Growing family

This is Everett Todd DeKiep. He's my grandson. My daughter, Krishnamayi, brought him into our families (ours and the DeKieps') last week. She and her husband live in Helena, Montana, where he works as an economist for the state and she works at the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena.

Our family has always been pretty close. My daughters are bright, independent women who have their own relationships with Krishna consciousness. I'm proud of them, and I think Everett is really cute.

Family relations in Krishna consciousness can be a little complicated sometimes. On the one hand, we understand that time brings us together and then separates us. On the other hand, my immediate family members are all devotees of Krishna. This part of my life has revealed a theme of trying to balance those perspectives. Ultimately, I need to focus my energy on life's real goal, and I'd like to do so in a way that encourages the rest of my family to do the same in their way, and in their time. In any event, my time and energy are shifting progressive toward the life of total commitment, somewhat as I knew it before getting married over 35 years ago, but on a deeper level. Some may find that disconcerting, I suppose, and I am working on mitigating that discomfort. In the meantime, I try to follow wherever my sadhana takes me. Proceeding with caution is not among my interests these days.