Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can't even describe, aren't even aware of.
Ellen GoodmanRead
This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it's the family stories that are worth the storage.
Interpretation
Family stories and personal connections are more valuable than material possessions.
Ellen Goodman's quote emphasizes the importance of personal connections and family stories over material wealth. It suggests that what truly matters is the love we shared and the legacy we leave behind through our experiences and relationships, rather than the physical items we accumulate throughout our lives.
In practice
During a family gathering, one could share this quote to emphasize the importance of storytelling among relatives.
Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can't even describe, aren't even aware of.
The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears.
Parents remain our touchstones, fellow travelers, even after death. They are both missing and present.
What do I want to take home from my summer vacation? Time. The wonderful luxury of being at rest. The days when you shut down the mental machinery that keeps life on track and let life simply wander. The days when you stop planning, analyzing, thinking and just are. Summer is my period of grace.
My father used to say that if a man fools you once, he's a jerk. If he fools you twice, you're a jerk. Only he didn't use the word "jerk."
There's a trick to the Graceful Exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over - and to let go. It means leaving what's over without denying its validity or its past importance in our lives.
It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents.
One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.
A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone.
When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out.
Perhaps the best function of parenthood is to teach the young creature to love with safety, so that it may be able to venture unafraid when later emotion comes; the thwarting of the instinct to love is the root of all sorrow and not sex only but divinity itself is insulted when it is repressed. To disapprove, to condemn the human soul shrivels under barren righteousness.
Family home evening is more for the purpose of teaching values and gospel principles, displaying talents and enjoying different kinds of family fun and activities.
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