Three more weeks until we go to the States. Meanwhile we live the depth and the width of our lives. Together with our friends and partners at Polylogos.eu we are hosting and preparing a few events. An impending one is next weekend, and I am thrilled about it. In partnership with WEF @womenempowerforum and MinteForte.ro

We just had a meet and greet meeting last weekend for the REAL program also through Polylogos which starts in earnest and hopefully in person, in February. I am involved with mops.org and with a handful of absolutely amazing and inspiring women, we start anew in Cluj @mopscluj with a welcoming community and many social projects.

Then there is Marriage Week Romania that we are partnering with another extraordinary couple to organize in February. When I do take time to recharge and have clearer boundaries, somehow my energy builds on different projects and people do overlap.

Tonight we have three couples joining us for an American style Thanksgiving. Oh, if only we understood how much room there is for us, anywhere in the world, when we are ready or wiling to serve.

As for Conrad and I… I hope we’ll remember the grace in accepting the cards we’ve been dealt, and how that transforms our connection, our love, our gratitude for each other. We’ve just visited a doctor together, as a followup to his recent surgery and diagnostic, and I’m sure we made an impact on him as well. Because my parents were watching the girls while we were running errands, we decided in the moment to stop for a date at cutandcrust.ro and it was absolutely fantastic. I haven’t had such a good date in years. I felt happy and present and connected. I say this unapologetically because we’ve been struggling through a funk for years it feels. From waiting to adopt, to working through the matching and bringing our daughter home, to finding a rhythm with more kids, and building our house… It’s exhausting only remembering all the things we did throughout this pandemic.

Alas, we are grateful. For today. For right now. I found an old text I wrote in April and it’s awesome to have the perspective of the past.