Fresh Living

Fresh Living

An Adoptive Mother’s Love and Grace

posted by vreiss | 2:56pm Monday June 1, 2009


maywonglee.jpg“One in 8 Million”
is a gorgeous series of audio/photo portraits of ordinary New Yorkers co-created by my incredibly talented friend Sarah Kramer on the New York Times’ website.

The latest episode is about May Wong Lee, an assistant principal of a public school in Chinatown who lives in a four-story building with her father, brother, and sister-in-law, plus her husband and their four children. Their newest family member is Mebrat, an adorable little girl adopted from Ethiopia who they thought was three; turns out she was a malnourished six-year old.

It’s a really moving story about generosity, love, and patience–Lee felt like since she had the space, she could offer another child a home. After Mebrat settled into her new life, Lee said her “family was complete” and had the word “grace” tattooed on herself because “it means forgiveness. It means everything that happens is sort of beyond our control. It’s sort of a reminder. And I sort of waited for Mebrat to put this on. It was a long wait.”

See and hear the whole story here. And check out the entire “One in 8 Million” series, which shows off the diverse flavors of this crazy, delicious city. 

[Image by Todd Heisler for The New York Times



Previous Posts

Fare Well, Live Fresh...and Thanks
This is the post in which we say goodbye.  We're both leaving our respective jobs at Beliefnet, and so it's time to step away from the blog.So, this is the post in which we say goodbye...by saying thank you.  Thank you to you, the readers, for clicking and visiting and sharing the myriad w

posted 12:00:45pm Jul. 02, 2010 | read full post »

Waking Up to Your Dreams (by Wendy Schuman)
Are you a frustrated dreamer? I know I am. I often wake up with fragments of scenes echoing in my mind that seem really meaningful--but then I leap out of bed, start my morning routine, and in seconds they're gone. I want to linger in that realm and tap into the guidance and insight rising from a wi

posted 2:21:32pm Jun. 24, 2010 | read full post »

Prayer for the Gulf from the 13 Grandmothers
Because I lack an engineering degree and don't understand why we can't just stop this thing NOW with a 10-ton wad of gum or giant boulder or massive Q-tip, I'll share more spiritual wisdom from elders. This is from the beautiful, amazing International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers--they each

posted 10:52:38am Jun. 21, 2010 | read full post »

Fresh Morning: Worry Away the Worry
"Worry is a prayer for something you don't want." - Sharon Gannon I love that. The other day someone expressed concern about my excessive worrying habit, and I've been contemplating on it ever since. Doing my best to actually contemplate, rather than worry. I've been on a renewed Gilmore G

posted 9:14:40am Jun. 21, 2010 | read full post »

How Did You (or a Loved One) Heal from Cancer?
In addition to co-writing this blog and working at Beliefnet full-time, I'm writing a book. It's about how I got through cancer five years ago with a combination of heavy-duty Western meds and all I knew from my personal and journalistic experience of yoga, meditation, non-religious spirituality, an

posted 3:08:46pm Jun. 18, 2010 | read full post »

Advertisement
Comments Post the First Comment »
post a comment

Post a Comment

By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.

Share this story


About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Help

Media Kit

Subscribe

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.