Best Birthday Ever!

A blessed and happy New Year! I have hardly the words to express my joy! We've had the most wonderful Christmas and Epiphany with the children, as we eagerly awaited the birth of our first grandchild, who arrived in the wee hours on the Feast of St. Raymond of Penafort, a day before my birthday.

During Advent, the word that came to me for the next year was Freedom. To be free from fear; to write, to sing, to paint freely. I want to be free to do the right thing, to be free from sin. On New Year's Day I played Jennifer Fulwiler's Saint Name Generator--guess who came up?!!! St. Joachim--the father of Mary, the grandfather of our Lord Jesus! And patron of fathers, grandfathers, and grandparents. How fitting as we begin this new chapter in our lives. 

Here are the young parents, waiting to meet their little one! We are so happy Dagny had a hard and fast labor; it brought back memories of my first labor and I'm so grateful that she was able to give birth without any complications (unlike mine). Deo gratias! And thanks to all our prayer warriors! I've had a lovely time reminiscing with Dagny (below, newborn Dagny). Like the Magi, I fall in Adoration and Thanksgiving to our Lord Jesus. 

What a privilege it is to see a new life enter this world, and especially to see my baby hold her baby. I will always be grateful for these moments of grace. What struck me again is how protective the hands of the father are, cradling the baby. I have always loved Michael's hands, and I know Dagny will always appreciate Ian's. God bless him and all the work of his hands. They're home now and enjoying getting to know their sweet little baby boy! 

This little one is the best birthday gift. Dagny and I had planned on doing a session with Painting with a Twist for my birthday, but with baby's arrival, it was not to be. Saturday evening, I decided to go by myself. It reminded me very much of what Julia Cameron calls an artist date. I had such a good time and learned a lot too. I title this WONDER. The cute birthday card is from a dear friend.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, all. It's been so wonderful to be together--celebrating Midnight Mass, going to Waffle House after, having quiet time painting and in Adoration, and being tourists in our hometown. Below, I copy my Christmas letter.

What a year! So many blessings! It has been a great joy to have Dagny and Ian living just 15 minutes away from us and seeing them not just for Sunday Mass but also at choir practice. I’ve had the added pleasure of singing with Dagny in Charleston Sound Chorus. What fun it was to go together to compete at regionals and bring home three medals: 1st place small chorus, 5th place overall, and most-improved chorus! You can watch and listen to our performance here: https://youtu.be/f1O0yuC8VxQ?t=8561 [at 2:22] We made our debut at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in our hometown and have been invited to perform locally at other venues. As our director says: “It’s fun to be good.”

We are growing and will compete as a mid-sized chorus in 2026. Dagny will not be joining us—she’s growing a baby boy and he’s due to arrive in early January!

But wait, there’s more! Max and his lovely fiancée, Laura, are also expecting a baby; she’ll arrive in late March!!! Their parish priest in DC is preparing them for Holy Matrimony. Max continues to work hard (promoted to Exec VP) and travel lots and is becoming a family man, getting a spacious apartment on Capitol Hill for his growing family. We had the great pleasure of visiting them this fall, seeing the places they hang out at and running into their friends while on a walk or at the marketplace. They dearly love DC, but we keep pitching the delights of Charleston.

At the beginning of this year, I attended the Catholic Writers Conference Online—it was exactly what I needed to get back into writing after a busy Christmas season with family and friends for Dagny and Ian’s nuptials. And in another month, I’ll offer a workshop on Writing for Hire at the same conference. It’s been wonderful to work on new stories and poems, make new writing friends who share the faith. Kiki Latimer and I had a lovely conversation on her podcast Catholic Bookworm: Vijaya Bodach on her novel Bound. I was also invited to give my testimony on The Journey Home - Catholic Conversion Stories on EWTN (it hasn’t yet aired but I post the link for you to peruse many stories). I’ve enjoyed listening to this program for many years, so it was a great honor to share my Love Story.

This summer, Michael and the kids had a family reunion in WA. What joy to meet new family members. Cousin Naomi and Noa have a sweet baby girl Nadia and another on the way. Cousin Kelsey and Peter welcomed baby Luka. I started painting. Growing up in India, I didn’t even have colored pencils or extra paper—I was routinely punished for drawing pictures and patterns in the margins of my notebooks—so imagine my pleasure at having all the paper and colors to play with. I still remember my father bringing a ballpoint pen with four colors and what fun we had with it.

Sadly, my 97-year-old father, Clement Jatindrakumar Khisty, died on Dec. 10th after a relatively short period of becoming completely disabled. He’s had a long and storied life—I’ve read drafts of his memoirs—and I was grateful to have had the chance to visit him and his wife Lena, who loved him best. My greatest sorrow is not knowing him and loving him as I would’ve liked here on earth. But I pray we will meet in heaven, know one another in our perfection, in the company of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the saints. We also mourn the loss of Michael’s aunt Shirley, our sister-in-law Heather, and my cousin Sangeeta’s dear husband Sam. May they all rest in the loving and merciful arms of our Lord Jesus.

Michael continues to work at Boeing, grow vegetables, and brew beer, but is looking forward to being a full-time Grandpa! He’s already thinking of homeschooling—the first lesson might be on fermentation :) We are happy to be entering a new chapter in our lives and grateful that you are in ours. I close with love and prayers for a Blessed and Merry Christmas to you and all yours, and a happy, healthful New Year!

Please stay in touch--we appreciate all the cards, pictures, and letters.

Preparing for Christmas; Praying the Great O-Antiphons of Advent

There are lots of Advent hymns but O Come, O Come Emmanuel is the most popular and it comes from the Great O antiphons that are sung after Vespers the last seven days of Advent (Dec. 17th - Dec. 23rd). See this beautiful creative project from Look to Him and be Radiant: O Antiphons Projects {Free Printables, Bible Study, and Google Classroom Projects}

Below, the complete text of the hymn. I find myself singing it while I prepare my home--after several years of not managing to get a tree (by Gaudete Sunday all the trees are gone) we got one earlier this Advent and had so much fun decorating it. It's been lovely to have the fresh Frasier fir in the house. My nativity set is all over the place--only the shepherd is in the creche :) I've also prepared a batch of Swedish glug (my father-in-law's recipe) and it is so delicious to sip it warm in the evenings as we watch the cats playing with the ornaments. We'll have a full house with the kids and as in several Christmases past, find myself again on deadline...so trying to remember to do a bit of work each day. May you have peace and joy as you prepare for these holy days and be comforted in knowing that our Lord comes to be with us in the messiness of our lives, to free us from sin, to make us whole again.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. 

O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
who orderest all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go. Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times once gave the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave. Refrain 

O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery. Refrain

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadows put to flight. Refrain 

O come, Desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid thou our sad divisions cease,
and be thyself our King of Peace. Refrain

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear. Refrain 

As much as it is fun to have Christmas concerts and parties, I'm grateful they are behind us so that we can regain the quietness of Advent. In our Catholic community, the real partying begins after Midnight Mass and lasts throughout the Octaves of Christmas and Epiphany!!! This week is actually ember week--with days of fasting. 

Memories of My Father--from India to Chicago

My father died Dec. 10, the Feast of Our Lady of Loreto. I was hearing Mass, offering it for him, at the time of his passing. The Gospel reading from Matthew was so perfect: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." I have prayed and cried many tears for him to receive all the graces necessary to repent and choose our Lord. For I truly desire to meet my father in heaven and know him in his perfection. God-willing. 

On my way home I sang Mendelssohn's O Rest in the Lord (this is a most beautiful recording) and upon arrival home immediately sought out my copy to play on the piano. It brought me such peace to know that I can rest in the Lord and be at peace and continue to pray for the repose of his soul, trusting in God's unfathomable mercy and perfect justice.

O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him,

And He shall give thee thy heart's desires.

Commit thy way unto Him, and trust in Him,

And fret not thyself because of evil doers.

O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him.

Wait patiently for Him. 

It being the Feast of Our Lady of Loreto, whose little house in Nazareth was transported to Italy by Angels, I couldn't help but think of Bouguereau's Soul Brought to Heaven and the last movement of the Requiem Mass: in Paradisum. May the angels lead him to paradise... Music, music--what a balm it is to my soul.
 

I don't have a lot of pictures of us together because we were apart most of our lives. But I am grateful for what he has done--bringing me to baptism in our Lord, bringing our family to the US, and introducing me to folk-dance. He witnessed my marriage and I'm glad he got to meet my children a few times while they were growing up.

These are some of the oldest pictures I have of my father. He's here with his first-born. While I was visiting he spoke about him, how he was a great little man. He died shortly before his fifth birthday so I never got to meet him. But my mom always told stories about him, so I feel very close to him. The family picture was taken after the funeral of my maternal grandfather. My mom is carrying her second son...

This family photo was taken when my father returned from Germany. I have no memory of this, but my sister remembers being sad because she wanted to stand next to my mom. I was clueless. Only my brother was excited!

At my sister's place in Nebraska--her kids are all grown up now. And the day before my wedding at my in-law's place. I've always loved that I look both like my mom and dad and also my stepmother :) 

We lived in Belgium for a couple of years right after we got married. Michael worked for a Belgian machine tool company and I was at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne. My parents came to visit and we had a wonderful couple of weeks together sightseeing. My dad had done a Masters in Germany and has always loved all things German. He was so proud of me for doing my post-doctoral studies at the MPIZ. He was recounting my accomplishments when I came to visit. But the best thing I've ever done is to stay at home with my children--and my biggest achievement was getting them to take a nap at the same time!

We

We made a trip to Chicago to celebrate my dad's birthday (July 4th) with the kids and I just love this picture of Dagny with her stuffed cats. We had a great time swimming in the pool, taking walks, lighting fireworks, and opening presents. 

The summer before we moved to SC, my parents visited us in WA. It would be the last visit they could manage. Since then, we've made a couple of trips to Chicago.  

This is the last picture I have of my father, when my sister and her husband went to visit. Please pray for the repose of the soul of my father, and for his dear, devoted wife, who loved him best. They had 45 happy years together, but now she will face the future without him. However, in marrying my father, she gained a family. I look forward to the time when she can visit us in SC. Today is Gaudete Sunday: Rejoice in the Lord always!