Finest Post Nominations - May 2024

Snippet by @Viswamitra - Joining The Mainstream
The snippet reminded me of my favorite philanthropist - Melinda French Gates. Her book, The Moment of Lift, shows how well-organized, methodical and purpose-driven she is about her philanthropy. I highly recommend this 2019 book. And more recently, she separated herself from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to pursue philanthropy as she wants to.

I liked how she clearly said in her statement:

"Under the terms of my agreement with Bill, in leaving the foundation, I will have an additional $12.5 billion to commit to my work on behalf of women and families. I’ll be sharing more about what that will look like in the near future."
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I look forward to reading and following her philanthropic work. We need more people to step forward like her with goal-oriented and meticulous dedication to philanthropy.

 

Just saw this. Made me smile. Many of your words, observations, comments and style of commentary remind me of many dear relatives on my father's side. Maybe I should surprise some of them with a mid-week mid-day call.

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Thank you to all the for nominations and supporting the nominations. Great to see nominations and seconding from:
@iyerviji, @Thyagarajan, @gamma50g, @Thoughtful, @maalti, @rdheiva.

And though IPL 2024 may be over, the month of May is far from over. I spy with my little eye at least four more posts worthy of nomination, that I would nominate myself if possible. : )

 

The next two nominations are responses from a thread about the love, conflict, expectations and boundaries between a parent, adult child, and the child's spouse. A complex situation by any measure.

Response by @Viswamitra - My Mom Is Constantly Triggering Me
Broken trust is like a crumpled paper, never goes back to fully like new. But many chapters of life are written on far from perfect paper. Viswa's response highlights how trust can be re-established, how to provide conditions in which this trust flourishes, and how to firmly but kindly deal with advise from a well-meaning parent.

Response by @mangaii - My Mom Is Constantly Triggering Me
As always, a succinct observation from mangaii. A husband and wife might have differences and with time and effort their marriage gets back on track, they forgive each other. But, other people, such as parents of the husband or wife might not be so ready to forget the wrong done. Sometimes this happens with other well-wishers too such as close friends.

 

I usually group nominations into logical sets to write a more coherent response. Most of the time, my thoughts flow smoothly, and I in fact have to remind myself not to go on too long. But sometimes, as I read the nominated posts, I find myself needing to pause, gather my strength, and summon all my fortitude just to continue. In those moments, I have to take a deep breath and steady myself before I can respond. And, even then, thoughts don't fully convert to words. Much remains unwritten. That is the case for the next set of nominated posts which center around the longing for a departed parent.

 

Snippet by @gamma50g - Mom!!

I am glad you wrote this, @gamma50g. It is not easy to share something that remains so raw, though the years keep rolling by. I hope the responses helped you in some tiny ways. I think of your posts and threads often when I am driving.

 

Our dearest @iyerviji has nominated three responses from the Mom!!! thread.

Response by @Thyagarajan - Mom!!
Thank you Thyagu for your words, your posts, your reminiscences and for how you write, care about the wellbeing of ILites, and just thank you for being you.

Response by @Viswamitra - Mom!!
One of your very best, Viswa. The distinction between grieving with sadness and grieving as a way of showing love, as a way of missing presence -- this never occurred to me till I read your post. Each suggestion in the post brings peace even just by reading it, I can imagine it will bring more to anyone who practices it.

Response by @mangaii - Mom!!
I relate to mangaii's post so strongly that I need to consciously shake my head and snap out of it. It is just too uncanny. I have no words to appreciate its compassion, empathy, and practical insights.