Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Officially summer arrived yesterday morning at 11:54 a.m.- right before lunch. Under “Proud to be a Southerner” one southern attribute lets us know when summer starts in the south without having to wait on any ole’ summer solstice to tell us.

“I am proud to be from the South-where tea is sweet and accents are sweeter; *summer starts in April; front porches are wide and words are long; macaroni and cheese is a vegetable; pecan pie is a staple; Y’all is the only proper pronoun; chicken is fried and biscuits come w/ gravy; everything is darling and someone is always getting their heart blessed. Have a good day y’all!”

To this day I still can’t go anywhere in Summerville (or even Charleston) without someone recognizing my voice…due to my mixture of upcountry twang mollified slightly by four decades of low country living.

My former students, now with their families, literally turn around in a grocery line and call up “Is that you Ms. Dingle?” I’d know your voice anywhere.” 

I used to be offended somewhat but these days “I’m as proud as punch” to be from the south…down or up…high or low. The low country linguistics are slowly intermixing with a national and international culture… as more people move south to avoid the long northern winters…and we are starting to get more “strangers” from foreign countries due to new industries and technology.

Charleston, also, has the dubious distinction of winning the most popular vacation destination annually…. so people come to see for themselves and unfortunately stay. We are outgrowing ourselves continuously these days.

Sadly…at some point…(at the rate we are going)…the southern accent will just be a memory….no longer a reality. Now that I have been gone a long time from the upper South Carolina and North Carolina short vowels’ twang country…I notice it even more with my remaining family there.

If a niece or nephew calls…I am always Aunt “Backy” ….the southern short vowel twang is alive and well in the rural areas of upper South Carolina and eastern North Carolina…my original childhood dwellings.

This year *summer didn’t start in April…in fact April was downright delightful…even with Easter arriving almost at the end of it…Easter Sunday was cool and comfortable. We should have known it was too good to be true to last long.

May arrived…hot and dry…there were no more, literally no more, April showers and the poor May flowers started burning up in the gardens. I have never watered the garden as much as I did in May.

Local meteorologists watched as temperatures rose above 100 degrees for four days in a row in late May breaking all kinds of records….while also recording the on-going makings of a serious drought… that we are still in at present.

These days the talk in lines waiting to check out in grocery or department store  is usually about the weather….everyone wants fall to come earlier and earlier….instead it seems to arrive later and later. We might as well face reality…our southern summers are becoming the longest season of the year.

So until tomorrow…we might as well dust up on our southern “hot” expressions because it looks like summer is here to stay…for a long time. If I was a fashion designer…I would get my company to start making southern clothes for hot weather year round.

“It’s hotter’n blue blazes. Is it hot enough for ya? Man, it’s hot as all get-out! It must be 90 in the shade. This one’s gonna be a scorcher. You could fry an egg on the sidewalk.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

The refreshing rain (in the form of a summer thunderstorm late yesterday afternoon)  perked up all the plants and flowers.

*Remember how I mentioned if you took close-up photos of blooms you had a great chance of discovering life within the bloom. Now let’s play a form of “Where’s Waldo…Flower Style.” Who can find the insect in  one of the following blooms and what is the insect? 🙂

*Click on the photos to enlarge them if you need in your search! 🙂

Dear Reader:

Didn’t I tell you that the garden bench would appear when it was supposed to appear? Yesterday was the day. I rose early to get my blood work done for my primary doctor since I have my yearly physical next week.

By the time I left the office and got back home… I was hungry…so I fixed some toast with grilled cheese and then went to ACE Hardware to get some more bird seed. Just as I was getting ready to walk in…there it was…like the ‘memorable’ scene in Chevy Chase’s (Christmas Vacation) discovery of the Griswold Christmas tree…as if a light from above was shining straight down on it.

It had not been there any time before…apparently they had found it in a back warehouse where they were cleaning up summer flowers and there it was in a back corner. And yesterday was senior 10% off day…the price was right….a young boy put it in my car and I was happily heading home in about ten minutes!

I was so excited placing the bench on the rock rectangle gravel… then adding some flowers….happiness is! The sun’s rays were still floating down upon it…you can see them if you look carefully!

Then K.C. and I went to the early afternoon movies to see Late Night…a typically witty fast-paced dialogue show…as seen in most British films…it really was adorable and touching too. A fun summer flick!

Vickie had just come over to see my bench…and was leaving when Gin-g pulled in the driveway… out for one of her first outings since her surgery …she got to try out the new bench also.

We were quickly trying to catch up on news when suddenly the wind picked up, the skies grew dark, and the thunder storm (we had been warned about all afternoon) finally arrived. It was a doozy! But at least we got rain…beautiful, lovely rain!

I had just gathered the lantern solar lights to bring inside when my house lights went off and the solar lights all came on inside…good timing!

The trees were swaying as the gusts of rain pounded down…but at least we didn’t have any hail like other areas. And speaking of other areas…Anne lucked out with thunderstorms and Philly again. *You might remember several years ago when we went to Ireland…we were supposed to fly to Philly and then board the international flight that same evening for Ireland.

Wrong…our flight to Philly was cancelled due to thunderstorms so we had to fly to Charlotte, stay in a roach motel, fly to Philly the next day and then fly out the next night to Ireland…we lost one whole day of vacation to summer storms.

Anne texted me while our storm was raging…and said she got to Philly okay but then the flight out of Philly to Maine was cancelled, rescheduled, then cancelled again…she has no luggage and her only flight option (she was told) was to fly to Bangor on SATURDAY!

She booked a motel and now is taking a flight to Portland, Oregon tomorrow where she will rent a car and drive to a friend’s house where she was supposed to be staying last night. Her last words: “I will NEVER book a summer afternoon flight ANYWHERE again.” Bummer!

Let’s keep Anne in our thoughts and prayers that she gets where she needs to be tomorrow!!! I told her to go grovel at the motel desk for toiletries…and pray her luggage will be waiting on her.

*I hope once she gets to camp….everything will settle down and she can concentrate on fiddling music and not fiddling around with airlines and flight schedules.

After the dark, ferocious thunder storm yesterday afternoon…suddenly the sun broke through around 8:30 p.m….(after all today is the longest day of the year…the summer solstice.) The sun lit up the trees and the later sunset took one’s breath away.

1. What does “Solstice” mean anyway?

Solstice means “sun-stopping” in Latin describing the way the sun looks on this day. Historically, the solstice was an important date that helped farmers know when to plant, grow and harvest crops.

2. What happens during a Solstice?

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year and occurs when the northern hemisphere is tilted more toward the sun. The heat of summer comes from the tilt of Earth’s axis, not from how far away it is from the sun.

3. How long has this been celebrated?

Historically, many people have gathered to celebrate the summer solstice. This day has long been recognized by different ancient cultures. In fact, the Great Pyramids of Egypt were built according to the summer solstice as the sun stays directly in between the two pyramids when looking from the Sphinx. Stonehenge in the United Kingdom has also been associated with the solstices for more than 5,000 years!

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My freshman year in high school (after we moved to Laurens) I tried out for JV Girls Basketball…you can only imagine…tiny, short and deplorably bad. But I did learn a lot watching other team members play while I warmed the bench that year….in fact since I was the ‘new kid on the block’ I met many of my closest friends cheering others on to victory.

So until tomorrow…This time around…I get to ‘warm the bench’ again…but on my own volition. I am thrilled to be able to sit and watch nature (birds and flowers) at her best…and hopefully have friends join me for some moon flower unfurling this late summer and fall. Nothing to prove any more except gratitude for the opportunity to live long enough to enjoy my bench! Come join me.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday afternoon I went to my mailbox and there were two envelopes inside from two wonderful friends….’How thoughtful!’ I thought to myself…since both were note card sizes with handwritten addresses on them that I immediately recognized.

I opened the first one, read the sweet card message on the outside and the personal note inside. I then opened the second envelope. It took me a second to register it was the exact same card with the same inscribed words and message on the outside. And even though the personal message ran along a similar track of thoughts as the first…two different personalities shone through…both kind and caring.

I smiled at the coincidence until I realized it was another ‘God Wink.’ Even though both cards looked the same upon first glance…there was a subtle difference in the appearance. The card to the left was a lighter shade of pink with the replica card on the right …a darker pink. Close…but different upon a second glance of study.

There it was…my observation for today’s post… (Thanks God)… nothing in life is really the same…at least not the same upon closer scrutiny. In a world where billions of life forms, both plant and animal, break down into similar species or categories…each individual animal or plant is always just a little different… if we take the time to study it.

God purposefully  made each of us unique. There is no one else like us in this world…no matter how similar we might think we are in physical appearance or personality or even spirituality to someone else…we each bring something distinctive to the table that no one, on earth, can bring … but us.

There is a reason for that…we are all miracles and as such have magical powers that no one can ever take from us. We are already enough, no matter what stage of life we are in. We came fully constructed…built according to God’s design. Any flaws that we perceive are all in our minds…not in God’s. To Him we have been perfect since we first were created…when we were a little more than a “butter bean.”

Janet and Pam…I think God purposefully had both of you send me closely resembled cards because He must think I need a double dose of the message on the card…to sink into my thick head. The cards read:

“Get lots of rest, keep your spirits high…hope you feel better as each day goes by.”

And with a double dose of that wisdom…I do.

Now here’s a funny thought…Three days ago I sent Libby a different get-well card (love the turtle drinking a Pina Colada) with a similar message about taking time to rest and recover from her recent surgery.

What if Libby gets another card from another friend…just like mine? Stranger things have happened. Let us know Libby if you do!

“Take it easy, Things will wait. Relax, Renew, Recuperate.”

*I imagine we have all probably gotten the same/similar Happy Birthday, or Get-Well, or Sympathy cards over an extended period of time….but getting two get-well cards that end up sitting on top of each other in a mailbox, on the same exact day, is quite phenomenal.

*Do share with us…if this has happened to any of you?

So until tomorrow…Remember… YOU. ARE. ENOUGH. There is not another you in the universe…so be at peace with yourself.

*”Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Anne sent me this similar greeting for a new day that she likes too…not quite the same as Winnie but similar in thought and feeling. (Maya Angelou words)

*

Safe travels Anne…she is flying up to Maine…to a “fiddler” camp so she can enjoy other fiddlers’ company and learn from each other. Have fun!

Thank you Kaitlyn for the stone, crystal and homemade slate of Fungi…the Dingle Dolphin …made from natural slate and locally sourced beach pebbles. (Dingle, Ireland)

Dear Reader:

How many times did I hear my grandmother remind me to “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you…”? (James 4:8) I think “Nigh” was my first “Biblical” word that I understood to mean near…just from Grandmother’s repeated admonishment to me when I stayed with her.

Now I understand that when we draw “nigh” to any of God’s creations… the closer and nearer we come…the more revealing is His Word  and His miraculous ways.

Anne and I, indirectly, were taught this in the international creativity class we took in Provence….our assignment was to use cameras to learn how to take close-up pictures of life…so they turn from pretty objects (so-so photos) into breathing miracles of life.

Now that I have a garden I see it every day…and depending on my distance from the flowers when I take a picture I can change the whole feel of my garden from a pretty little garden to an amazing display of God at work through nature.

Below are some examples of an okay photo I took (on the left) versus an amazing example of the beauty of life as I grow nigh to God. (The closer one gets while taking a nature picture…the more life we see within it…perhaps a bumblebee or drops or rain…an ant…there is always life within life.)

I could go on and on…but I think you ‘get the picture’….it is faith that draws us closer and closer to God through His creations to see His purpose for us unfold and display the magnificence of His love for us.

So until tomorrow…Let us all ‘draw nigh’ to God through all His creations…the closer we get to each other…the closer we come to God.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

We had a wonderful family birthday party for Rutledge late yesterday afternoon and evening. Walsh and Mollie gave everyone the best present ever with the jump room/water slide rental….the children never left it except to eat pizza and watch Rutledge blow out the candles on his cake…then it was back to the water slide.

Walsh spent as much time in it (with Eloise) than the rest of the children …Walsh is always a kid at heart and Eloise loved the water slide…pointing her finger to do it again and again and again. Throw in some watermelon and dance music and we had a fabulous summer birthday!

Dear Reader:

Every day as I look out my window (each morning) while pulling up my blog post  to  see if it popped up bright and early at 6:00 a.m. on schedule…I find myself mesmerized at the beauty beside me.

The birds are eating breakfast at the suet cage and chattering away… as if asking each other how they slept and what a beautiful morning it is. The flowering plants are bright, colorful, and alert from the drinks of water I gave them at bed time. Like a tennis match…I find myself turning my attention to the blog post and then back out the window to nature at her finest and then back at the screen.

When Lachlan was at the computer Saturday he, too, was looking out the window…and consistently called out to me “Boo Boo…look at this pretty birdie eating…what kind is he?”

Sometimes while writing the post it is easy to detour away and get lost in my perfectly imperfect life.. As a ‘phrase-finder” I see this phrase a lot because of the truth of the oxymoron…can life really be perfect and imperfect at the same time? For me…the answer is a resounding “Yes” and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If we take time to reflect on our own individual lives…it has been the “imperfect” moments that have brought us the most happiness, joy, laughter and sorrow…but in hindsight imperfections make life worth living.

I was thinking the other day that I would like to create some road signs for life….like one that reads: “SLOW DOWN….LIFE IN PROGRESS.” It would be fun to create my own phrases.

Creative artist, Kelly Rae Roberts, has numerous phrases that make me pause and smile or nod my head in agreement….many of these are found in her note cards (Now being carried by Leaning Tree)

I love the idea of taking a descriptive adjective and turning it into a personification of a human characteristic.

(Example in this note card by Kelly)

*It makes the phrase unique and memorable.

The simpler a phrase is…the more powerful it becomes…another example from Roberts.

I made a personal observation the other day that cheered me up…I do believe I am finally on the down side of “Whew!” I was never aware how many times I said this word….and truthfully…I didn’t say it…I thought it…and then made the sound that we all associate with it….(You know the one…We take a deep breath, release it s l -o-w-l-y making a “woo” swoosh sound.

When I was working full time, raising children, and running from point A to B and back again…I made that train sound a lot…Was I going to make the green light before it turned red so I could pick up one of the children on time from baseball practice? Or sometimes it was expressed in relief at finding something…like lost car keys just in the nick of time to get to my school in time for bus duty.

We are all quite familiar with the  “Whew” part of life…and when the “Whew’s” stop coming so rapidly and life begins to finally slow down…we have reached a huge “Whew” Benchmark in life.

So until tomorrow….I must remind myself that God is giving me the luxury of ‘down time’ now (in fact He is insisting on it) and I should be thanking Him rather than complaining …and use the time to create another road sign for life.

GO!         STOP!     WHEW!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*And I wouldn’t be a very good “phrase finder” if I didn’t add this phrase today….Happy Birthday Rutledge!

Six Years old today….and six years ago it was Father’s Day…the best Father’s Day present ever for Walsh….18... is and will always be a very special number…it was Walsh’s football jersey number…..after Dan Marino…the Dolphin quarterback…always his lucky number…especially after little Rut Rut was born!

Happy Birthday Rutledge…Loved you yesterday, love you still…always have…always will!

Dear Reader:

Have you ever wondered why God purposefully chose to add a day of rest at the end of creation… when He, Himself, never grows weary?… It is because we were created “finite”…not “infinite” like God… and being finite serves a purpose from our Creator. Our total trust in God appears each time we close our eyes…turning our control over to Him.

“There is no significance, hope, or value you can strive for and gain for yourself that hasn’t already been made fully available to those who rest in Him.” (resource: “Resting in God’s Character”-Ruth Chou Simons)

John Piper said, “ Sleep is a daily reminder from God that we are not God.” This point has definitely been driven home to me since the switch in my chemo regime which is really “laying me low.”

I wake up each morning…with my mind full of energy and plans for the day…only to find myself completely exhausted ten minutes later. Not only does this new medical endeavor seem to deplete all my energy…my limbs feel like I am trapped in some kind of body bubble where gravity is at ten times the normal rate and my limbs feel like they each weigh a ton.

Add stomach problems to this new medication and suddenly my daily routines loom larger and more daunting…with lots of naps and ‘sit-down strikes’ in-between daily chores or even fun social dates.

It is forcing me to acknowledge my physical short-comings and ante up my trust in God to see me through this challenging transitional period in my “little c” experiences.

Like this line of scripture tells us …we must stop and find rest in God and from there will come the hope we are searching for …

My hope is that God is asking me to make a big “pause” in my daily life and rest, rest, rest. Turn my mind off so God can do His healing through my subconscious where it can direct all its healing powers to the parts of my body that need these restorations. That is my prayer of hope I send Him each night.

So until tomorrow: Psalm 127: 2

...”It is in vain that you rise early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for He gives to His beloved ..sleep.”

“Today is my favorite day”…Winnie the Pooh

*I don’t know how my grandchildren can manage to get into such edible situations on vacation without me…“Good grief Charlie Brown!”

Dear Reader:

This is the only picture I have of me being in a photo with my father…and for that reason I treasure it even more. (I love you daddy and miss you every day of my life!)

One of the six degrees of separation Brooke and I shared as we would talk late into the night (in our college dorm room that freshman year at Erskine College) was the similarity between both our family lives.

Brooke lost her dad at six and I lost mine at five. I remember Brooke making an astute observation that has stuck with me the rest of my life… with a profound impact on my consciousness.  She told me that the day her dad died…she lost her tiara. She was never again anybody else’s little princess. How true! I felt exactly the same way!

Degree of Separation (tiara): I think of John who takes his family to the most powerful place of dreams and imagination…Disney World… and lets Eva Cate be a princess each time they go….even Jakie, the car man, is into the princesses…they are pretty and kind!

You are truly the knight in white armor, John, to give the gift of adventure and fantasy to Eva Cate and Jakie… (the car man.) Happy Father’s day John!

Continuing with Brooke’s loss tiara story…

Brooke told me she was more like her dad in personality…out-going, funny, while her older brother Rusty was quiet and reserved like their mother…she said she always felt like the outsider after her daddy passed away…that the one person who really knew her was gone. She remembered riding on his shoulders and going to football practices and all the games with him. He loved showing her off.

He was both principal of Mt. Zion Institute and head football coach…in 1949…he was given a car after the football season with the words in the yearbook reading “Well Deserved” but even better than that he got a daughter…Nancy Brooke Price…the love of his life…his little princess!

Brooke’s father was nicknamed “Monkey or Monk” Price and was a very successful, highly-recognized high school football coach in Winnsboro- (post WWII)…so much so that our Summerville famous high school coach, John McKissick, (winniest high school coach in the country) told me and Brooke once that he looked up to her father when he was just starting out. Everyone wanted to be just like ‘Monkey” Price.

Degree of separation?

Mollie brought the children over yesterday afternoon. Rutledge is now Summerville football Greenwave crazy…you might remember I got him a look-a like football jersey (like his dad’s) for kindergarten graduation and for his birthday coming up Tuesday (turning six) he wanted a SHS helmet.

I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods, went on-line and nothing was working. Rutledge was just positive he remembered seeing his dad’s helmet somewhere at my house.

I tore the house apart plus the apartment looking…for naught. But yesterday Rutledge, with Mollie’s help, found it in a closet behind some pillows…he was sure it was back there…and it was! In fact it is a remarkable memento inscribed by Coach McKissick to  Walsh after a benchmark win. Hallelujah…Whew! Rutledge’s birthday came early this year!

Rutledge idolizes Walsh and his football days plus he is an avid Clemson fan…Motherly advice to Walsh: Enjoy every minute of this right now son…one day he will be a teenager and everything will change 🙂 Bask in the sunshine and keep his dreams alive! Happy Father’s Day Walsh! ***(Rutledge arrived on Father’s Day six years ago…now wasn’t that the best Father’s Day gift ever?)

Besides finding the helmet we walked over to show Rutledge Coach McKissick’s house…(the McKissicks live a block from me) At first we didn’t think anyone was home…I was taking a picture of Rutledge in front of the house, preparing to leave… and who appears from around it…Mrs. McKissick! She had been gardening in the back and heard us.

Coach is in rehab now but hopefully will be back home soon… Joanne was so gracious and took pictures with the family…they will never forget it.

The day started off with another little boy…Ryker….Luke and Chelsey’s little four-year-old nephew. You might remember he helped Luke plant my redbud tree sapling early last spring…so I got a personalized rock for him (and a little truck) to place by the redbud.. He was so excited…but then it was the rope swing that really caught his attention.

He went on to play in the tree house and ride Jackson’s tractor which he loved…he likes my back yard…it was just waiting for children to come and play. The back yard was very happy too!

I can not get a photo of Eloise these days…she is too fast…the photo is always a blur of her running by..but such is the life of a busy fifteen-month old…

*(Degree of separation) Lachlan found his favorite Boo Boo item too…a Minnie Mouse magnet….he was as happy with it as Rutledge was with the helmet.

Ryker is a huggy, loving child who kept running to me to sit in the recliner…he told me about his new pet…a goldfish he named Hobo…but the first night he had him he cried until “MiMi” (his grandmother) took him out of his bedroom…he didn’t like the fish staring at him. Too funny!

*Degree of Separation: – Pets, especially dogs=Tommy and Kaitlyn

Not only do they adore their four rescue dogs…they adopt seniors with “issues”  (many coming from puppy mills/mistreated) who need a chance to simply be loved before their time on earth is over. It is important to Kaitlyn and Tommy that every dog should have their day and place in the sun…even if it is not for long… at least they will have left knowing someone loved them.

Happy Father’s and Mother’s day you two…what great humanitarians you are and to these four lucky dogs…the best parents ever!

So until tomorrow…Let us take time to remember the fathers who are no longer with us and more importantly to appreciate and take time today to let all our fathers know how much they are loved, appreciated, and needed.  Happy Father’s Day to one and all! Have a beautiful day!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

…And Good Night…I think I will share Jakie’s “night night”blankie and hold on to all the memories that made up this magical day yesterday…like Rutledge falling asleep with his prized possession…his dad’s helmet.

Dear Reader:

As I came across a story, the other day, about the importance of being there for someone in distress or an emergency situation….memories from the past flooded my mind. *But before I tell my story…let me share the story that was the catalyst for my personal memory.

“A True Act of Kindness”

I recently was told about a true act of kindness. An act of kindness that goes much deeper than your everyday act of kindness. A gesture that brought some comfort to a wife, a daughter and a son, after their husband and father was hit by a car and killed about 2 weeks ago.

How do I know about this?  The man killed was my cousin’s husband.  He was a 48 year old man.  A husband of 23 years.  A daughter who just came home the day before after finishing her sophomore year in college.  A son who just finished his freshman year in high school.

He was a hardworking man who stocked vending machines for clients at area businesses.  On this particular day, he was in a suburb of Detroit at one of his clients.  He was exiting the building after determining what products he needed to re-stock the machines.  He was coming around the building and was struck by a car speeding through the parking lot.  He was hit, dragged and left for dead as the driver of the car sped away.

My cousin, now a widow, said it took about 5 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and he died about an hour later.

About a week and a half later they held a visitation.  There were about 250 to 300 people who attended.  At the end of the night, one woman was left.  She said that she did not know if she should be there, but she wanted her to know that her husband was not alone while he was dying in the parking lot.  She said that she was in the parking lot when he was hit and stayed with him until the ambulance arrived.

A true act of kindness, a gesture of compassion from a complete stranger.  An act that helped bring comfort to my cousin and her children during this unspeakable time of grief and loss.

Not only did this woman sit with him in the parking lot but she felt it important enough to take the time to come to his visitation.  Simply to let his widow know, her husband did not die alone.

(Source: Live with RENKE)

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My memory has to go back over three decades to a family accident that miraculously was spared being a permanent tragedy…the spring day when a neighbor (Miss Katie), Dee Dee (Walsh’s beloved grandmother) and four-year-old Walsh were heading out to a women’s luncheon…after they dropped  Walsh off at a day care center first.

They had just left Gum Street off Richardson Avenue heading towards town when the accident occurred. Miss Katie (driver) was asking Dee Dee about directions to the day care center and reacting to Dee Dee’s response of “Just go straight through the light past Town Hall.” Unfortunately the light was just changing to red when Miss Katie started across the intersection where a large truck  was entering the intersection from Main Street.

Picture of the intersection…not much has changed except for a bank on the corner, a “lift” for Town Hall and of course all the recent renovations to Hutchinson Square.

It hit the passenger side of the car where Dee Dee was and Walsh (sitting between the women) was thrown out the window across the intersection into Hutchinson Square. Miraculously all three would sustain serious injuries but not fatal ones.

Walsh had a big indenture/scar on his forehead and the side of his face where he hit the cement…his outer skin was scraped off…if you look carefully at the black and white picture of Walsh taken a few weeks after the accident you might be able to see the abrasions on his cheeks/side…his bangs covered the large scar on his forehead.

Children are so resilient that the major problem with his healing was trying to keep him still…but it was miraculous that his back or neck wasn’t broken… (even more so I would learn later)

A few years passed….the “miraculous” accident became a faded family memory. And then the God Wink. One of my students I was teaching that year was a young man, named Ben Gibson (I pray I am remembering his name correctly.)

He was an outstanding student but more importantly than that…Ben was one of the nicest students I ever taught. He also was artistically talented and made the most magnificent collage of  fun facts about each President with the collage itself being in the shape of an eagle. I kept that collage until I retired…showing it to each new class every year…as an example of a creative and well-thought out project.

After a few weeks it was time for Parents Night to come meet the teacher and find out how their student was doing ….This lovely woman came up to me and introduced herself, as Ben’s mother…I remember throwing my arms around her and telling her how much I adored teaching him and how creative and gifted he was… to boot.

She smiled and thanked me…then grew quiet and asked…”Do you have a son named Walsh?” Startled…I nodded and waited to see what her connection to him was…never suspecting the story I was about to hear.

She informed me she was a nurse and was driving through town one long-ago spring day and witnessed a terrible accident…a truck hit a car in the middle of the town’s intersection and she remembered seeing a small child go flying out the car window…landing in Hutchinson Square.

Immediately she went into action…pulling over, parking her car and  running after Walsh who, in a panic, was running all over the park area crying and screaming. As a nurse she was afraid he might have serious neck/ spinal problems and he needed to  lie down.

She finally caught him…had him lie down on the grass and talked to him…  quietly comforting him and reassuring him that help was coming and soon his parents would be with him. She asked him questions to see how cognitive he was and he gave her his name clearly “Walsh” …because she remembered responding that it was a wonderful name and not one you heard all the time.

(She stayed with him until the ambulance came to take all three to the hospital…it would be some time later before the superintendent showed up in my classroom and told me to follow him…he drove me to the hospital….a wonderful man, Mr. Dubose, and then he stayed until he heard the news that the injuries on all three were serious but survivable.)

That Parent Night…I remember listening to Mrs. Gibson’s  story with tears streaming down my face while hugging her…thanking her over and over again…for being there for our family and especially for little Walsh. There are not enough  ‘Thank you’s” in the world for people like Mrs. Gibson. I never would have known the story if God had not intervened and brought us together.

She had done a wonderful deed for my child and now I had the privilege of teaching hers…God is good.

So until tomorrow…Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• Anne told me about this road sign and I thought it would be a perfect “memento” for Brooke and her rotator cusp ordeal- thanks Anne!

Dear Reader:

I am always touched by Steve Hartman’s human interest stories but last week’s touched me even more than usual…it shows how one moment of musical “magic” can touch a child who had been labeled “untouchable” and uncommunicative. The miracle of music…one of God’s “Little Extras” in life (as Archibald Rutledge would label it) isn’t necessary for just mere survival… but yet so powerful it is hard to contemplate a world without it.

A young concertgoer yelled “Wow!” His grandfather was more surprised than anyone. (Steve Hartman)

BOSTON — They are some of the best classical musicians in the country. But at one recent performance by The Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, the most memorable moment didn’t come from anyone on stage at Symphony Hall. It came from the audience, right at the very end of Mozart’s Masonic Funeral Music.

Someone yelled, “Wow!” and it resonated — not just in the hall, but throughout the classical music community. It was just such a departure from typical audience protocol, which is why the president of the Handel and Haydn Society was absolutely thrilled.

“I was like, ‘That’s fantastic,'” said David Snead. “There’s a sense of wonder in that ‘wow.’ You could really hear on the tape he was like, ‘This was amazing.'”

David was so smitten by the outburst, as was the audience, that he decided to try to find the voice responsible. “Who was that? Because he really touched my life in a way that I’ll never forget,” David said.

He decided to write to everyone in the audience. Eventually, that email found its way to concertgoer Stephen Mattin, who was there with his 9-year-old grandson, Ronan.

Ronan is the one who shouted “wow,” which surprised Stephen more than anyone.

“He just doesn’t do that. You know, usually he’s in a world by himself,” Stephen said.

Ronan is autistic and considered non-verbal. But music has always been a wormhole into his heart and mind. As a thank you, David arranged for a private cello performance for Ronan. But Ronan’s family said all thanks should go to David and the Handel and Haydn musicians who made that moment possible.

They said just hearing Ronan’s reaction after being told for years he might never engage — What more can you say… but “thank you,” and “wow”?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

We hear so many stories of how music helps critically brain injured or stroke victims speak again…brings patients out of comas…the miracle of music reaches far beyond just the physical pleasure of hearing it…it heals us at the same time while touching us in our inner souls.

So until tomorrow…“A child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.” ~ Pablo Casals.

The power of “wonder”…Wow!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Vickie came over yesterday and worked like a Trojan horse cutting roots out with an axe…she is one amazing neighbor! After removing all the roots and bamboo stalks…we went to Lowes and got six bags of rocks to cover the area and a few plants to add to the moon flower bedding while planting some impatiens on the shady side near the future bench…*We just have the bench left to to be complete.. but lots of leads and I feel sure one will appear just when it is supposed to….don’t you? (from this angle I took of the first photo it looks like Vickie and I buried something….hummm….we’ll never tell.:)

Libby got home yesterday… much to Libby and Betsy’s utter delight. She looks terrific and our prayers now are for some pain free nights of deep slumber…the best medicine around. Thanks for everyone’s prayers!

*And thanks for the sweet, touching comments/emails several of you made referring back to the messengers who help us through life…you are my messengers!

Our first day (yesterday) with the sun returning… making for a spectacular sunset and serenely soft moon glow last evening.

Dear Reader:

This beautiful piece of prose by Nikita Gill reminds us of all the roles we have played with a diversity of personalities within us….that have taken a lifetime to mold …and if we are really lucky…our clay remains pliable enough to continue creating new roles within each stage of life.

Even though I have always endorsed and cheered on the mantra…”Don’t let your circumstances define who you are”….circumstances certainly play a role in our development…in either positive or negative situations. It is, however, up to us to strive and lean towards the light in our lives that guides us to becoming who we were created to be.

It is has only been lately that I have come to realize the importance of others in the final “product” we turn out to be. At different crossroads in my childhood, youth, young adulthood and older…there has always been someone to help me find my way…these days I can’t help but think they were all carrying out roles God had commissioned them, consciously or unconsciously, to steer me in the right direction.

Circumstances played a major role in my early childhood….the loss of my father at age five and mother’s loss of her left arm to bone cancer at age 6… these circumstances definitely left scars for years inside me that visibly manifested themselves into extreme shyness, exaggerated fears of personal loss, excessive bouts of homesickness, and an introverted personality.

But then came the “messengers” to the rescue…..first my amazing aunts, uncles, and cousins on both sides of my family… my grandmothers…all who tried desperately and relatively successfully, to fill in the voids with their love and generosity of time.

At 10…Mrs. Williams, my fifth grade teacher, would take me on as her personal “do-over” project (aware of my family’s challenges)…I was her personal helper, I was selected for every recognition and award that year…and miraculously… instead of being labeled the ‘teacher’s pet’ and shunned by my classmates…they started looking at me differently…Mrs. Williams was an older, strict disciplinarian, and if she had chosen me…there must be something there.

I came out of my shell, my true personality… hidden for so long behind a facade of timidity and fearfulness, bloomed into a metamorphosis of extroversion. From that grade on…I saw myself differently…as someone special….what a gift Mrs. Williams gave me that year.

At 13…my “messenger” was Pat Richardson and her little boy, Gregory…they lived on the other side of the duplex and she let me come over after school to help with Gregory who I loved as much as his mother…she talked to me about adolescent things I couldn’t talk to mother about….problems at school…she single-handedly helped me survive those difficult middle school years.

I emerged from them still intact and ready to take on high school. *I loved Pat, also, because she loved my younger brother, David, who was struggling under the physical challenges of Marfan’s Syndrome Disease that ended up taking his life at 21.

We had moved to Laurens my freshman year and I was reunited with my cousins…so I was easily accepted into my new environment and thrived there all four years (class officer, cheerleader, etc.) before heading to Erskine College.

And it was there, on the first day of school that my life-altering and life-long “messenger” arrived in the form of my unknown roommate…Brooke….my long-lost  sister growing up in a mirror-look-alike home environment, a parallel life,  who was always upbeat, funny, and taught me to loosen up, not take life so seriously, and always land on my feet.

Once again…circumstances came into play those four years…Brooke losing her mother, being “adopted” emotionally by mine…adored by my whole family…my sister by friendship and love.

To finish out the college experience…Libby and Jackson, our suite mates, completed our circle of friendship….friends forever. Each bringing their personalities and outlooks on life that somehow complimented each of our own personalities…making us complete and accepted …true friendship. (Our “honky-tonk” days! 🙂

Marriages, children, jobs….all came and went in a blur of busyness and daily challenges…but through it all…also came love, family, and friendships to connect us to the world and each other through the thick and thin times of life.

And now….now I am happier than I have ever been….a proud mother and grandmother (five times over-adorable grandchildren)…blessed beyond measure with amazing friends, neighbors, as well as, time finally to follow my own passions…writing and gardening.

So no matter when or how the story ends…it will always conclude that “I lived happily ever after”…because that is the way we should live every day of our lives…happily ever after.

So until tomorrow… “Remember our bones have grown, but what made them has never changed.” (God, our Creator, remains the one true constant, the compass in our lives…sending out messengers to keep us traveling true north.)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

The Turners left Tuesday for Disney World and the Dingles returned yesterday from Fripp Island…in spite of the rain and in between showers they managed to hang out at the pool and beach and had a wonderful time!