Dearest Dahlings,

I am sending wishes for a fabulous May. I hope you and your family are safe. It is May already; I can not believe it—some days seem to roll into each other. Because I am not outdoors, it is easy to ask myself, what day is it? Sunday, Monday? Maybe Saturday. The Flowers seem to be my comfort these days. I call them May Flowers, but they are flowers that I picked from my neighbor’s garden.

May is a good-tempered month—it is the one month that feels like spring. It is not too chilly and indeed not too hot. The only thing I dislike about May is my struggles with allergies. But of course, it is the month we celebrate our mothers. It is the month I used to celebrate my sister, my twin nephews, and my grandmother.

I believe I fell more in love with May when my nephews were born seven years ago. They were the most adorable little things I had ever seen. Of course, I had nieces already, but those two baby boys in my life were very different.

This year is a bittersweet month for me. Yes, I‘m happy to celebrate my mom, the birth of my sister, and my nephews, but it is also one year since my grandmother passed on.

I miss my grandmother being here physically. And I am looking forward to celebrating her memories. I miss our calls, her hugs, and knowing that she was always there. A phone call away.

I am sure this month will not be all roses  — I may be emotional, I may feel sad, etc. But I am still gratefully looking forward to beautiful experiences this month. So, I will make the most of the month, and I urge you to do the same.

Our lives are not back to normal, and I do not think we will ever get back to what we called normal before COVID-19. But I know that we were all placed in a unique position to create a normal that satisfies our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical aspects.

I kicked this month off, focusing on wellness — my wellness.

Being at home does not mean doing less — in some cases, it means doing more. All of the things lingering on my very long to-do list suddenly seemed essential, and I felt pressured to get them done. But instead of feeling productive and accomplished — I have been unable to sleep, irritable, and felt like I wasted precious time. This entire experience made me look at things differently and my life in terms of priorities (I’ll share more later).

Take some time and tune in — what does wellness mean for you? Merriam-Webster defines wellness as

“the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal”

I believe wellness involves more than being in a state of good health — I think it’s a philosophy on how we live and grow as human beings.

So what does wellness means to you? We will follow up throughout this month by providing helpful wellness information. And we are also launching a new series.

Post Cards from Brooklyn: Quarantine

This new series will share personal stories from around Brooklyn — people are sharing things they’ve learned, experienced, etc., while being quarantined. In addition, few courageous people share raw, naked, and vulnerable stories. So, join us on Wednesday for the first story.

As always, Sending Love — Stay Safe.

Cheers to a fabulous May

XXOO

Nat