My mother died at the end of 2019 and I wrote this piece but never published it. This morning, I thought about the people who may be scared to say they are happy about someone passing. Scared to acknowledge the relief they feel. This is for them. My mom died and I am happy. I could justify this statement by telling you facts such as this: She didn’t want to live anymore. She missed my dad. She wanted to go. She wasn’t in pain at the end and she died in her sleep. I could tell

As I struggled to find words for my sorrow, Lisa's email arrived. She said it better than I could. I would like to share her words with you. (I added the photos.) This is a guest post from Annalisa Gibbs, Founder and CEO of Eden’s Farm, Pittsburgh. If you would like to find out more about Eden's Farm, please see link below. Dear Friends, I write to you now after about thirty-six hours since the shooting in Atlanta. I am of Asian descent. I am Thai American. I stumble here no

I see them in my night dreams, two sisters of mine. They are interwoven through my dream stories and sometimes their children are there. Often there are more children than I knew about and the dream story becomes about that. When I awaken, if I have time, I think about the dream, and wonder if the children represent all the events and tidbits I don’t know about in their lives anymore. It’s odd. I never thought, when I was younger, that I would be a person who doesn’t speak to

Healthy, happy families, and they do exist, are not really worrying about the upcoming Holidays except to plan food, gifts and events. Although there may be some stress concerning budgeting, travel arrangements or amounts of this or that for meals, overall, they are anticipating the holidays with delight. They want to see relatives, and they look forward to catching up, laughing, visiting and exchanging ideas. Unhealthy families do not anticipate holidays with pleasure. Unhea

Don’t you know yet? It is your light that lights the worlds. - Rumi Deep inside of you is a light. You were born with this light. It is pure, clear and true. It is who you are. Someone or “more than one” may have tried to dim or snuff out your light a long time ago or even recently, but it remains at your core, ready to light up your life. This light is your inner spirit. It is the essence of you. It is this amazing part of you that is resilient, strong, beautiful and loving.

Can people change? Recently a friend of mine re-hired an employee who hadn’t worked out when she hired her over twenty years ago. The woman swore she was more mature, had changed, was going to be a great employee. My friend was impressed with how she presented herself and though it had ended badly the last time, she gave her another chance. Months went by and it seemed to be working, and then it wasn’t. She failed to show up for work and well, one thing led to another, and my

#TRIGGERWarning: Explicit & possibly upsetting content about #Rape NOTE: I edited this on February 12th, 2015, taking out the link to sign the petition at change.org. I am happy to report that the management at Heinz Hall DID THE RIGHT THING and Bill Cosby's appearance has been canceled. Amen. (Original post: 2015) I understand why the Heinz Hall Management in Pittsburgh is reluctant to postpone the Bill Cosby appearance. It’s about the money. It could be very expensive to pa