March Madness

March 11, 2013

The weather outside is very different from the last time I wrote. This is what it looks like this morning: The snow is mostly gone. The weather is balmy, close to 60 degrees. Soft, spring rain is caressing everything in its path. The chatter of Michigan birds is stretching to a fever pitch. Spring. I […]

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In Like a Lion

February 27, 2013

We had a fierce snowstorm in our part of Michigan yesterday, but with March around the corner, its fury has lost some of its bite. We all know that winter is in retreat and no storm can deceive us into believing otherwise. Still, February was not ready to capitulate without a fight. Right after lunch […]

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Winter Escapes

February 9, 2013

We haven’t visited our cottage since Thanksgiving, and I have missed it greatly. Last night, after Jeff came home from work, we ate a quick dinner, then drove the two and a half hours through the cold winter evening. The gray and purple clouds trailed our car through the snowy fields as we quietly listened […]

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Our New House

January 30, 2013

We bought a house. The moment we walked into this house, I felt at home. The house was built in 1951, and only one other family has lived in it this entire time. They seem like people we would have liked to know: books, music and art are everywhere. During the home inspection, we noticed […]

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Healing Spaces

January 14, 2013

An interesting article about designing architecture for psychiatric wards caught my attention last Sunday. In his opinion piece, Designing for Calm, Roger S. Ulrich writes about violence against care workers in psychiatric hospitals and suggests that one of the solutions to this problem could be better design of the facilities these patients live in. “For […]

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The Sleepy House

January 11, 2013

Most mornings I wake up early and the house is still cold. We turn the thermostat down at night, so the floor feels icy when I step on it with my bare feet. The house is dark and asleep as I stumble down the stairs, carefully holding on to the side rails. Kaya, usually stretched […]

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Holidays This Year

December 20, 2012

Our family is getting ready for the holidays. The house permeates with the smell of baking. The Christmas tree is snug in its corner. We have prepared the extra beds and bought groceries for a large crowd. All the children are either home already or will be here soon and the house echos with laughter, […]

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Pro-Labor Rally in Lansing

December 12, 2012

My niece Nicole and I spent a cold, but electrifying day in Lansing yesterday. Important things were happening in Michigan’s capital and we wanted to be there to show our support for the working people of our state and bear witness to historical transformations. Michigan Legislature, dominated by the Republican party, yesterday passed the Right […]

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Around the Table

December 4, 2012

Every evening, my family and I eat dinner together. The dinning table is set and whoever is at home sits down to share a meal. On weekends, we sit down together for breakfast and lunch as well. This is as natural to me, to us, as breathing. I can never remember the time when this […]

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Full House

November 29, 2012

My sister’s house, the same house my family and I have been living in for the past two months, was overflowing during the Thanksgiving holidays. Children came from far and wide: Nikki from Illinois, Sasha from Ohio, Nena from Alabama. Grandparents flew in from Florida. Girlfriends, friends and cousins came to dinner or just to […]

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Saturday Dinner With a Few Friends

November 12, 2012

We invited a few friends for dinner last Saturday night. We needed a quiet evening. The world around us seemed caught in a whirlwind of destruction and excitement for the past few weeks. I know that this is always the case if one looks far and wide, but Sandy and the elections brought the whirlwind […]

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Searching for a New Home

October 22, 2012

We sold our house in September. After living in it for close to twenty years, we had to pack up all our stuff and clear it all out in three weeks. Somehow we did it. Now, we are looking for a new house. I thought this part would be easier, less stressful. Jeff and I […]

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My Cousin Mira

October 18, 2012

My cousin Mira, ten years older than I, has always been a mystery to me. She did things that upset our family and made them whisper about her behind her back. But the moment I (or other children) walked into the room everyone stopped talking and there was an awkward silence. Mira’s mother Mileva was […]

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