Family Peace

Family is the people you’re born with. There are those for whom this is a bitter regret. Some are very lucky. And most of us get along.

Family is also people you choose. Hopefully our birth experience, whether good or bad, leads us to good choices in those we choose to love.

Love is an incredible gift to offer and to receive.

Families these days look different from families 20 years ago. Our faces are not all mirror images of each other. What we have that allows others to see our lineage is our smiles and our actions.

It’s a wonderful thing, isn’t it. Families, Peace. Let’s make the best of them!

Father: Dead or Alive?

Dear Bartender and Priestess,

I am concerned about my 80 year old father. He’s a widower, and the last of his siblings. When he was younger he was a force to be reckoned with—one of those strong, confident Mad Men sort of businessmen—but he’s been retired for a while, and has lost touch with a lot of his old contacts thanks to time or their passing. He doesn’t go out much, and so he doesn’t really take care of himself. He never shaves, he has crazy-man hair, his clothes don’t fit and he’s got dirt caked under his fingernails. I feel like he’s just not concerned about his appearance any more. Continue reading