Rather, think of etiquette as a philosophy of living and enjoying life with grace, compassion, and respect for others.
Please, Lord, answer this one small prayer. Not just for me, but for Cara. Help me play with my child once more before I die. Bring my Cara home.
People give pain, are callous and insensitive, empty and cruel . . . but place heals the hurt, soothes the outrage, fills the terrible vacuum that these human beings make.’ She put her hands on Dora’...
I accept that I’m feeling afraid at this moment. But it’s only a feeling. I accept it won’t kill me. This feeling is the worst that will happen. I just need to ride it out.
But she had the chance now to make things right, at least for her daughter. She may have done a lot of things wrong, but the decision to give up her child would be the one responsible, unselfish act o...
Life, if lived well, was enjoying random acts of kindness that elicited joy from giver and receiver alike. Each time she was reminded of this, she vowed to try to be a better giver than a receiver.
Worry about you, Caretta. You are a strong woman, true enough. But strength without flexibility makes one hard. Come September, when those fierce winds blow in from the sea, those hardwoods crack, spl...
Was flying by, and if she couldn’t find a way to forge bonds between her granddaughters, Mamaw knew that come September, Sea Breeze would be sold, the girls would scatter again, and she’d be sitting o...
See so many things in you, Anne Marie, she said softly, tilting her head as she continued her perusal. The way you move your head a certain way, the breathiness of your voice, the manner in which you...
Caterpillar must shed its skin five times before it forms the chrysalis. The caterpillar doesn’t just change. It completely transforms. The old form dies and the new is reborn. That’s the miracle that...
Why hadn’t she believed she could do it? As soon as she asked the question, she knew the answer. Fear. Fear of failure. Fear of not being perfect. Fear was at the root of her problems. The bedrock of...
Tears filled her eyes. Seeing the mother and her young children brought back images that were both joyous and heartbreaking. The years had flown by too swiftly, slipping away like sand through her fin...
Luz felt as though all the millions of butterflies that were flying on this same journey south were fluttering in her stomach.
Life is a series of risks. Trust, and you’ll sometimes be hurt. Love, and someone will die. Life is joy and pain. If you don’t risk the pain, you lose out on the joy. This was Seth’s final lesson to u...
I wouldn’t be worth my salt as a mother if I didn’t pass on the family recipes.
I still have my talent. My life. You’re the one who told me not to live in fear. I’m listening to you. If I don’t act on my instincts, then I’m afraid to act on what I know is right. And this is right...
Consider the turtle. Perchance you have worried, despaired of the world, meditated the end of life, and all things seem rushing to destruction; but nature has steadily and serenely advanced with the t...
My story will change, and so will yours. We’ll just go on changing, making a new set of choices, then living them out. That’s what life is anyway, just a long string of choices.
But strength without flexibility makes one hard. Come September, when those fierce winds blow in from the sea, those hardwoods crack, splinter and fall. But the pliant palms are resilient and they ben...