Chinese Dinner with "Non-Jet Service" Friends

We met with a couple we have known for many years for dinner Friday evening. There is a long story about an encounter we had while flying to Maine in June 2000. Let's just say the plane ride was less than successful. We rented a car and drove the final seven hours into Maine - very cool and fun to be in a car with these people. I can't believe that seven years have passed. It was SG's birthday during that Maine trip - and he just celebrated one this year - Happy Birthday!

This couple adopted a young girl about six years ago. She is now a beautiful teenager and will be entering 10th grade. What a success story for a domestic/local adoption and their stories of the challenges encountered. They are an inspiration and we know they will share with us their parenting lessons learned. The photo is of our DH's.
She (BG) gave us these words of wisdom (better than anything in our fortune cookies) "Parenting is like wallpapering, when you're done, you know how to do it". How true!!

She also recommended the book, Nectar in a Sieve that has many messages for a young reader (and us adults). About relationships, values and poverty, it was on their daughters summer reading list.


Here's the review.

Nectar in a Sieve is Kamala Markandaya's first novel to be published, although it is actually the third novel she wrote. It became a best-seller around the world and was translated into seventeen languages. In 1955, it was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association.
The novel was published in 1954, less than a decade after India won its independence from Britain. Nectar in a Sieve is clearly influenced by this event, portraying some of the problems encountered by the Indian people as they dealt with the changing times. Markandaya never mentions a specific time or place, however, which gives the story universality. Some of the struggles that the main character, Rukmani, faces are the result of the changing times, but they are the kinds of struggles (poverty, death, loss of tradition) that are experienced by many people for many reasons.
Far beyond its political context, the novel is appealing to modern readers for its sensitive and moving portrayal of the strength of a woman struggling with forces beyond her control. It is a story about the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of values.