By Nancy Chuda Co-founder of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World.
Recently, Jim and I payed a visit to Michael and Karin Cronan in Oakland California. After a great meal and three hours of delightful conversation, Michael handed us a gift.
It came wrapped in a magnificent cardboard envelope, a serious Cronan design. We opened the meticulously wrapped present to find white linen paper with an embossed design, one that only Michael could have conceived. On the design, the letters “SHARE.” were placed in the center of the most magnificent art work.
In the giving spirit the Cronan’s have brought to the world, through their genius work in branding names like Kindle, Tivo, and now Healthy Child Healthy World, we are the proud recipients of yet another one of their inspirational ideas. SHARE.
We’ve been honored to SHARE. With the birth of LuxEcoLiving and for all of our dedicated fans and followers, we want to wish you and your family the very best of health for the coming year.
We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was a vintage theme. I set the table using inherited Rose Elegance English Translucent China by Royal Doulton, some which I had purchased in 1971 from Thomas Goode and Company, London England. Over the years, hairline cracks and chips would appear on some of the cups and saucers but I would regard those imperfections, not as flaws, rather great memories gone by.
The table look beautiful. The place mats were old Irish Lace, also hand-me-downs. And the salad plates were Carnival Glass carved with tiny rosettes. The napkins and ring holders were old Irish linen and quartz.
The Gershman family comprised of Dr.’s George and Irina, their daughter Zhenya and her husband Dr. Evan Pepper arrived with Irina’s 94 year old mother, Bubba who held the tiny hand of her great grandaughter Nikka. The legacy of their family is world reknown. Bubba’s husband, wrote the famous song “Moscow Nights,” which to this day is considered a national anthem in Russia. Zhenya Gershman Pepper, is an amazing artist and a full time educator at the J. Paul Getty Museum where she is a Project Specialist for Adult Gallery Programs. Due to their generosity, we were fortunate enough to SHARE. our festive meal with our Russian friends, who shared their greatest gift: Nikka.
Nikka held court and waved her magic wand demanding we pay attention to her every desire. It was so funny to watch 7 grown-ups sitting upright like soldiers in a mess hall waiting for her next command. Nikka has great musical taste for a three year old. She demanded I play Norwegian Wood by the Beatles then as we were all about to enjoy a meal which took t
hree days to prepare, she left her seat at the table, jumped up and down and started to dance. (However, she did love my wild organic mushroom soup.)
We, tried not to notice the distraction and ate like The Pilgrims , helping ourselves to seconds and thirds. Spooning yams, cranberries, brussel sprouts, and turkey, both dark and white. The sublime gravy was extruded from the Mary’s Free Range Organic Tom Turkey
Several days have passed since the pounds have found their fleshy knolls, places within my body used for safe storage- where poundage becomes baggage, an extra lot for hips, buttocks and thighs and an excuse for calcium to work harder to find bone.
With the delight of “happiness,” a resounding emotion that comes only through the expressions of guests who bless the table, the wine, the plates but better than that the company of mankind celebrating time.
The passage of time and the telling of how it moves so fast while the young child waves her magic wand again and again to remind us, that life does go faster with age and time is best spent focusing attention on the demands of a child, who is there to remind us, what we had, still want, and for some, what we missed.
The blessings in my life, for which I am grateful, are the friends I have and the family I call my own.
