Friendship unfiltered

Who is your safe place to vent or talk about what’s bothering you? Choose those friends wisely so you feel safe when sharing. This keeps the doors open for honest communication vs. just the niceties you think everyone wants to hear. And then hold on to THAT friend. I...

The hidden message

My mom lost her mom to pneumonia when she was only 13 and was auctioned off as a prisoner of war to a German farmer during WWII when she was only 18. She never saw her family again after the war. My parents met in a displaced persons camp and immigrated to the U.S. on...

Our Ancestors: “We Are Them; They Are Us.”

Our Ancestors: “We Are Them; They Are Us.” And they can help us—or not. Within our DNA are our ancestors’ memories, which can nourish the dreams of our souls.” ~ Cyndi Dale In 2008, my husband and I visited Poland—the homeland of our ancestors—for the first time. I...

My Grandmother’s smile 

Agnes, or “Agnieszka” as known in Polish, is my paternal grandmother. I will try to piece together what I know about Agnieszka and attempt to put myself in her shoes as I did for my maternal grandmother, Zofia. Amazingly in a collection of old black and white photos...

Anxiously awaiting your next visit

I’ve written about my mother-in-law receiving the gift of daily songs from her husband after he passed in 2003. She heard those song messages every day from 2003 to when she passed in 2015. In that post I wrote “I’ve heard it said that communicating after you’ve...

Finding Zofia

I’m in the process of writing about my family’s history. From my trauma-informed yoga page: “My parents were prisoners of war on German farms (forced labor) during WWII. My dad was taken from his home when he was 17, my mom was auctioned off to a German...