Grocery shopping

I went grocery shopping this afternoon.  My store isn't far from my home.

It was warm enough for me to walk there today, so I went.

I was really tired by the time I got home, but exhilirated

because I now have fresh fruits and things I was out of.

International Women's Day

Since today is International Women's Day, it seems appropriate to share a book about women.

Women Make the Best Friends: A Celebration ~ by Lois Wyse, 1995, stories and poems, 189 pages, 8/10

In her heart of hearts every woman knows that men may come and go, but a true friend is forever.  At nine, nineteen, or ninety, the one constant that marks each stage in a woman's life is the importance of the friendships she has made.  In the best of times and in the worst of times, it is our friends who sustain us, cheer us, and see us through whatever surprises life throws our way.  (Edited, from the dust jacket.)  This book has short anecdotes, short poems, short 4-5 page pieces about conversations remembered.

Week in Review

• On Monday, I mused about a surrogate mother, HERE.
• On Tuesday, I wrote about people I meet in the Circle@Crown Café, HERE.
• My Book Beginning for Friday was from a book about Iran (which seems too topical, but is also why I picked up the book), HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Iran Awakening

Beginning

In the fall of 2000, nearly a decade after I began my legal practice defending victims of violence in the courts of Iran, I faced the ten most harrowing days of my entire career.  The work I typically handled — battered children, women hostage to abusive marriages, political prisoners — brought me into daily contact with human cruelty, but the case at hand involved menace of a different order.

Iran Awakening: One Woman's Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country ~ by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, 2007, memoir, xvi + 257 pages

Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work.

Known as the lawyer working tirelessly on behalf of Canadian photojournalist, Zahra Kazemi — raped, tortured, and murdered in Iran — Dr. Ebadi offers a vivid picture of the struggles of one woman against the system.  The book chronicles her childhood in a loving, untraditional family before the Revolution in 1979 that toppled the Shah, her marriage and her religious faith, as well as her life as a mother and lawyer battling an oppressive regime in the courts while bringing up her girls at home.

Outspoken and controversial, Shirin Ebadi is a fascinating women.  She rose quickly to become the first female judge in the country, but when the religious authorities declared women unfit to serve as judges, she was demoted to clerk in the courtroom she had once presided over.  She eventually fought her way back as a human rights lawyer, defending women and children in politically charged cases that most lawyers were afraid to represent.  She has been arrested and been the target of assassination, but through it all has spoken out with quiet bravery on behalf of the victims of injustice and discrimination and become a powerful voice for change, almost universally embraced as a hero.  Shirin Ebadi won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.  Her memoir is a gripping story and a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the political and religious upheaval in our world.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Two by two

When I eat in the Circle@Crown Cafe, either I've agreed to meet someone there or one or TWO people come over to talk to me.  Yesterday, a women sat down to talk with me, and a man stopped to talk us, though he never sat down.  Both are residents.  Today, a man who lives on my floor sat down to chat while I finished up my lunch.  It really is good to live in a place with so many friendly people.

Go ahead and borrow that book

The Surrogate Mother ~ by Freida McFadden, 2025, literary fiction, 320 pages

She was promised a miracle.  She got more than she bargained for.  Abby wants a baby more than anything.  But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future.  That is, until her personal assistant Monica makes a generous offer to serve as a surrogate.  It's an offer that will make all of Abby's dreams come true.  But soon, strange things start happening, and it turns out Monica isn't who she says she is.  The woman now carrying Abby's child has an unspeakable secret.  And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

My note:  Seeing this in the library, I had to have it, even though I have not yet finished the book I'm reading.  I went ahead and got it.  (Amazon calls this literary fiction, suspense thriller, and psychological thriller.  So which is it?)

March is Women's History Month

I am still slowly reading this book:

Separation of Church and Hate is making me think.  It is a rallying cry for anyone who is sick of people using religion as a way to hide their hate.  I blogged about it HERE.

Week in Review

• The subject I chose for TWOsday was games, HERE.
• My Wednesday word was "ubiquitous," HERE.
• On Thursday, I was thinking about Chinese proverbs, HERE.
• My Book Beginning for Friday was from More Than Words, HERE.
• On Saturday I reflected on a signifigant family anniversity, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Remembering a long-ago Saturday

The long-ago Saturday that is on my mind today was February 28, 1959.  Let's see, 2026 minus 1959 is 67 years ago.  That's the day I married.  I remember as we left the church, that car-loads of friends were lined up to follow us.  We got into our "getaway" car driven by a friend, but went straight through it to another friend's car going in the opposite direction.  Yep, we almost got away, except for those who happened to be parked going in that direction.  I no longer remember details, but I do remember divorcing him 14 years and three children later (also in February).  The three children, all married now, gave me seven grandchildren.  The first one made me a grandparent on grandparents day.  And now I have six GREAT-grandchildren).  This photo includes four generations (I'm wearing red):