152 Paradise in Palestine with Auntie Mary

Introduction

Good morning! Today I'm introducing you to a new summer series with John's Aunt Mary, one of the people I most enjoy, appreciate, and admire in this world. John's Auntie Mary is like a living embodiment of the famous serenity prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference". It seems to be that God has given Auntie Mary all of those things. On Monday evenings, John and I love to sit at a table with Mary, share in a simple delicious vegetarian meal with her, and soak up the wisdom that Mary has gained over 86 years of life.

Mary was born in 1936 in Ramallah, Palestine as the 3rd of 9 children (that lived to adulthood; her mother bore 11). She was 12 in 1948 and saw the Nakba - the Catastrophe - with her own eyes. Fellow Palestinians, including her future husband Shafiq, were forced from their homes, sent barefoot, unarmed, and homeless into the streets, and in some cases - massacred. At 19 Mary immigrated to the United States. Every day of her life, Mary worked hard to start businesses, keep a home, raise her 4 children, and to show kindness and compassion to everyone she met. In addition to her own children, Mary was like a mother to my husband John, who is joining with me in this series, and to many others. Her heart and home were always open and her table overflowing with the delicious food of her homeland.

I'm hoping to release at least 5 episodes in this series. This first one I've called Paradise in Palestine, as Mary remembers her simple wholesome childhood in Palestine full of the freshest, lushest fruits and vegetables and meals cooked before electricity.