My Brief Reign as a Beauty

I was running into Starbucks, and said a cheery hello to the guy in the wheelchair, who is often parked outside.
"Hey, you're beautiful!" he yelled.
I thanked him, thinking to myself "Whoa! Is it the dress?"
"Are you married?" he continued ecstatically.
Inwardly I exulted "I must look better than I thought!", as I contined into the shop.
Exiting a few minutes later, I heard the wheelchair guy shouting "Hey, you're beautiful!" to another woman on her way into Starbucks.
Hmmm . . . well, she WAS pretty good-looking.

Rituals

May is the month for them, for sure.

First of all, congratulations to Gail--she graduated from B.U. yesterday! She took the scenic route! Libby and I went to her graduation, and were so proud of her. I yelled "yay Gail!!!" when she got her diploma, and Libby was mortified.

I actually learned quite a bit from the commencement address, which was given by the head of the anthropology department. It was about what academic regalia signfiy, how it came about, etc, and also about ritual itself, its various components, etc.

Today is commencement day at Emerson, too. So congratulations to all you Emerson guys! The speaker this year is a former student, and I remember him when he was a broadcast journalism major borrowing equipment from the Media Center! You know you've been at a school too long when the kids are coming back as commencement speakers!!!

One of my favorite May rituals is the observance of my darling Kit's birthday. It was a big one this year, 21! We went out to dinner at Small Plates in Harvard Square. There are so many things I wished I could give her, but while the spirit was willing, the wallet was weak. So instead I give her my love, and my very best wishes, and my profound thanks for making my life so beautiful and full of fun!

Leilei's Reaction to Earthquake in China

I was horrified by the news from China, and tried to break it as gently as possible to Libby and Leilei. I talked to each separately, telling them what had happened, and that their SWIs were not affected, and that people are trying to get help to those who need it, that we would contribute money to help, etc. Libby had many questions about earthquakes in general, but seemed fine.

When I ended my talk to Leilei with "and of course we will send some money to help, too" she shouted "NO!!!!" with real alarm. "What's wrong?" I asked, also alarmed. "I'm not sending my money to poor people!" she declared. "Leilei, that' s awful," I chided, "We are so lucky, we need to share with others." She kept shaking her head, so I used the big guns. "What would Jesus do?"

"Jesus is DEAD," she informed me, with a look that implied "you poor fool."
"Don't you remember the Last Supper?????"

For this, I spend my money on a Catholic education.

Meanwhile, an organization I trust implicitly, who provided Leilei and others at her SWI with a great preschool program, has organized a relief fund. If you'd like to donate, please visit their website: http://www.halfthesky.org/
the earthquake updates are under the HTS Journal.

Mother's Day 2008

My Mother's Day was very happy and productive. The day started with brunch, followed by a model-making session (Libby needed a dragonfly model for school), followed by much gardening, and concluded with a beautiful afternoon tea, planned and produced by Kit. I also got a lovely phone call from The Boy. I didn't faint, like in the TV commercial.

Most of all, my Mother's Day was peaceful. Very apropos, since Mother's Day was INVENTED as a day to promote peace. So moms . . . what are we going to do to promote peace this year? Check out this site for ideas.