I made these garlic Parmesan cruffins—supposedly a cross between a croissant and a muffin. They were sinful and yummy.
Today would have been my dad's one hundredth birthday. I am overwhelmed by that realization, which came to me just now as I did the math. I cannot speak to it at all, except to say he's been gone 27 years, and I miss him with my whole heart.
I spent another afternoon wedding dress shopping with my girl. What a joyful time that was. My beautiful daughter looked radiant in everything, but one garment in particular stole the show.
Here is a poem a friend shared. I appreciate the people who post with fire in their bellies and searing truth in their words. They educate me. In this wrenching, fragile moment, we can’t look away.
Before I Was a Gazan
I was a boy
and my homework was missing,
paper with numbers on it,
stacked and lined,
I was looking for my piece of paper,
proud of this plus that, then multiplied,
not remembering if I had left it
on the table after showing to my uncle
or the shelf after combing my hair
but it was still somewhere
and I was going to find it and turn it in,
make my teacher happy,
make her say my name to the whole class,
before everything got subtracted
in a minute
even my uncle
even my teacher
even the best math student and his baby sister
who couldn't talk yet.
And now I would do anything
for a problem I could solve.
Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952
I've never heard of a cruffin but I would definitely eat one of those.
ReplyDeleteI literally have no words about the Middle East. I am completely at a loss.
My mother would have celebrated her 100th birthday on September 1, 2024. She died aged 48 in 1973. My siblings and I are travelling to Dublin to commemorate her . She is still loved and missed
ReplyDeleteSiobhan xoxo
The cruffin looks delcious! That's such a special time to spend with your beautiful daughter to find the perfect wedding dress!
ReplyDeleteThese are my thoughts on Gaza. For seventy years Israel, brought to life by the British by the Balfour Declaration ( a solution imposed on a foreign country), has kept Palestinians in a kind of ghetto. Hamas was elected in 2006 in Gaza and then went on to turn Gaza into a dictatorship. Gazans are not free and pay a heavy price to Hamas (somebody has to pay for their beachfront property through taxes) and Israel.
ReplyDeleteGaza has twice as many people, living in an area half the size of Edmonton. Unemployment is at 46%. Half the people are under 18 years old. Hamas did not want Saudi and Israel to normalize relations and attacked Israel in a way that could not be ignored. The people of Gaza are not Hamas, yet they are the ones paying the price for their dictator's actions. Children are dying. The truth died awhile ago and all we can see in the future is just more trauma, grief and anger for people. And that pisses me off because we know better and when we know better, we should do better.
We hear you. Being silent does not necessarily equate with being complicit. I pray in silence because my conversations with God are not for show—are not to be heard by men. As a child I was taught “. . . when you pray, enter into the silence and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will . . .”
DeletePraying out loud with others is powerful, too. When many pray together for the same thing, the power is increased—as one voice. (Let the sound of your praise be heard.) This isn’t the same as hundreds “reciting” the Lord’s Prayer. We must pray with all the energy of our hearts, yes?” Recitation does nothing.
I pray for Palestine and Israel, and everyone who makes up their populations. They are our brothers and sisters—our neighbors and co-workers . . . They are us. And if we don’t know what to pray for, we must ask that God’s will be done. I cannot imagine Him wanting to see His children slaughtered over an earth He gave to everyone.
Amen.
Your cruffins look delicious. Are they hard to make? Shopping with your daughter and finding the ideal wedding dress makes for a great day. She's going to be a beautiful bride. War guarantees bloodshed and that is what we see. Innocent lives lost on all sides. Leadership has failed and led to war.
ReplyDeletethat cruffin.....oh my! Silence (to me) does not mean apathy or complicity........ YOU are absorbing and pondering as much as you can... it doesn't always need to be shared (IMO). I *hear* you loud and clear on all fronts!
ReplyDeleteSusan M/ Calif.
Those look delicious! Congratulations on the upcoming wedding and I hope you'll share a photo of the dress.
ReplyDeleteI saw that picture and immediately I was ooo, what are those. they look yummy.
ReplyDeletevery poignant poem. I mostly stay silent about what is going on over there as my particular opinion is not very popular. it's all so cruel and stupid.
I know your daughter will be such a beautiful bride and it sounds like such fun shopping with her for a dress.
ReplyDeleteI'm so saddened by the troubles in the world these days. And can only hope for peace.
Yum! And, yes, I compute my parents' ages from time to time. I am older now than my mother ever was, and rapidly approaching my father's final age. However, my grandmother was well over ninety. So good to have a marker that far away.
ReplyDelete