the whole world has changed

In the course of a couple weeks the whole world has changed. I have been more absent here, although this blog and the community is very meaningful to me, and has been for years. But for the last many months I have been working on getting my life coach certification, finishing a book about parenting I started years ago, and not having much to say here...and then suddenly in the midst of this all, the whole world has changed.

Sometimes it's still hard to believe.

I have started a new blog for my business where I have been writing about this if you wish to read it.
https://www.creative-manifestations.com/blog

I hope you are all doing okay, staying home, finding ways to somehow enjoy the solitude and isolation. I hope you are safe and healthy and with your loved ones. Ours girls are both away at college, which makes it harder. But our son is still home. The girls are okay so I can rest knowing that. And airplane travel home is not wise, so it's the right thing to do.

So many lessons in faith, surrender, staying optimistic, being strong and brave. We are all being called to be on alert, and help our neighbors, to slow down, to be the best versions of ourselves.

I do think it is important to pray now. Pray not just for our own friends and families, but for the planet, for all of humanity. For our well being and our healing, not just of the people, but of all living things.

Let me know how you are.

twenty one

Annabel I have had such a great time visiting you and spending your birthday week with you. I loved watching shows with you, laughing together, snuggling, hearing you play music, having meals out and in the hotel, shopping and seeing the gorgeous night sky and incredible mountains.

You are so precious to me. It is hard to put into words the love I have for you. 

You are my teacher. You are my Divine gift. You are my sweet angel. No matter how old you become you will always be my precious child.

It's hard to believe you are twenty one, a young adult. Except for the fact that you are intellectually so brilliant that you run circles around me in many academic subjects! But you've been blowing me away since you got interested in Einstein at age eleven. So I'm used to it by now.

I have so much faith and hope for you. Always know how loved you are. Always remember how much you are loved by your family.

I'm so proud of you. I believe in you. I love you honey!

Forever love, Mom

summer memories~chicago

On the way home we stopped off to see my brothers. I love my brothers. We stayed with each of them and their families, first my little brother, next my big brother. The kids got to see their cousins. We took Shawn to visit University of Notre Dame and we also briefly visited my alma mater, Saint Mary's College. It was a great way to end of summer travels.

summer memories ~ my hometown

In some ways the most simple part of our summer, staying in one place! Sky flew into town to be with us. We settled into our house trade home. We spent lots of time with my parents, hosting them for dinners, visiting them in their home, and we showed them a hilarious Jerry Seinfeld special. Gary and I went clothes shopping, Sky and I went to garage sales, I visited my grandparent's old house in the city, we rented movies from the library and watched them with my parents, and we all went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant for my birthday. I spent a special afternoon with my mom, we went out for lunch and then walked around her charming downtown.

I love my parents so much. They are the sweetest people ever. How blessed are we to have spent time with them!

summer memories ~ visiting my sister

After visiting my buddy Janel I rented a car and drove to a suburb of Philadelphia. I cannot explain the joy I felt on this road trip, playing music, talking on the phone hands free, using modern technology to text people with voice activation. I was connected and yet free. Living on an island, one can only drive so far, so road trips are rare. It is so fun to get in a car and drive to a new state. Not to mention what happened afterwards. I arrived at my sister's house. She hadn't told any of her kids I was coming. So I got to surprise them, one by one. The looks on each of their faces was priceless. I had such a great time with them all. I had never visited them by myself, I was always Aunt Theresa, the mom, in the context of my family. This time I was just plain old aunt Theresa. I received a hero's welcome. It was like being a celebrity. Everyone wanted to sit near me, make me food, talk to me, hang out with me. I love all of my nieces and nephews. They are a precious piece of my siblings. I made a point to spend time with the kids. I slept in my teenage niece's bed, surrounded by her cute room, including my sister's and my childhood dollhouse. As a kid I spend many an hour making tiny things for that dollhouse! 

We launched rockets with the boys at a big open field (heat wave didn't stop us), we had wonderful home cooked meals, (my sister makes three warm meals a day for her family, she is a rock star wife and mother), we walked through their small town, went through the kids' art portfolios (they are all very talented), went to church where my niece sang. I went to a book club with my sister and met her friends, had an intelligent discussion with lovely women. For my birthday my sister took me via train into the city and we got pedicure/foot massages, shopped at the original Anthropologie, and got lunch. This country girl got a nice taste of the city!

It was a great visit. There's more to that story later.

swami time

Back in January Annabel and I went on a tour of four Hawaiian islands with Dayamrita Swami, Amma's senior representative. We had such a great time connecting with old friends and we made some new ones too. Gary and Shawn met us on one of the islands, where we stayed in a huge house near the sea. We stayed with a group of over twenty people in different places and spent a lot of time in reflective prayer and meditation. We toured a botanical garden and ate loads of tropical fruits from trees, we heard stories from an attorney who represented Martin Luther King, we hiked and biked along the ocean, we got stuck in an airport for several hours but still managed to have fun passing the time while playing games together, we prayed for world peace during a fake ballistic missile threat, and we were relieved to hear it was just a mistake! Annabel played her bass with the band during sets of devotional songs, and all in all, we had lots of laughter, love and peaceful moments.