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Erin E.'s avatar

That Glück poem...wow. You’ve written some really beautiful things in this post. I’ll need time to think. But this came to mind: I’m taking a class at the moment and on Thursday evenings there are only three of us and the professor. Our professor is from India. One week I brought an Indian inspired snack, and I gave him the rest to take home. He hasn’t yet returned the Tupperware; he told me in his culture one does not return an empty box, and he’s waiting until he has time to prepare something to give to me. I thought that was incredibly moving. I didn’t bring a gift of food expecting anything other than (hopefully) my classmates enjoying it. But knowing that he wants to give something in return removes some of the transactional nature of so many contemporary relationships.

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Natalia L.'s avatar

Your essay touched my heart. I picked it after going through the list of subscribers writing links at FDB blog.

I want to invite you over for a tea, or dinner or movie or all of the above with my family and friends. 😊

We always have big gatherings at our place, my friends bring their parents and kids. We are immigrants. We know the real taste of loneliness and isolation… Also, we are Russian immigrants. We have a painful historic memory embedded in our souls of the destructiveness of any holly struggle “to-make-the-world-a-better-place.”

Sitting at the table together in a multigenerational setup is the only thing that matters… Do come over if you are nearby or ever visit Silicon Valley.

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