What Does a Mother Say to a Son at War?
If you’ve ever had a child far from home or in harm’s way, you’ll appreciate this excerpt from Minefields of the Heart, a Mother’s Stories of a Son at War, by Sue Diaz, Blue Star mother.
Sue emailed me after reading my blog post entitled, “The Family Grapevine,” a story about how I was the last person to find out that I’m having baby granddaughter.
Here’s what Sue wrote in her email: Continue reading
A Baby’s Cells Are Recording Memories, Even Before Birth
I was just blown away by an amazing documentary, Cellular Echoes: Environmental Influences in the Journey from the Womb to the World, by Colorado infant massage instructor and trainer Deanna Elliott.
If you’ve never entertained the idea that cells record memories, even as early as conception, get ready to rethink your reality: “The most important functions of the cell, for the purpose of this film, are the gathering and storage of data from the environment in which they reside. In regard to the human infant, these functions are active from the moment of conception,” said Elliott.
The documentary explores imprinting in animals and humans Continue reading
My favorite author writes of warm breast milk and cotton, and mothers abed.
I could read Niall Williams’ writing from dusk till dawn. Not only do the Irish author’s words dance off the tongue like droplets from a waterfall, their juxtaposition evokes imagery so beautiful it makes me weep.
For Mothers’ Day I chose this excerpt from Williams’ novel The Fall of Light (Warner Books, 2001). It’s the long-ago tale of an Irish family, a father, mother and four sons, torn apart by broken dreams. The father, Francis Foley, steals a telescope from the master’s house and then flees with his sons, leaving behind a life of certain abject poverty for the vast unknown. The mother is lost; the sons and father separate and the world pulls them in different directions – until they find what matters most. Continue reading
The Family Grapevine
Why is it that I’m always the last person in the family to find out just about everything? The day before my son and daughter-in-law’s anniversary (which they now share with Prince William and Princess Kate) they found out that the baby boy they were expecting is going to be a girl. It’s really great news because B. and his wife already have a son.
Word got around fast. By seven that evening everyone in the family knew. Everyone, that is, except me.
I found out later that night during a conversation with my twenty-three year-old daughter, K., who lives back east. She was just getting off work when I called. Continue reading
