He’s been rocking a fever (up to 103.5 super early this morning/late last night) for a good 12 hours. Was awake from 10:45pm-2:45am. Fighting a fever and something viral. Plus, the way he is going at his gums, we know he is teething. Yet. Sleepless. Infected. In pain. And this is how he acts at 2am. I love this kid.
And #iamgrateful and #iamthankful for the flexibility to just spend time with him on days like today. Lucky me.
Folks! Looking for recommendations for a great hotel to stay in Cancun. Kids free. In December. My post from a couple days ago highlighted that people like to answer questions and give advice/recs on FB more than just about anything else. Don’t let me down!
This…is literally all that matters in the world. We look at all the insanity out there and we just try our darnedest to make sense of it. And we can’t. And the problem is…it’s all layers of artifice. Opinions stacked upon interpretations stacked upon assumptions stacked upon baggage.
Which is why life gets hard.
You know when life gets easy?
When you watch this video. And you see Anaiya express just precisely how she feels about one of the most important people in her life. One of the two people who her brother was named after. It’s just pure love.
And it brings out the best in my family and it turns my Dad, one of the purest and sincerest people, the person I know whose heart is most always on his sleeve, the person we know who is unfamiliar, downright allergic to formality and artifice…it brings out the best in him and the happiest in him. We were happy to be there for it. Jaan made it pretty far. But on the eve of Dad’s Birthday, Anaiya hung out quite late and is about to make her way to bed.Guess who she is sleeping with?Dadaji and Dadaji.Game, set, match. On love and life.#iamgrateful and #iathankful for all of it.
Get in on Mom C. Anyone who knows me worth a lick knows that my mom is responsible for (any of the modest) good I have done. Not only am I grateful or thankful to her, I am eternally humbled and indebted.
My mom is the world. And I am blessed because my extraordinary wife Priya KC Bhatt sees it and benefits from it too. But one person blesses me on the next level. My “mother-in-law”. Drop the in-law. She’s Mom.
She is a blessing. She is a Nani for the ages. She is a mom who made my wife so incredible. And gave these kids an amazing Mamu in Deepal Chadha. Undeniably through the amazing partnership with Daljit Chadha.
She is a second mom to one of the most special people in my life, my sis Anu Kiran. But also my sisters geographically removed who ALL love and adore her (Sapna Bhuta McCarthy, Anuja Silady, Rakhee Bhatt, Chand Knee). She is an adorable, loving Aunty to everyone I know.
She is the heartbeat of our daily family life in a Edison: She is more than glue, she is fuel.
We have benefitted ungracefully from her love and generosity for 8 months as invaders of her home. All she has done is loved, embraces, helped, cooked, supported. CRUSHED.
Today she is on a flight to India. Where for one of the rarest moments in he life she gets to focus on herself. She goes to spend time with family.
I wish her all the lifetimes of happiness. She has earned all of it. The best compliment and twist to this story?
Brings the story back to my Mumma, Renu Bhatt. Who is happy because I have someone like you, Mom C, to call Mom, too. The person who raised me is the biggest fan of the person who raises us daily, now. She feels doses of bliss everyday knowing I was lucky enough to get you in this awesome package deal.
My Mumma, loves and appreciates my Mom. That’s some next level special love. It’s rare. And that’s my blessing. TBD because you were worth the wait. Mom C. Nani.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for you. Have an amazing trip. We will miss you. The photo is a result of what you make possible. We love you. But let’s be clear…I LOVE YOU.
I haven’t spent much time thinking about Barbie, though I am sure a time is coming. Yesterday I heard about this specifically on NPR while also hearing Ibtihaj’s interview. Worth the listen.
The fact that she’s a Duke grad is so many cherries on top. But honestly, a wonderful woman to be featured as a hero because of all she embodies and represents. #iamgrateful and #iamthankful to Mari Kuraishi for sharing this story in her feed as a reminder to me to pass it forward.
This … is amazing. Timing was perfect. I watched it a few times and just lost myself in it. I feel like I’m kind of lost in it now in less of a virtual way.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful to whoever the hell took the time to bring this to life in this way. And to Sid Shah for sharing it. I’m wiped.
‘Nuff said. Denver Central Market. A more intimate take on Reading Terminal or Chelsea Market.
I. Am. In. Heaven.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for this being around the corner from the spin class these guys decided to take this morning. I think I made the right call.
This is what this hotel did with my Smoked Salmon for breakfast.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for this tasteful scenery in front of some amazing scenery in advance of an awesome weekend ahead. The next two hours?
Sipping a Basil Hayden, hopping on stage for a few moments to share thoughts, and then off to Denver to celebrate Stephen Kelly turning 40 (finally, sheesh.)
Tuesday was a powerful step forward. Progress is never linear. It moves in progressive spirals but it always arcs forward. President Trump is part of how we move forward. Tuesday is part of it as well. But if we want to move the whole d@mn thing forward, not a political party but a populace and our people—we have to read and embrace more bleeding heartland.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for so much truth.And also to Julio R Dolorico who posted this quote today, that felt like it fit really well with unavoidable progress. Succinct and beautiful. Thanks Julio!“
You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” – Pablo Neruda
Very interesting read about happiness, the pursuit of a thing that you believe will bring happiness to you, and finally, knowing when to grit toward it vs to quit pursuing it.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for my first grit vs quit decision. Working exhaustively for a company when I was 25. Managing 4 people, 2 who were twice my age. And watching those two get laid off, cold heartedly. It’s when I learned that an employer/employee relationship is rarely bi-directional.
It’s when I committed to making sure I did my best to make it mutual with my bosses and with the people who worked for me. And I also made it a point to be in tune to grit vs quit. The people around us can unknowingly make it hard for us to find happiness. They have norms. When to get married. How long to work somewhere. What career choices are acceptable. How we raise our kids to believe.
The most important thing in the pursuit of happiness is to ignore someone else’s norms in pursuit of your best choices (while embracing the social contract.) When you make your decisions your choices you have freedom, and therefore, happiness.
I first learned this lesson academically while reading Viktor Frankl.
If you haven’t read Man’s Search for Meaning, you should. And if you want happiness, ignore what the world does to you and focus on how you respond to it. Truly our last freedom is how we respond to our circumstances. “everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances”.
Life is great folks. Just felt inspired to react to this article that came through a Google Alert this am. Also, per FB memories and unknowingly, I made a Frankl reference a year ago to this day in a Post. Weird!