Christmas Eve
“I want to talk to you about the subject of plans. . . life plans and how we all make them, and how we hope that our kids make good, smart, safe plans of their own. But if we’re really honest with ourselves, most of our plans don’t work out as we’d hoped. So instead of asking out young people, “What are your plans? What do you plan to do with your life?’ maybe we should tell them this: Plan. . . to be surprised.” – Dan Burns (Steve Carell’s character, Dan in Real Life, 2007 movie) Christmas Eve, 2019
How 2020 Stole Christmas!
Update: I’m happy to announce that the following poem was published by The Brussels Times on December 22, 2020. Click here to view: https://www.brusselstimes.com/opinion/145641/how-2020-stole-christmas/ 2020 has been a difficult year, to say the least. As my children and I unearthed the Christmas decorations from the basement and started to re-read all our favorite holiday stories, I found an alarming similarity between a familiar prose. . . and 2020’s “festivities”. With a sarcastic, but yet enlightened heart, I wrote the following poem. Thank you, Dr. Suess, for your beautiful poem, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Who knew your message could be adapted
Lockdown Part II
October 30th, 5:23 p.m. Antwerp, Belgium My daughter and I are on our way to the grocery store in our car. The Belgian radio is on and as usual, I’m catching pieces of the news report. Cosette is in the backseat, listening as well. She interprets most of what she hears, which is more than my quarter. “What are they saying, Cosette?” I ask and she confirms what I had expected. “Belgium is going into lock-down again. Well, kinda . . .” A tram passes, I maneuver my car behind it to head to Deurne’s new Jumbo. I had
Celebratory Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
It’s been a wild week! Before last Monday, our television wasn’t even hooked up basic cable. On the eve of the election, my husband snaked chords across our living room floor to connect us to CNN and other news channels – the BBC, Antwerp ATV, and others. Unlike U.S. sports, which we often miss in the wee hours of the morning, the U.S. news stations were covering the election 24-hours a day. “Vinny,” I said on Thursday morning as I sipped my coffee and checked the clock, “They look great. . . how is that even possible?” My eyes darted
An American Abroad. . . Election Day 2020
UPDATE: I’m happy to announce that a version of this post was published by the Plano Star Courier in Plano, Texas (site available in the U.S.) https://starlocalmedia.com/planocourier/news/guest-column-an-american-abroad/article_d692d50c-29e9-11eb-84ba-f382882acc21.html And on The Brussels Times https://www.brusselstimes.com/opinion/141900/an-american-perspective-from-within-and-without/ An American Abroad. . . Election Day 2020 Years ago, during the plane’s descent onto a runway surrounded by South African grasslands my friend turned to me and said, “Quick. What is your opinion of Bush?” We’d been traversing the globe for 24-hours. We were jet-lagged and dirty and all I could think about what how I wanted to get off the plane to sleep, shower, and
Pumpkin Patch
“Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one.” – Linus Van Pelt, The Great Pumpkin 1966 Saturday evening, October 24, 2020. Our family had spent the afternoon underneath the flittering golden leaves of the Draakplaats. The restaurants and bars ringing the neighborhood square were shuttered, but the basketball court, playgound, and spaces-in-between were speckled with children. Vinny and I watched our children bike and rollerskate on the asphalt, their wheels slipping on the
A Socially Distant Social Club
Many things have changed throughout 2020. My children’s Happy New Years’ card mocks me lovingly from a corner of our kitchen. Happy 2020 it says! With smiles all around. Who would have ever thought? And isn’t that the thing? Just when we thought we had challenges, we thought battles were worth fighting for in 2019 or before, perhaps we have realized that we had been stressing out about relatively small things. In October 2020, you’re now a rebel if you give a friend a hug. The American Women’s Club celebrated our 91st anniversary in February and at one point
Hopelessly Devoted to You
“I loved, loved, loved that movie. I mean, really. I was border-line obsessed. I’d watch it and then rewind it. And I’d play it again and again. Perhaps even four or five times in a row!” The sunlight is streaming through the panes of glass, golden rays darting between our organic ginger and mint teas. The last gasps of a beautiful Belgian summer are holding strong on this Tuesday morning. My friend continues, “I mean, Sandy. . . I thought she was just so beautiful, so virginal with her beautiful blonde flipped hair. . . Sitting on the pavement at
The Quieter Front Lines
The following was an introduction during our American Women’s Club Monthly Meeting for October. My brother works as an occupational therapist in an Oregon Hospital. My mother works for a library in Dallas. As noted, my best Belgian mom-friend works at a grocery store. Stay-at-home working mandates are the rule throughout Europe and speckle the United States. My daily challenge is to keep the house quiet during my husband’s conference calls, a challenging feat. But we are all navigating unchartered and inhospitable waters right now. Our world has turned upside down. While many of us hunker down and shush our
National Daughter’s Day
I never knew there was a National Daughter’s Day, but I’ll jump at the chance to tell the world how grateful I am to be her Mama. Cosette is loving and thoughtful, strong, and determined. Nothing fazes her or brings her down. I can’t tell you how many times in the past year during lockdown (when the boys were running around crazy and Vinny was in conference calls) she asked me, “Mama? Are you okay?” and I smiled to her and said “yes, yes, I’m okay. Mostly!” She knows me too well. I can see, in these past few
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