Reading

I am now in the middle of the second book my sister referred called, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I am loving it thus far. Its a story about a girl who has cancer. She has a sarcastic & sassy tone when she talks about being more than just a girl with cancer and joking about how that's pretty much the only thing she is referred to as. She dates this guy who also had cancer and because of it he has to drive with his left leg so he speeds and skids out all over the road which makes the story utterly hilarious with those little touches of bliss. Furthermore, you really feel like you're a fly on the wall with the way the novel is written. I'm excited about reading the rest of it! I talked to my sister about it and she was like, "You're not going to believe what happens at the end its so unexpected." So now I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of the story will tell. Plus I've already jotted down several quotations and that's always the best when books have good quotations. : )

Suzie

"Underwater Montage"

Read So Hard

Lull

I wake up to the quiet sound of rain pit pattering on the rooftop and turn on my computer to do one of my very favorite things... write. There is a deep gratitude in my heart for having the opportunity to do something I love so much, but somewhere inside I know the thankfulness is stemming from somewhere much more profound. I feel the dampness of my undershirt from my sweat and I wonder if it shows on the color. I go to change it so I can stay warm and dry, but when I reach for my other one I fall off my bed. This helps me to laugh at myself when laughter seems somewhat distant.
This morning I feel stronger than  yesterday, remembering how I felt as I continued silently mourning a friend who recently passed away in his sleep. All the way to work I contemplated how I'd get through the day without breaking down into tears but somehow I managed. As soon as I set foot in the classroom, he was the first one I saw. The little boy who is almost a spitting image of my friend came to talk to me briefly about his back pack, but in my heart I knew he was drawn to me to comfort that part of pain in my soul. My eyes smiled and as the smile transferred to my lips I memorized his return smile to store in my memory bank forever.
I remember where we are in my Dad's story and I understand its only the beginning. When he arrived in America, he was given new life, a fresh start. He went to language school to study and learn how to communicate effectively with others while he experienced tremendous growth in various ways. His family remained in the place they called home while he embarked on a new adventure to follow his dreams. It was a time of immense freedom for him, but freedom does not usually come for free. Freedom comes from some sort of dissolution of old, bearing new life.
Suzie Sateri

Thirds

Tea for Two

 

T 4 2

Grammy

"Your Grandma was in the Royal Canadian Air Force, served during WW2 and went to Colorado to work in a TB hospital where she met your Grandfather,whose brother was a patient of hers...small world."

Good Good Life

Liberty

"You almost needed to be some sort of a super genius to pass the entrance exams in Iran to go to the Universities there." my Dad commented when I asked him about the reasons he wanted to come to America. He and his friends wanted an education. He was accepted into the University of Jacksonville, Florida but decided to come to California at the last minute when he heard his two friends would be here. He changed his plane ticket from Florida to Los Angeles and when he arrived, the lady at customs welcomed him in. Iranians were well respected here at the time.
On the American soil he planted himself on that day, my Dad stands in the kitchen, squeezing lemons into lemonade while he continues telling me his story. Mak walks in the kitchen looking for lined paper and my thoughts run away, down lines of our genealogy. Domi sits in the dining room, studying for her English Language School on the computer and asks me if I will review a paper for her later. I think about her trip from Italy and am able to catch short glimpses of the lifestyle my Dad had in the stories he was telling. 
"English is a very difficult language to learn." I say to my students as they are learning multiple meanings for the same word in class. I look around at each one of their small faces and am grateful for them for the opportunities they have been blessed with and don't even know it yet. I open the book for "Open Court" reading where each student takes turns reading aloud. We read about the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. I start sweating with excitement and finally take off the huge coat I'd been wearing all day while I got up to explain what we read after every few paragraphs.
What is liberty?

Suzie

Good Morning