20th Anniversary

Happy 20th Anniversary!
These photos are of our weddings in England & America.

They were 4 weeks apart both under a full moon.

In the last group of photos, there’s a picture of us today. 

For more on the English wedding, click here: Castles & Vows

Since my beloved father had passed away suddenly the previous year, my husband’s wonderful father walked me down the aisle in England and my father’s best friend, Prince Abdul Ali Seraj, walked me down the aisle in America. My sweet dog, Moussie, with his huge white bow led the way down the aisle!! And I love how Moussie’s standing next to me in the above picture!

For the story on this amazing dog, click here: Moussie

I had wonderful bridesmaids at the English wedding & the American wedding and, of course, the best maid-of-honor, my sister! Most bridesmaids flew back and forth. Look closely and you’ll see my sweet furbaby, Moussie, sitting on the grass with his big white bow in front of the blue dress!!! 

Then & now….photo from today. *Poof* ~ 20 years flew by!

I had my bouquet designed after my mother’s bouquet. I’ve gazed upon my mother’s wedding portrait since I was a baby. It was something to love and cherish and admire. She had natural stems and a huge red bow, biggest I’d ever seen. She cradled the bouquet in one arm. I brought a copy of her portrait to the florists in England & the States for both weddings.

The Bright Spot – Love. I love how my mother looks at my father devotedly. She adored him. He was her one and only and she’s lived these 21 years alone since he died but she keeps his memory alive always talking about him when we’re together. It’s sad and beautiful at the same time.

My husband and I have been through a lot these 20 years. Of course, I appreciate all the blessings of our wonderful family, especially my children, and the life Phillip and I have created together. 

But there have been many tragedies – 5 miscarriages, Phillip’s aggressive Stage 4 cancer (click: The Good, The Bad & The Spicy), loss of our company in the deep recession, other complete miseries throughout the years, and now the weird lightning bolt that took out our well pump the day before our 20th Anniversary costing us $3,700 wiping out our summer vacation fund for the vital rest Phillip needed since he missed vacation last year because of more cancer treatments.

So you can imagine how thoroughly touched I was when a friend through Facebook whom I’ve never met but mutually feel kinship toward for an assortment of reasons including the fact that she loves animals and is just simply amazingly kind, wrote this: 

Wow! Truly, Liz captured the essence of these two decades. Thank you, Liz, for your kindness toward us, animals and all whom you serve.

Positively Me!

The Positively Me program offered to 3rd grade girls to boost confidence, teach assertiveness & expression, and offer strategies to prevent bullying was positively fantastic!

Offered free by the Junior League of Greenwich, this intensive 2-day event encourages new friendships while the girls develop strength and resilience through skits & role playing, dance, journaling & thoughtful conversations about the painful consequences of bullying.

Why 3rd grade?

Unfortunately, bullying is starting earlier & earlier; it’s a topic Phillip & I have covered often over the past 15 Seasons on our parenting radio show “Let’s Talk!” currently on WGCH, formerly on WSTC & WNLK. (All shows are                           (All shows are archived on this site.)

One of our popular recurrent guests and parenting experts, Dr. Michelle Anthony, experienced something similar with her little 2nd grade daughter. That painful situation prompted her to co-author Little Girls Can Be Mean – 4 Steps to Bully-Proof Girls in the Early Grades.

Positively Me: only 4 sessions per year, 36 girls per session. The program has run for 5 years and waiting lists get longer year after year. It was marvelous to see the girls beaming each evening at pick-up, full of laughter and stories and joy.

They brought home beautiful button bracelets that matched button cards where each color represented something special, drawings/writings/self-portraits in their special journals, t-shirts with signatures of each participant, water bottles, sparkly feather pens, tote bags with the adorable Positively Me logo and mountains of coping skills to nip future snafus in the bud! 

The program taught them to take pride in themselves and their accomplishments; achieve great things; stand up for what they believe in and to be Positively Me!

The girls had a special visit from a martial arts Sensei (master) who had them write their greatest fear on a wooden board and then he taught each girl how to smash through that wood with their bare hands…breaking through their fear. That was a popular activity! Other events included a yoga class, pajama party and crafting dog toys to donate to Adopt-A-Dog.

It is no wonder this program continues to grow and expand.

The Bright SpotTM  – A poem – with permission from our 8-year-old - to share with you written in her Positively Me journal:

STAND STRONG:

LOVE is my Guardian

When Days like Today Get in my Way,

I’ll STAND STRONG!