Vigilant Silver Fox

Since I could speak the word "baranek" (lamb) it was part of my Easter vocabulary. As I mentioned before I grew up in a Polish family. The Easter lamb is a eastern European religious symbol. It represents Jesus as the sacrificed Paschal lamb.  Christians traditionally refer to Jesus as "the Lamb of God. " The Easter lamb, draped with the flag of victory, may be seen in pictures and images in the homes of every central and eastern European family, during the Easter season.

My grandmother owned a genuine Polish Bakery. Easter was the biggest holiday of the year. As soon as you were considered "capable" you were enlisted in the preparation of the "baraneks" for Easter. These pound cakes made from lamb-shaped molds were baked mounted on iced and green-dyed coconut rectangle cardboard. The beginners working on this family tradition made the bows, placed the raisins for the lambs eyes and noses, and placed the flag of resurrection into the cake.


The rea…

"My greatest hope is that my son and my daughter will be able to choose what to do with their lives without external or internal obstacles slowing them down or making them question their choices. If my son wants to do the important work of raising children full-time, I hope he is respected and supported. And if my daughter wants to work full-time outside her home, I hope she is respected and supported, but also liked for her achievements." ( Sheryl Sandberg Lean In) 

WOW! Talk about a conversation opener! If you want to rock the discussion in a book group, choose Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. If you have ever thought "women have lost ground in the equality fight," read this book.  It will stir some latent feminist feelings whether they are pro or con.

It is about women leaning in at any age and possibly at any economic level. It is written by the newest generation of executive woman. Sheryl Sandberg speaks about finding your career path with your foot on the gas peda…

So, it's St. Patrick's Weekend. It is a great time to celebrate with our friends of Irish heritage. There will be parades, green beer, Irish soda bread, and of course, cabbage and corned beef piled up like Thanksgiving turkeys in the local grocery stores. It amazes me how we love to celebrate. No one celebrated St. Patrick's Day more than my family.

No, we are not born of Irish heritage, quite the contrary. We were Polish, but we celebrated as though it was a high holiday along with our Irish neighbors. We still celebrate it because my dad was born on St. Patrick's day. He felt that it was lucky to be born on this day. Some would look at his life and think that this man had a hard life. If he were alive today, he would say,"I'm the richest man in the world. I have a wife who loves me. She is a great cook and baker.  I have six children, twelve grandchildren, and ten great-great grandchildren."

I could fill pages about my dad, but the best story is about t…

When my daughter was born, my destiny as her mother was determined by my history as a woman. Growing up with strong, determined women, my first response to this tiny infant was to tell her that "You are a part of a legacy of extraordinary women. I will help you understand that you are capable of doing all that you want to do. You can try to seek knowledge, travel to understand, and know that different is not bad, but just different." Of course, I wasn't alone on this journey. My husband and two sons were part of the team that allowed this girl to understand she "can."

A year or so after she was born, I crammed into a tiny strip mall outside a bookstore on a Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City to hear Gloria Steinem speak.  My friend and I came early, but the crowd just kept growing and growing until it poured outside onto the parking lot. The crowd was greater than the owner of the bookstore ever anticipated. The crowd was electric with anticipation. The power o…