About a year ago, in the car, Emma mentioned that she had mispronounced a classmate’s name that morning and the girl had become quite angry. I responded that I was surprised she was not more forgiving. “After all, in this area there are so many unusual names. It’s not like everyone is named Bill or Sally.” Suddenly, from the back …
Just Who Do You Belong To?
Living in a multicultural family leads to some funny moments. While John and I were both gone this weekend—a rare occurrence—Emma had to drive down and play chauffeur. Early Saturday morning, she took MC an hour away to a softball doubleheader. A few hours later, she and her boyfriend, who is first-generation Vietnamese, dropped JT off at a TKD demo, went back …
Circle of Friends?
My daughter started college this week. Last week was orientation. One day they gathered the 435 freshmen, arranged them in a circle, and drilled into them that this was their new “community.” A “diversity expert” asked them quite personal questions and they were to step inside the circle if the questions were true for them. Questions like, “Were you abused …
What Happened to Kindness?
When a city of powerful people loses power, and is basically powerless to do anything about it, it’s not pretty. If a natural mega-disaster ever hits the greater Washington DC area, it will not be the event itself that destroys the city. It will be the lack of kindness, compassion and basic care for one another that does it. The …
Highway to Heaven
It took me a little longer to pick up my mom and get to church last Sunday. Between her house and the church is a Cambodian Buddhist Temple, one of the largest outside Cambodia, I’m told. Last Sunday marked Cambodian New Year, and literally hundreds of cars were parked in the temple complex, the lot next to it, and up …
Do You Have the Right Face?
A couple weeks ago we picked up a little girl, a second grader, to take to a kids’ program at our church. I had all four of mine with me, and we went to Wendy’s to eat. They laughed and chatted about all kinds of things. As we gathered up our trash, she asked my oldest, “Why are you different?” …
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