Kids

My mother’s unloved diamond ring

We treasure what loved ones left behind, like a favorite piece of jewelry. Or was it? My mother’s engagement ring has quite a story, and now at age 67, I understand why she never wore it. She married my dad in 1950, and later in the 1980’s, after my mother’s death, the sparkly European-cut diamond […]

Mothers Day Gift: No Guilt

Can you overcome your upbringing when raising your own kids? Josephine Martinez, came from the Philippines and was a stay-at-home mom all her life. She gave me an enduring sense of God’s goodness, which is ironic since she suffered from severe religious guilt. Fortunately, she didn’t raise us in the same way. Excessive self-blame is […]

March for Our Lives: Reasonable Gun Control Measures

On March 24 in Washington D.C. and across the nation, Generation Z will lead “March for Our Lives.” I, too, will march in Boston for common sense gun protection, such as a ban on assault weapons and effective background checks. School killings are increasing and young people have had enough. Cameron Kasky, a high school […]

Healing the unsaid with the dead

[Photo taken in 1973 of Suzette and her father, Steve Martinez, who passed away in 1982.] Lately memories of loved ones, now gone, are tinged with “I wish I told them [fill in the blank].”  Recently, I had the chance. A meditative exercise is designed to heal the unsaid with direct conversation. I tried it […]

Am I ever enough? Choices without fear

New school and work schedules surge forward.  Goals. Deadlines. Kids. Get involved.  Socials. Volunteerism. We go from the sunburn of summer to the burnout of busyness that fall brings.  A question nags, “Am I ever enough?” Arguably, women are more apt to wonder.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that  in 2014, 83% of women […]