History on Repeat

Seeing my mom in myself

From the archives: A portrait of me and my mom in a field of yellow flowers

Dear Friends,

When I was in high school, my English teacher told us we become one parent and marry the other. I don’t know if she meant it as a prophecy or a curse, but the words stuck with me.

Now that I’m a parent, I see that—as is the case with so many declarations—it’s not true or false. The truth lies somewhere inbetween. I am very much my own person, but I also see a little bit of my mom and my dad in me (and a little of my parents in Rama).

Just this week, I caught myself doing things I vividly remember my mom doing and I couldn’t help but smile:

• Counting gray hairs (I don’t mind my salt & pepper locks, but I’m still not used to the silvery eyebrow hairs)

• Noticing little messes on the floor that nobody else does

• Adding black pepper to my food before I even taste it

• Worrying about what other people think when they come to our house

• Making time for making tsismis (a.k.a. hot goss) with my girlfriends

Once in a while, my mom will compare herself to her mother, and laugh at the ways that they are alike, too.

I see the humor that history repeats itself, but I also feel some comfort in it. Someone has been here before. I will live through this too. And someday my children will likely catch glimpses of their own parents as they age and, hopefully, smile at themselves too.

xo Christine

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Good Things

• A woman abruptly pulled her car over to watch a family of ducks waddle by

• Watching my niece present a touching and impressive Bat Mitzvah teaching

• The satisfaction of a slightly reorganized cabinet

• An Indiana Jones matinee with Henry

• The way Maira gracefully shows up for her social commitments

• Picking up Rama from the airport always feels like the early days of dating

• No lines at the post office

• Leftover enchiladas

• Air fried Japanese sweet potatoes

• Finishing all my work so I can enjoy the long weekend

Perfectly red tote designed by Amanda Jane Jones to pair with the book she and Jennifer Fernandez wrote together

Good Reads

I’m consuming two memoirs this week: Ina Garten’s Be Ready When the Luck Happens and Gemma Correll’s Anxietyland. They are very different books about the lives of equally gutsy, creative, and inspiring women. I’m not done with Ina Garten’s book yet, but I am confident to recommend both.

Good Quote

Good Deed of the Day

Give someone your full attention.