open the door to change. That’s all you have to do. Change is not something you do, it’s something you allow.” ~ Will Garcia 

I love Facebook. Among the endless game requests (which I hide), baby photos (which I adore) and rants (* to be discussed)  I also find gems of inspiration like the quote above.  It was posted by Chris Cade, a man who describes himself as a “reluctant hero” on a journey to empower others. 

So Chris’s quote got me thinking about Facebook rants again. (My last blog was about one of my own Facebook rants – see Kardashian Krazy.) Facebook is a snapshot of life, so it’s no surprise… Continue reading

Published on Friday December 2, 2011 in Blogs and Parenting. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Kardashian Krazy

My personal Facebook page is usually a rant free zone. I post a few, mostly observational, comments a week. In general, I’m an upbeat person and my Facebook posts reflect that. (Here comes the BUT…)

Last week, I ranted about Kim Kardashian:

“Wow. Even NPR is talking about Kim Kardashian. (I thought I had found a Kardashian free zone.) Hitting the off button because I REALLY DON’T CARE!!”

After posting, I felt even worse. Why was I so ruffled by a woman I’d never met? I’d never even seen an episode of her show. Was I personally affected by her impending divorce? No. What I knew about Kim Kardashian came from the snippets I’d seen on morning news shows and photos on the covers of magazines at the… Continue reading

Published on Friday November 11, 2011 in Blogs and Self. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

In the Pink

It’s October and in case you haven’t noticed, the color pink is popping up everywhere. NFL players sport bright pink gloves, skyscrapers and bridges glow pink in the night sky and it seems every food product in the supermarket has a pink ribbon. I even spotted an ad for a roofer in my local “coupon clipper” that had a pink ribbon and offered to donate a portion of all jobs in October to breast cancer research.

I’m ambivalent about the pink ribbon campaign. I hope it reminds people about the threat of breast cancer, but I wonder how effective it really is. But that’s a discussion for another day.

What DOES work – is screening mammograms. I used to dread… Continue reading

Published on Friday October 21, 2011 in Blogs and Healing from Cancer. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Mikey Walks

Say what you will about social media, but I’ve “met” some inspiring people on Twitter and Facebook. Granted, I’ve never shaken their hand, or stood next to them at a party, but I feel lucky to have them in my life on any level.

One such person is Michael Tittinger. I connected with Michael on Facebook through my cousin’s husband Jason. Got that? Convoluted I know, but that’s how social media connections happen. Jason “liked” Michael’s Facebook Fan Page called, “Mikey Walks” and I was intrigued (read: nosey). So I clicked the “Mikey Walks” link and am so glad I did. 

“Mikey” (Michael Tittinger) is walking across the United States and posting to his Facebook… Continue reading

Published on Thursday September 22, 2011 in Blogs and Courage. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Beams of Beauty

This Sunday, 9/11/11, marks the tenth anniversary of the day that the world, as we knew it, changed forever. How the world changed is different for each person that witnessed the unfolding horror. But change the world did.

Perhaps you’ll pray, or participate in a memorial service, or observe a moment of silence. Maybe you knew someone who lost their life, or knew someone who knew someone. But I venture to say that nearly everyone will reflect on “the moment” you heard the news. Today, I share with you a bit of my experience, but not where I was when I found out, but where I was when I saw my first ray of hope.

After watching the events unfold… Continue reading

Published on Thursday September 8, 2011 in Blogs and Courage. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Be A Beam

Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” ~ Lord Byron

As you may’ve guessed, life on the east coast has been hair-raising this past week. Depending on your location, areas experienced varying degrees of destruction, from earthquakes/aftershocks, to Hurricane Irene, hundred year floods and a few tornados thrown in to keep things interesting.

We’re all a little twitchy in the Philly area, looking over our figurative shoulders to make sure nothing else is creeping up on us.

Feeling the need to connect with a higher perspective (see Spirit Key), I decided to meditate. It was no surprise that my energies felt scattered as I tried to meditate for the first… Continue reading

Published on Friday September 2, 2011 in Blogs and Spirit. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .