A Generation Between

I wrote this many years ago…and it is still so true. Dear Children, It comes down to the difference between parenting and grandparenting. Without blaming myself as a parent, I understand the difficulties of parenting: showing love versus giving guidance; giving direction without giving orders; teaching values without imposing ideology. When you were born I […]

Time for a Change!

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Annie Dillard   Periodically, through my life I have found myself restless and discontented to the point that I pay attention. I do this every few years – Reevaluate my life because I suddenly feel as if I am living by rote. […]

Pema, mi Maestra

“In the morning when you wake up, you reflect on the day ahead and aspire to use it to keep a wide open heart and mind. At the end of the day, before you go to sleep, you think over what you have done. If you fulfill your aspiration, even once, rejoice in that. If […]

You are enough!

I am re-posting this as a form letter. Perhaps it will help you write your your child or grandchild. To what standard do you hold yourself?  Who is the paragon to whom you compare yourself? You do not disappoint! You are a person of soul and virtue.  You may have lived through things or done […]

Follow Your Own Dreams

Years ago my granddaughter was what…enamored? in love? in lust?  I just re-discovered this letter I wrote to her. Does it work for you and yours? Dear Granddaughter: Thanks for sharing his letter.  I know that hearing from him means a lot to you. Are you seeing what I’m seeing in his response to you?  […]

Parenting is Forever

I sometimes bring this letter forward from my archives because there seem to be a lot of people searching for letters to write to their own children.  Originally post March 29, 2011. Dear Child of Mine, Many of my thoughts of parenting represent hope for a better yesterday. I was inspired by watching Maya Angelou […]

…on the Birth of a Child

So many of you are looking for a letter to your new child, I am re-posting this. Dear Child of Mine, Since before your first breath you have been cherished. You were born into love. What a miracle you are. The grip of your tiny fingers fills me with joy that now rests in my […]

Family Dissension – Without Answers

I sometimes bring this letter forward from my archives because there seem to be a lot of people searching for letters to write to their own children.  Originally post October 5, 2010. Family dissension is an everyday thing; the kind in which someone or everyone disagrees, argues, and in some strange pattern, agrees to disagree.  […]

Don’t Fence Me In

I don’t think I ever want to live in a gated community. It is a physical manifestation of what I am trying to work through in my life…that feeling of separateness. I strive toward oneness. Perhaps there is a certain oneness for the people inside the walls. The houses, yards, garages, landscaping, etc. are mandated […]

Dear Mr. President

Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.~Abraham Flexner I’m happy that you are back for a second term. Although I was distressed (and maybe a bit disgusted) by the “politics-as-usual” campaign, I’m hoping that, since you needn’t worry about re-election, […]