by Susan Mattern | Jul 16, 2018 | Father, German, Immigrant, World War II
My dad had a lot of stories about when he came to the United States. He was lucky to leave Germany in 1927, before Hitler came to power. He was a carpenter, and had heard from his father, who was already in the US, that there were lots of jobs over in this country....
by Susan Mattern | Jul 10, 2018 | Father, German, German-American, Immigrant, Life, Statue of Liberty, World War II, WWII, Your Huddled Masses Yearning To Breathe Free
My dad wasn’t an emotional person. He’d talk about how he came to the United States from Germany. He’d tell us about winning a tennis championship years later – the Missouri State championship – the week I was born. My mother wasn’t too...
by Susan Mattern | Jul 3, 2018 | Finding Purpose in Life, Gardens, Second Chances, Starting Over
I love gardens. I wish mine looked like the “Secret Garden” in the movie, with its climbing roses, vines and daffodils, but I’ve come to appreciate the succulents and bougainvillea of Southern California. The thing I like best about gardens is that...
by Susan Mattern | Jun 17, 2018 | Friendship, Human Connection, Istanbul, Life, Travel
Rick Steves, the travel expert, wrote an editorial in the LA Times last year. His message was: “Afraid of terrorism? Get on a plane!” We are so bombarded by reports of terrorism that we forget that most people are just like us –– not just in the...
by Susan Mattern | Jun 16, 2018 | Birds, Empty Nest, Life
My birds have gotten out of hand! I seem to be on the edge of ecological disaster in my backyard –– too many nests and species all crowding together. When my children left home, never to return –– as children ought to do –– I did feel like an empty-nester. But...
by Susan Mattern | Jun 11, 2018 | Atheist, Finding Purpose in Life, Surviving Trauma
I had been a Catholic my whole life, and a nun for six of those years. It wasn’t until a mountain lion attacked my 5-year-old daughter, standing next to me in a stream, and almost killed her, that I wondered for the first time whether there was really a God....
by Susan Mattern | May 21, 2018 | Life, Writing
Who are you? How do you define yourself? Some people can combine what they love and what they do. Teachers, photographer, lawyers, or artists. Others are defined by what they have to do to make a living. Are you defined by what you do or love—or by what happens to...
