Small town girl with big world vision
It’s a surreal thing, holding a baby that has the nose of someone you love, and the chin of someone you love, and changes everything about the life of someone you love. I guess that what it means to be a grandmother. For one short week over Thanksgiving, I got to spend time with Sunshine…
She’s here! I’m a Nana!! I’m so excited to announce that Sunshine had a little girl yesterday. This little Pumpkin was born in the early hours of October 31st and weighed in just under seven pounds. Sunshine was in labor for over a day, and is tired, but very happy. She’s already the best mama…
I have a daughter who lives in Latvia. She is sassy and spunky and so much like me. I recently got to share the story of how we became a family at Listen to Your Mother: Pittsburgh. It was an amazing experience that was uplifting and encouraging in ways that I am unable to fully…
Building bonds across an ocean feels crazy a lot of the time. The spaces of silence fill up and I wonder if maybe the distance is too much to sustain a connection. Perhaps we have grown apart, and the next time we meet it will feel like a high school reunion—politely awkward and frozen in…
In the age of Instagram and Twitter and all things social, I feel like I’ve been falling behind lately. I’m a fairly social person, and I like to take pictures. I have been labeled as a “paparazzi” by a certain sassy Latvian, who claims I would take a picture of her on the toilet if…
It’s amazing how your whole world changes with a few words. “I’m pregnant. I need you.” “I’m not coming to America. I don’t need you.” Both these phrases have reframed my future and the future of the ones I love. It’s taken me a while to process what this means for all of us. The…
They have met. My parallel universes have collided. Sunshine and Peter Pan have joined forces and become the super-cool duo that could only be designed by Someone with a wonderful sense of humor. Last week, I was in their country for nine days working with New Horizons for Children—we were interviewing and selecting children for…
He doesn’t want to grow up. Not alone. Please not alone. That’s what he told me with longing in his quiet eyes. I met this darling Lost Boy in a McDonald’s of all places. I was traveling with New Horizons for Children, interviewing orphans who were hoping to be part of the Christmas hosting program,…
Sunshine is staying put in Latvia. I couldn’t be more content. Sprite is at this moment flying here to start his life in America. I couldn’t be more thrilled. It doesn’t make sense to others, I am sure, how these two events can live in parallel spaces in my heart and bring such joy. But…
I don’t know what time it is. I spent a week in Latvia with my family, and came back to the United States three days ago. My body wakes at odd hours. I am mad productive at five in the morning and dragging at five in the evening. I’ve given up the figuring. I live…
