A family almost made me cry tonight — not because they did anything wrong or bad — but because of the love I saw they had for each other.
Most families tend to depress me when I observe them. The dynamics I see — between husband and wife, between parents and children — frequently range from shocking meanness to simple indifference. (I’m never sure which is worse.) Sometimes the man is a sullen bully. Sometimes the woman is a bitter complainer who’s eager to criticize everyone.
There are dozens of variations. The worst are the ones in which you can see confusion and fear in the faces of the younger children — and cynical copies of their parents in the older children.
I see so many families which are some version of this, where the ugly realities of choices they’ve made have left them resentful and hollow at best. They’re people who seem defeated by life — and who are determined to take out their frustrations on the people they live with. Because I see this so often, it makes me happy to see something which appears emotionally healthy and positive.
We never get enough of whatever lets us feel safe being ourselves
Is Obama playing politics with war on terror? Of course, just as Bush did
We can’t really change people, even if they offer us the control
We’re neither friends nor enemies, just strangers who share the past
‘This path leads to somewhere I think I can finally say, I’m home’
When love finally dies, it’s like a fever breaks and the pain is gone
Love & Hope — Episode 4:
Uh, oh: For first time since ’45, U.S. job growth was zero last month
The so-called ‘social contract’ is a sham to control you