Category: Family
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sharing bravely
They chose well for each other. In many ways inspiring me with their maturity and self-awareness, and well as ease in friendships and strong faith. I don’t like giving advice, but as their god parents I have asked for permission to share the things that I wished someone shared with me before I got married.…
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Little humans in our likeness
I did not give birth to my children, but with every conversation and day spent together, we shape their character, values and competence. They accuse me of bias when I use overwhelming words of affirmation, and I praise them, or acknowledge how wonderful they are. But I never say things I don’t mean. Kind words…
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Family hike
It is how we enjoy nature at a slow pace and let our minds unwind. It is how we connect, shoulder to shoulder, and we build endurance, physical and mental. I love the girls resilience and positive attitude even when it’s ridiculously hard to continue to put one foot in front of another. Conrad longs…
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International couples
We are low-key people. Approachable as I like to believe. To our delight we discovered that so is the first international couple from our two churches. Our paths crossed many times, even when we lived in California, and they lived in Romania. Now their kids became adults. Brilliant young women. And we traded places. We…
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Letter from Jackie
…It’s better than the most loving eulogy. And I am still around to enjoy it, and let it fill me with hope and delight. I absolutely love Jackie’s mind and heart and teachable posture. She is stubborn but clearly within her rights. Not an inch overbearing. She is reserved with most other people. Observant…
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19 years of marriage
Some things never changed. I still find Conrad funny & attractive. I still feel beautiful in his eyes. We’ve made it through deep valleys & over high peaks. We held on tight when things were hard & confusing. We dug deep when we couldn’t see a purpose, when we felt depleted or hopeless. If we…
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Teen prayer & budding romance
A decade ago she would cling onto me to stay a little longer. After the bedtime stories, we would pray and then she would ask questions. Sometimes the questions were triggered by the prayer. But mostly we would unpack the day. And we would talk. There were many times I longed to escape. To go…
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Tag! You’re it!
I noticed how j interacts with the boy she likes. Similar to how she relates to Conrad. She is sarcastic, and bossy and uninterested. I wonder if it’s a subconscious thing. For the last 3 years we have had many girly talks, and I am afraid I have inspired them to be feminists through and…
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Siblings
I was 4 years old and my brother Dan Paraschiv was 8. Already in 3rd grade, aware of life’s hardships – he was not a natural early riser and school was in session Monday through Saturday when he first started. Dan was always patient and kind. He protected me and taught me how to write…
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Luca is a gentleman
My nephew Luca showed up with bouquets of flowers for my mom and me, and for Jackie & Ivy. They were shy about the whole deal, especially as he came with a friend, Tobi. I was so excited about the whole thing, because i love to get flowers & because this exercise in gallantry is…
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Family
We’ve taken the peace for granted, i think. We often do, in our society. But we have course-corrected with grace, before too late. We enjoyed some new and old stories, and the silence in between. We asked questions and listened intently. If we expect more from others, and offer little of ourselves, we may find…
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white after darkness
When you have a busy social calendar, taking a few weeks off from seeing people feels heavenly. On the other hand, if you long for connection and crave socializing, staying home throughout some winter weeks feels exhausting and lonely. If it was just my husband and I, without any self imposed pressure to make the…