Posts Tagged: friendship

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This is the story of how I got a new baby brother, 50 years late. Ever meet someone and immediately you know you’ve made a connection?  There’s chemistry, some say.  Others claim it’s finding something in common that binds you. I don’t claim to understand. All I know for sure is that as I sat… more »
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  “Why did you do all this for me?” he asked. “I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.”   “You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing.” ― E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web   That sweet comment from Charlotte, speaking to Wilbur in E.B. White’s classic, Charlotte’s Web,… more »
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  For the next few weeks (or months) I’ll be popping in on Fridays with a Deleted Scene from my memoir, At Home on the Kazakh Steppe. Let’s call them the “lost deleted scenes.” As I put together my new ebook of Deleted Scenes from my blog, I’m finding ones that never got blogged.  So, Fridays will… more »
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  Here’s another of my many Deleted Scenes (they are growing weekly, as I continue to fine tune my manuscript).  This one features two of my colleagues, Gulzhahan and Gulzhan.  Their names are so similar, my readers often get confused. Gulzhahan’s name has three syllables and is of Persian origin; she was my counterpart. Gulzhan’s… more »
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“Wherever we go,” I’d declared to Woody at the start of our Peace Corps application process, “I want a nice beach, friendly bugs, and a good mattress.” I figured I could make friends for America without having to suffer.     “Friendly bugs” would be the only one of the three I got as houseflies… more »
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Featured image for Conquering Homophobia Through Vegetarianism - Image Source at https://i1.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/My-Teachers-and-I.jpg?fit=300%2C164&ssl=1
    This deleted scene is one of my favorites. It highlights the lighthearted relationship I had with my four closest colleagues and friends: Gulzhahan, Assem, Gulzhan, and Tolganay. Here we are at Tolganay’s apartment for dinner in early June. I would leave Kazakhstan in just two days. Each time I read it, it not… more »
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