In Honor of Jon
It has been two weeks since our colleague, next door neighbor, and good friend passed away. It is still difficult talking about Dr. Jon Masso in the past tense because his passing still somehow does not feel real to me….
Stories by Chari Kingsbury
Can You Hear Me Now?
How many of us remember the commercial for the major telecommunications company in the U.S. where the guy is pictured on his mobile phone in various settings, saying “Can you hear me now?” This past Sunday, we had a guest…
Home is Where the Heart is
Since childhood, I have always had some challenge trying to figure out where ‘home’ is. Oh sure, I knew where I reside, but when people talk of home in the sense of where your people are from, that place to…
The Best Gift
I think that most of us would agree that life has many challenges, but is also full of blessings and gifts, both great and small. Sometimes we can get stuck on looking at life’s challenges and problems and forget the…
Break Time
This month, I thought I would talk a bit about our trip to Scotland and my musings on the trip. It had been 6 years since we had had a real vacation. You know the kind…staying in hotels or bed and breakfasts…
So, How Does It Feel?
So, how does it feel? I get asked that a lot lately since my daughter’s (my last born’s) wedding. Did I cry? Did I dance for joy? How does it feel having the last one leave the nest? What’s it…
The Soda Ceremony
The Soda Ceremony Another fun tradition we discovered in this fascinating journey of our daughter marrying a Kenyan man is what I call the Soda Ceremony. The groom’s aunties are required to come for a visit, traditionally the night before…
Itara
“Am I losing my daughter or am I really gaining a son?” That is what was going through my head as I sat in the Itara meeting – a traditional meeting of the bride’s and groom’s families. It was a…
Ithege
I have been trying to capture my thoughts, impressions, lessons learned and emotions surrounding my daughter’s marriage to a Kenyan man. This is quite the rollercoaster ride in cross cultural experiences…scary and thrilling at the same time! It all began…
The Empty Nest
We got to witness the whole drama, from beginning to end. It began when we noticed the pair of sparrows building their nest just outside our living room picture window. My thought was “How fun this is going to be!”,…