The Resolute Woman

Category: families

  • A network of mutuality

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    resolutewoman
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    “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny,” Martin Luther King Junior once said. “Whatever affects one directly affects all directly.” I found that quote in Shery Sandberg and Adam Grant’s book Option B—Facing Adversity, Building Resilence and Finding Joy.

  • Another person

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    resolutewoman
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    “Inside every person is a universe, and we’ll never know what it feels like to be another person,” author Elizabeth Strout told Time magazine in its May 15, 2017 issue. And, then, Strout concluded, “Which is horrifying.” Horrifying? That’s a strong word. I try to understand what another person is feeling. I think I can…

  • Her daughter’s secrets

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    resolutewoman
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    Marilyn, a character in the book Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, had left her daughter, who was only 11 months old, playing on a quilt in the living room and gone into the kitchen to get a cup of tea. Marilyn was startled to find Lydia, who had taken her first steps,…

  • Free from family?

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    resolutewoman
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    Her brother Nath was ready to leave his family and go away to college—“to start over as a new person with a new life.” It’s “just a problem of geography,” he thought, “with the confidence of someone who had never yet tried to free himself of family.” Most of us, like Nath, a character in…

  • A vast web of misunderstanding

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    resolutewoman
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    I just went to a cousin’s birthday party in Colorado City, Texas. Although I see most of my cousins on my father’s side of the family at least once a year, I haven’t seen many of the cousins on my mother’s side of the family in years. I was reminded of a line from Anna…

  • What’s your story?

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    resolutewoman
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    Everyone has a story—or two or three, and most of us tell the stories that define our lives over and over, explained author George Saunders at an Art & Letters Live presentation in Dallas on March 8, 2017. I’ve been thinking about my stories. What are the stories about my life that I tell over…

  • Chaos and love

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    resolutewoman
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    “Our family—the perfect blend of chaos and love.” After Thanksgiving, our house seemed too quiet when Mary Elizabeth left for Denton and Jay left for Tulsa. Yes, our family has plenty of love and sometimes an ample amount of chaos, too. Sometimes I am not sure if ours is the perfect blend! I found the…

  • When to be kind

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    “Be kind whenever possible,” says the Dalai Lama. “It is always possible.” When I was in Washington state recently, I discovered wise words in a number of places—a large independent bookstore, a small antique shop and even in the airport. I found this quote at Village Books in Bellingham. –Joy

  • My family is growing

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    resolutewoman
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    While I was visiting our friends Mark and Eva in Bellingham, Washington, I thought about this fact: Sometimes friends seem like family. And, how wonderful that is! My family expands when I move a friend from the very-good-friend category to the almost-like-family category. –Joy

  • The meaning of life

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    resolutewoman
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    “Love is our true destiny,” said Thomas Merton, the Catholic writer and mystic. “We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone. We find it with another.”