I’ve just finished another wonderful book by the talented Hungarian writer, Anna Karady. The story was both sweet and profoundly moving—at least it felt that way to me.
So many passages resonated with my soul, and I found myself transported back to the early 1900s, a time when one great era was ending and another was just beginning.
That’s very much how I feel now, as my daughter prepares to start school this September.
Today we visited her kindergarten one last time. She played for a bit, then said goodbye to the place and to her beloved teachers. I noticed the small tear she quickly brushed away with her sleeve before giving one last wave.
I was so proud of her—she has already come such a long way.
There’s just over a week left, with many things still to do. But I’ll carry this memory with me as a source of comfort in the colder days ahead: the sweetness of this summer, the warmth of the sun, the long uninterrupted hours for reading and writing, and the tenderness of farewells.
*Zserbo is a traditional Hungarian layered pastry. It’s named after Emil Gerbeaud, a famous Swiss-Hungarian confectioner who ran the renowned Gerbeaud Café in Budapest in the late 19th–early 20th century.
viktoria maczo 