More ice cream

OK, so there is a lot of wisdom we can glean from our elders, but I guess right now, in the dog days of summer, my favorite has to be this one. In recording my aunt's memories of her mother in her final days, Martha, pictured left, recounted this "regret" that my grandmother voiced. "If I had to do it over again, I would have eaten more ice cream and fewer potatoes."
So go ahead, life is uncertain...eat dessert first. Grandma recommends it!

Ellis Island Heritage Award and "The Boss"

My lifetime crush Bruce Springsteen was recently awarded the Ellis Island Family Heritage Award for his "major contribution to the American experience." In accepting the award he repeated the often said "You can't really know who you are...unless you know where you came from". (His great grandmother arrived at Ellis Island from Italy with 5 kids in 1900.)
It reminded me to stop procrastinating and thinking I could "do it later". So I booked that flight and am off to California to see and record my 84 year old aunt, who has lived a life so different from my own. I need to learn her story of a life on a cattle ranch, raising 2 wonderful daughters, her struggles with MS, and hopefully ...maybe... a bit more about her sister, my birth mother.
So think about where you really want to go on your vacation this year. It might be best spent making connections with your past.
It may help you know where you are going.