Finding Things to Be Thankful for in a Very Strange Year
As Thanksgiving approaches this year, I am thankful for many things—and not only that I’ve finally learned to make a decent pie crust.
As Thanksgiving approaches this year, I am thankful for many things—and not only that I’ve finally learned to make a decent pie crust.
Abby Wambach, two-time Olympic soccer gold medalist and FIFA World Player of the Year (2012), who is also lesbian and (since her 2017 marriage to author Glennon Doyle Melton) a mom, gave the commencement speech at Barnard College earlier this month. It’s well worth watching for her advice and inspiration on life, career, community, and leadership.
Religion and LGBTQ people are often portrayed as oil and water—not surprising, given the religious motivation of many anti-LGBTQ bigots. One lesbian mom, however, has recently written of how her Christian faith gives her strength as a lesbian and a mother.
On Saturday, my son became a bar mitzvah, taking on the mantle of Jewish adulthood. I couldn’t be prouder—and I couldn’t be more thankful for the family and friends who came together to support him.
I’m about to be the mother of a teenager. A little event we’re having for the occasion on Saturday means I’m going to be too busy actually parenting to be writing about parenting for the next couple of days. Hope you understand.
My son finished elementary school this month, and while he seems to be approaching the idea of middle school with aplomb (or at least with the casual coolness of which 11-year-olds seem capable), I’m having a bad case of nostalgia right now. We’re at a family milestone, but I remind myself that such milestones are only the most prominent markers along a path full of signs and wonders.
Mondays can be rough, especially if you’re like me and not a morning person. I find it helps me to get moving, though, if I think about some of the things for which I’m grateful. Here’s today’s list, in no particular order.
Author, poet, performer, and lesbian mom Staceyann Chin spoke recently with Glennisha Morgan at HuffPo about her memoir of growing up in Jamaica; the intersection of poverty, homophobia, and race; her writing process; and her advice for prospective lesbian moms.
Tina Fakhrid-Deen writes at The Root of the struggles both she and her lesbian mother have faced and how they have helped each other through them. She offers this wonderful advice: Our job as mothers is to provide shoulders for our children to stand on and pray that they grow wings to outsoar us. The
When I asked my seven-year-old son what he thought I should write in my parenting column about Mother’s Day, he said, “Tell them that having two moms is just like having two people of any kind take care of you, except it’s more work on Mother’s Day.”