| was she thinking? I did not know. The one reason I conjured had to do with my tense dynamic with Mom since I’d returned to live with her. Our disputes were vociferous and constant. In fact, that very week, we’d had a doozy of a quarrel. I cannot recall what triggered the clash, probably because it wounded me so. Our strife must be spilling over into her treatment of Joan, I thought. Or maybe, after raising her own three children, Mom had understandably grown weary with caretaking. Whatever had prompted her strange behavior, I knew our arrangement had to end. I did not discuss this with my mother, nor did I ask for her opinion. I simply made a grown-up decision, one markedly absent of her input: I would secure my baby’s care. I didn’t know how I would do so, but I was convinced that I must. The next morning, I began researching boarding schools. With the fifty- and sixty-hour workweeks I was clocking, I knew I could not be there for my daughter in the way that I wanted, the way countless working mothers long to be. And yet if I was going to partner with others in caring for Joan, I had to be sure I could trust the palms I placed her in. When you don’t know what to do, you do what you know—and all of my life, I’d been taught to trust those guided by the same God who led me. That is |
glasses of water. People think this water business is a joke, but I’m here to tell you that it’s not. I’ve known two elderly people who died of dehydration, one of whom fell from his bed in the middle of the night and couldn’t stand up because he was so parched. Following my water, I drink eight ounces of fresh celery juice, blended in my Vitamix. The juice cleanses the system and reduces inflammation. My biggest meal is my first one: oatmeal. I soak my oats overnight so that when I get up, all I have to do is turn on the burner. Sometimes I enjoy them with warm almond milk. Other times, I add grated almonds and berries, put the mixture in my tumbler, and shake it until it’s so smooth I can drink it. In any form, oats do the heart good. Throughout the day, I eat sweet potatoes (which are filled with fiber), beets (sprinkled with a little olive oil), and vegetables of every variety. I also still enjoy plenty of salad, though I stopped adding so many carrots. Too much sugar. But I will do celery, cucumbers, seaweed grass, and other greens. God’s fresh bounty doesn’t need a lot of dressing up, which is why I usually eat my salad plain. From time to time, I do drizzle it with garlic oil. I love the taste. I also love lychee nuts. I put them in the freezer so that when I bite into them, cold juice |
