About

LIFE JOURNEYS is a group of writers living in Eden Prairie, Minnesota and from across the world. An original magazine was published in February of 2020 with stories by a group of women who were participating in Eden Prairie Schools' Family School for English Language Learners program. The original PDF is available here. 

The stories on this site were written from April to June 2020 as part of a series of writing workshops in one Family School English class, made up mostly of women who have come to Eden Prairie from various places in India. Writers touch on themes of family, tradition, and the changes in life that have come about since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. They offer both their memories and their opinions on life, change, and the unexpected. The stories teach us about the traditions, values, and memories of each writer, and encourage us in their honesty to reflect on our own experiences in these unexpected times. 

- Lydia Nelson, workshop facilitator

You can find each writer's stories at the links below; click on a label at the end of a post to see more stories about the same topic. 

Popular posts from this blog

An unexpected moment!

by Amarja Babtiwale “Unexpected moments are the best and memorable” Yes, indeed they are!! Unexpectedly getting something from his parents which he was asking for since long ago is precious moment for a 5-year-old. When her boyfriend surprises her with a marriage proposal, she feels like being on cloud nine or something as simple as meeting an old friend out of the blue is joyful. For a mom, after a hectic day at work, suddenly getting hugs or kisses from her kid is priceless. We all have experienced many unexpected moments in our life and always cherish those sweet memories!! Often, we are caught up in unexpected moments which are not so good and happy, but they teach us in many ways. Likewise, what we all are going through these days! All these Things which we all are experiencing currently are more than unexpected to all of us. Lockdown, quarantine, social distancing; these words are as new as this virus thing to many of us. Our life has changed to many levels because of th
Read more

An unexpected moment

by Priyanka In this busy world, everyone was engaged with their schedules and activities in daily routines and all my family and friends’ timetables and plans were operating smoothly. Suddenly, a few weeks ago, we heard about an outbreak of pandemic disease (covid-19) in this world. We know covid-19 will fundamentally alter the world, but these changes may not be the ones we expect. Life can change in a moment and it is filled with unexpected events. Having to face uncertainty in life can also help us to learn how to adapt, overcome challenges, and increase our resiliency. Pandemics happen when a new virus emerges to infect people and can spread between people sustainably. Because there is little to no pre-existing immunity against the new virus it spreads worldwide. It’s infecting people and spreading easily from person to person. This infects people of all ages. Handling this situation is difficult for each individual in this world. Life is filled with uncertainty, especially at time
Read more

A time I tried something new

by Amarja Babtiwale Trying new things is fun. I always like to try new things. We get refresh when we include that “New” factor in our routine life. There are many things which I tried for the first time and liked it eventually. Here are few of them which changed my perspective towards life and world around me: also, they shaped me to become a better person. During my childhood learning to ride a bicycle was the most difficult and challenging task for me and it took me several years to find the courage and actually start learning it. Now when I see a 5-year-old kid riding bicycles without support wheels I laugh at myself because I was 14 when I finally learned to ride a bicycle. Mom and Dad gifted me one. Learning to ride a bicycle gave me confidence and within couple of years, I started taking mom’s two-wheeler, and wandering around the city became an evening ritual. I always prefer a two-wheeler over any car. I often ask my husband to get a two-wheeler here to roam a
Read more