Do you know how to survive life as a woman? This poem can help.

We returned to Chicago, and Mummy gave her consent to proceed with the wedding as planned. Everything is now rushed, but it turned out well. It’s a quiet affair, a simple ceremony with flowers, candles, and champagne at the Unitarian Church. Words by Dr. Gibbons from the Bible fall soft as petals. Kelly reads passages ...

A HAWAIIAN MANICURE A week-long cruise around the Islands in Hawaii was decided by the Turkey group, a Bell Labs softball team. It is a non-stop fun time. On-board cultural classes are offered. I have opted for hula-dancing lessons, while others enrolled in ukulele classes, or the art of stringing leis. On the first day, ...

After a respectable passage of time, the Turkey crowd ribs John into dating again. They suggest a few possibilities at work, but John is not all that keen. His office mate, Dilish Adhikari, catches John tilting back in his chair to watch me walking down the hall. “Oh, you like Sunita, do you?” “Well, yes, ...

As rain drip drops in the woods, it fills my vessel. Nourishing leaves and roots, the pitter patter talks to me. And arouses sweet memories of MartaDi- my American born sister from another mother. She and I, swung this swing together. We crackled, rejoiced, and felt free to share our fondest little truths. She described ...

Calm seas for a day and a half have turned rough without giving me notice. How must I prepare? I have no choice but to ride the storm. Rising, falling, and rising enough times will make me strong. How do I know this? This isn’t the first time, now is it? Once strong, I could ...

Every organization needs a leader. Fortune 500 companies have a CEO. My family has me. I am mom—the queen of logistics, the finder of lost objects, and the keeper of the schedules. This amazing title comes with a long list of responsibilities and an endless ticker tape of tasks to do. The mental load of ...

A road not taken wasforty years ago – to trust my motherhear her advicefire the therapistwho honed my resentment against her. If I did, I would have beenIn touch with my brothersmarried youngerhave childrenbe close to my momforty years earlier. Instead, I listened to aa therapist who sharpened thevenom I had against my mother. I ...

Transforms dark moments into lessons, villains into wistful masters. Her memory chases ghosts away and clears spiderwebs in my heart. She enriches my emotional rainbow from despair and rage into peace and equanimity. The joy of walking breathing smiling. My mother’s initials wrap any twist on the road to liberation, a precious gift sharing her ...

Pursing secrets, they lay their purple bed along the fringes of Mother Earth’s luscious lips – a cover up. Well below, in the magma of her soul, she hides the truth about our collective weight. Let’s tread softly on the ground, and keep it that way. Admire her beauty from a dignified distance. Or else… ...