 Tea brings everyone together! Chris and I with our new friends Gabriella and Leo. I had one particular mission to accomplish when I was in Lisboa, and that was to go to a tea store and buy Portuguese tea. In particular, I wanted to get my hands on Gorreana tea, which is the oldest, and currently only plantation that grows tea in Europe--tea from the Azores. Actually, it grows on a Portuguese island by the name of, São Miguel, which sits in the Atlantic.
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 I finally watched the new live action version of Beauty and the Beast, and as an original fan, I found it as magical and moving as ever. It surprised me that I could still be so moved by this “silly” fairytale that captured my six year old imagination, and I even felt a little silly admitting that. However, as I watched it, I thought about all the ways this story possibly influenced my life—my love for books and fancy libraries, pretty gowns and dresses, exploring castles, adventure, curiosity, fearlessness in the face of monsters (or adversity). I also thought about how apparently some folks were offended by Le Fou being gay, and boycotted the film. First of all, who cares. Secondly, if you’re really worried about your child being exposed to homosexuality in this film, well, I highly doubt they will notice it. I had no clue as a kid and didn’t care. All I saw was a funny, short side-kick, and all I cared about was the singing and dancing.
 I recently had tea with my grandmother, and I love talking to her and discovering who this woman is beyond being my grandma. She was born under Japanese occupation in Taiwan, and was barely four years old when Japan initiated WWII in the Pacific after invading China. Her war stories have always fascinated me, because I couldn't understand why so many of her generation felt so close to Japan, and why they didn't hold any animosity against Japan. They were forced to speak Japanese, Japan exploited Taiwanese resources, and hindered their freedoms. Yet, Japan and Japanese culture is deeply rooted and entangled in this generation's own culture. My childhood is filled with memories of her singing Japanese songs and karaoke.
 The face I made when the cake came out, because it was not at all what I had envisioned and asked for. However, it tasted like heaven so I didn't care. My husband and I got married three times. I hadn't envisioned it that way, but that's just the way it worked out. You see, my husband is from France where they actually observe separation of church and state, and so we were required to have a civil ceremony before we could be married in the church. So we had a little courthouse wedding first, then we had a beautiful church ceremony in France, and then to accommodate the large number of my friends and family who could not go to France, we had another magical one in LA at our church.
 At 28 years old, I learned how to ski for the first time. It was great, until it was disastrous, and then it was great again. Despite my husband being a former competitive skiier, I decided to take proper lessons. The lessons went great. My teacher kept saying "athlete position" and I squatted, engaging my glutes and my quads, like nobody's business and felt like a boss. When I figured out how to stop, I felt ready to graduate from the bunny slopes to the..."hare" slope. I wasn't ready for anything crazy, but something a little more challenging. This one was actually called "Little Thunder," but it was not so little.
 I heard that Archbishop Jose Gomez, the archbishop of the Los Angeles diocese was passed up for Cardinal by Pope Francis, because Pope Francis wanted to bring up some of the "smaller" guys. It would have been easy to appoint Archbishop Jose Gomez, because he runs the largest diocese in the United States, which naturally means having great influence. However, Pope Francis decided to show everyone that the guys covering small diocese, the ones who may go unnoticed, are just as important. You can never forget the "little" people, because they too make up our community.
 Someone once asked Pope Francis, "Who is Pope Francis?" That person wanted to know who is our pope, who is the man beneath the white robe. After a brief pause, Pope Francis responded simply, "A sinner."
 I don't think trauma ever goes away, nor would I necessarily want it to, because it has shaped a huge part of who I am today. How trauma is handled is really the key. Along with taking care of yourself, choosing happiness, and finding forgiveness, I have learned that one of the most powerful things you can do in the face (or aftermath) of trauma, is to show the causer of trauma compassion.  Dear Justine,
Looking back, I realized that I was a very lost and confused teenager. At times I might have thought I knew who I was, but there's who you are, who you think you are, who you strive to be, and then who you strive not to be, hope not to be, do everything possible not to be but sometimes still end up being. |
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