Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Occasionally I like to look back in the blogs and see what was going on in my life and thoughts on the exact day the year before. It never ceases to surprise me how many events have transpired in a year. Many times… it is things I never saw coming. (Thank goodness!)

On October 2, 2015 I  found a little story about the different forms of love…it doesn’t have to always be auditory….visual works well too.

“Unspoken Love”

Emily knew when she married Dave that he was a man of few words. Their marriage was a strong one but both did have their own opinions…like when it came to roses. Dave had little use for rose bushes and Emily treasured them.

Dave felt like they demanded too much tedious care ( pruning, spraying, mulching, and fertilizing) while Emily considered every minute of their care well worth the results…and the fragrance.

One winter Emily fell in love with the idea of an English rose garden while going through a catalogue, she worked hard setting it up in the spring and diligently watered all summer.

It was in the fall that she began to feel pain in her lower stomach. Day by day it increased in intensity until she was forced to see a doctor. After several tests she got the call to come in for the results and bring her husband.

She had colon cancer. The plan was surgery first followed by six months of chemotherapy.

She only had a week to let her family and friends know before the surgery took place. A month later she was home and lying on the sofa listening to the weather report. Possible snow and bitter cold temperatures.

“Oh no” Emily moaned, “I never did get the roses mulched.”

Dave said nothing, but following the weather forecast, the practical handyman said, “I’d better go winterize the outside faucets” and headed towards the garage.

A few minutes later, Emily hobbled to the kitchen sink for a glass of water and noticed Dave in the back yard where her roses were planted. He was carefully heaping mulch around every rose plant.

She smiled and watched her quiet husband say, “I love you.” Sometimes words aren’t needed at all.

………………………….

By the time you read this today the children and I will probably be up and ‘at-em.’ Fixing breakfast, straightening up, and playing…it is what we do best. My hope for everyone is that you have had an opportunity to get out and enjoy this beautiful weekend.

Will catch everyone up on the highlights tomorrow of time just spent loving and being!

So until tomorrow….Enjoy love in whatever form it takes…it is the most powerful force in the world.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*In less than two week Legally Pink will be at it again…and I can’t tell you how happy I am to be able to participate again this year.

This year I would love to exceed our initial goal of $1000 and take it way over the top….thanks to everyone who has helped us in this endeavor and for others who plan to help. Legally Pink sends hugs and kisses.

***RACE FOR THE CURE – Saturday, 10/15/16.  Gates open at 7:00.  Participate in a morning filled with hope, love and strength as we lace up to run breast cancer out of town!

http://lowcountry.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/CHS_LowcountryAffiliate?px=13398752&pg=personal&fr_id=6459

To mail in a donation, please make checks payable to:
Susan G. Komen® Lowcountry
50 Folly Road Blvd. | Charleston, SC 29407
Phone: (843) 556-8011
Email: [email protected]

Dear Reader:

This will be a little short blog entry today because I want to play with my grandchildren (Tigger included of course) all day! It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

And of course…since it is the first day of a new month…I hope everyone remembers to say “Rabbit” for good luck. *I am beginning to think I must have forgotten that little tidbit, myself, last month as things got pretty wacky and unexpectedly crazy.

But not today….“Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit”!!!!!

I remembered the cute episode of Winnie the Pooh with the beginning of autumn and falling leaves…anybody else remember?

It’s the first day of Autumn! – Winnie the Poohs Grand Adventure (1 minute) Click on!

This poem by Robert Frost has grown on me, with me, as I have grown older because of the metaphor of falling leaves and human years. Frost wants badly to remain with his children and grandchildren…for the “grapes sake” …to watch them grow and mature! I can definitely relate!

*(He entreats the leaves to fall slowly, “for the grapes’ sake.”   The grapes are a metaphor for his children. Fruit is a frequent symbol for offspring, such as in God’s instruction to be fruitful. Anyway, the poem’s speaker is not ready to leave his children. He still feels connected to them, they are still part of his vine. It’s possible he feels they have not ripened or reached maturity.)

October – by Robert Frost

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

………………………………

So until tomorrow…Let’s all go play in God’s Biggest Playground today and laugh the day away!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower” -Albert Camus

This beautiful quote  is so true. In the autumn we just trade the beauty of flowers…for leaves…glorious leaves of every color!

“Big Red” has had a few bumps in the road with soft-wearied stems that break easily,  but just in the last few weeks I have noticed a change and for the first time three healthy-looking big, red blooms have emerged. Since I look on “Big Red” as a personal health indicator …this has been a much-needed improvement relief!

“Big Red” is still hanging in there with me! The bench would be so empty without it….I can’t remember a time when “Big Red” didn’t sit on the white front porch bench….it has been there since May 2008. The same amount of time I have been fighting breast cancer (it was given to me as a gift after my initial diagnosis)…and this loyal geranium has never deserted me.

I have to keep cutting back large stems of leaves (which I hate doing) but “Big Red” likes to grow out instead of up so eventually the weight of the stems start breaking and pulling loose from its foundation.

*I find myself doing the same thing these days… slumping more…instead of sitting and standing up straight and tall. I am now consciously, stopping and making myself do better. It really changes one’s whole appearance when we do throw back our shoulders and look the world straight in the eyes! (Mother was right!)

And speaking of eyes...I finished  my last appointment (concerning the cataract surgery) with my ophthalmologist, Dr. Leslie Scarlett yesterday. I got a good report and a good send-off! I didn’t even get a prescription because I don’t need eye glasses to see or read or anything else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My eyes look “perfect.”

A big check-off  from this medical undertaking ….now I need to get the same check-off for “little c”…that is my goal..one day…one day…everything will look “perfect”!

The nice thing about planting mums is that if a branch breaks off…then you have a lovely little flower arrangement.

In Summerville we know autumn has arrived with the opening of the Lincolnville Pumpkin Patch. I passed it on my way to my eye appointment, pulled over, and took a picture!

Once I pulled on to Ladson road the train caught me and I had to wait for it to pass. Anne called and I said I could talk because it was a long train. And it was!

After the rail bars finally lifted to let the traffic start flowing again…it was really congested and I got stuck behind a truck…I glanced at my Iphone and started getting nervous that I was going to be late for my appointment. My toes and fingers started tapping in anxiousness . I thought “If only that truck would turn so I could get past it and on down the road. ”

Another God Wink…I read the sign on the back of the truck and laughed….I made my appointment on time and I was smiling when I got there.

When I got home there was a letter addressed to Anne and me from the director of the Dorchester DSS. I called Anne, she was actually just a few miles away running errands, and she came over for us to read it. She had had a tough day and this letter lifted both of us up high!

Dear Ms. Dingle and Ms. Peterson, 

First, let me start off by saying thank you for all that you have done for the citizens of Dorchester County. I have personally witnessed how your acts of kindness have brought joy to those that come to visit the Dorchester County DSS office. Often times, these people are not visiting the office under the best of circumstances and to be met by the two of you offering “cold water and warm cookies” truly does brighten up their day.

The Dorchester County Department of Social Services would gladly welcome the two of you returning for another season of passing out cold water and warm cookies to citizens visiting the office. 

Sincerely, John Dunne

……………………..

“The Good Lord Willing and the Creek don’t Rise” we will be there next May through August. Perhaps bottled spring water really is the “living waters.”

I told Dr. Scarlett that this Fall will be the prettiest one yet….with my new “eyes” and the light shining in. I discovered this most unusual stained glass of autumn leaves and loved it-wanted to share with you!

So until tomorrow…Let’s open our hearts and eyes to the second season of spring….Fall with all its glorious leaves!

“Today is my favorite day!” Winnie the Pooh

Happy Birthday John! To my favorite son-in-law! I hope you and Mandy have a wonderful birthday weekend in Asheville! Tigger, Eva Cate, Jakie and I will play play play the time away!

*The Fall season also means class pictures and Mandy sent me Eva Cate’s class photo last night. I know I am a “peacock” grandmother…but that is the cutest first grade picture of my precious girl…that I can see even better this year!

*It is one of those rare times in life when we can actually “see” time…class pictures!

Dear Reader:

When I looked up the term “Belonging” yesterday…the word “Belonginess” was right beside it. (I don’t ever recollect using that term but, instead, using belonging to cover everything that went with its definition.)

“Belonginess” expands the term….Webster dictionary defines it as:

Belongingness is the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers, or a sports team, humans tend to have an ‘inherent’ desire to belong and be an important part of something greater than themselves. This implies a relationship that is greater than simple acquaintance or familiarity. The need to belong is the need to give, and receive attention to, and from, others.

I have noticed while watching my grandchildren grow and interact with their peers in pre-schools and now elementary grades that finding and having at least one friend or friends is the most important thing in a child’s life. Feeling left out is the most terrible feeling of all. “Belonginess” trumps grades, teacher approval, good behavior awards…it is the deciding factor whether a child likes school or not.

Again and again as we watch senseless acts of violence on television we can almost guess, before the research into the instigator’s life is revealed, that the culprit was probably a loner, angry at society for his non-acceptance by others… and finally taking out on  society what he perceives as his peers and even the universe’s rejection of him.

Belonginess is essential in our life!

Well-known psychologists Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary argue that belongingness is such a fundamental human motivation that we feel severe consequences of not belonging. If it wasn’t so fundamental, then lack of belonging wouldn’t have such dire consequences on society. This desire is so universal that the need to belong is found across all cultures and different types of people.

When “Poppy” (Mr. Dingle) died a few years ago, Eva Cate (in blue) was still pretty little and didn’t quite understand what his funeral service was all about…but she learned something new she didn’t know and she was so delighted.

The whole Dingle “clan” of children and young people were told to sit on the stage in the reception room where adults could figure out (in many cases for the first time) the names of all the cousins and who they belonged to…while snapping photos rapidly for posterity.

Eva Cate beamed and beamed when she realized that all these new “friends” were actually family and she belonged in that family with all of them. It was that sense of belonging to something bigger than herself that had her in a state of euphoria. (I think Poppy would have loved that…)

*Eva Cate told me a few months ago that she was lonely before Jakie came….she liked having a brother. And to think we thought the “Queen” would not be happy sharing the family with another sibling…instead she wanted a bigger family and she got little brother Jakie.

We only have to look at nature to realize that interdependence is the glue that holds life, as we know it, together on our planet. Without any of God’s other creations we would feel the effect, the loss through invisible ties to everything on this planet.

Michele Robertson sent me a devotional she came across the other day and thought I would enjoy reading it since I mention interdependence and my firm belief in it regularly on the blog. Here are a few fascinating excerpts from the article.

Connection: The Truth of Interdependence by Madisyn Taylor

The author of this article states that we can pick up a single leaf from a tree and see the interdependence we all rely on in this universe. It is just that simple…and just that complex!

A leaf transforms the elements of its environment—sunlight, carbon dioxide, rain—into nourishment for its tree. This beautiful, nearly weightless, ephemeral piece of nature is a vital conduit to the branch that is a conduit to the trunk that is a conduit to the roots of the tree. The roots, in turn, draw nourishment from the earth to feed the trunk, the branches, and the leaves.

The living beings that inhale the oxygen that comes from this process exhale the carbon dioxide that feeds the leaves through which the tree is fed. It is difficult to know where one cycle ends and another one begins.

One of the many gifts that nature offers us is a clear demonstration of the interdependence between all living things. The person who exhales the carbon dioxide, the clouds that produce the rain, the sun that gives light, the leaf that transforms all these things into sustenance for a tree—not one of these could survive without being part of this cycle.

Each living being is dependent upon other living things for its survival. When we look at the world, we see that this is not a place where different beings survive independently of one another. Earth is home to a web of living things that are connected to each other through a spinning kaleidoscope of relationships. We need each other to survive and thrive.

………………………

Surely there is a reason that God made our very survival dependent on everything and everyone He created in this beautiful world! We aren’t  meant to go it alone without the help of friends, family, and supporters.

Albert Einstein once said: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more man!

To me the saddest part about people’s lives who do feel alone and not connected is that no one told them that every single person’s life is important in the big picture of eternity….we, each, have a role to play, a piece of the puzzle that won’t fit if we don’t contribute our talents to it to help others. We are never alone…God won’t let us be if we just reach out to Him for friendship and unconditional love.

So until tomorrow…let us always tell the people who share our time on earth to “lean on me” and I will “lean on you.” Together we can make a difference.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Last year, 2015, brought two new “strollers” to the race….it was Jakie’s and Lachlan’s first Race for the Cure! (The year before Jakie was just three weeks old and missed it….so he and Lachlan got to experience their first race together.)

*Again, thank you all who have contributed thus far to our team “Legally Pink” …We are excited about participating, even more so this year with the sudden re-appearance of recent health challenges…but again I think of the interdependence of the medical world I live in….from the researchers, to the market, to the doctors and nurses, to the patient, to his/her family and friends…we are all people living with cancer,  whether within our own bodies or through the bodies of friends and family we care about.

My t-shirt last year will be worn again this year because its message is universally sound.

And of course the last link always connects back to God…the perfect circle of love. And that is why we walk, we run, we skip and hop at the Race for the Cure...so we can give families a chance to keep love alive!

***RACE FOR THE CURE – Saturday, 10/15/16.  Gates open at 7:00.  Participate in a morning filled with hope, love and strength as we lace up to run breast cancer out of town!

http://lowcountry.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/CHS_LowcountryAffiliate?px=13398752&pg=personal&fr_id=6459

To mail in a donation, please make checks payable to:
Susan G. Komen® Lowcountry
50 Folly Road Blvd. | Charleston, SC 29407
Phone: (843) 556-8011
Email: [email protected]

Dear Reader:

As the month winds down here in the next few days…I feel like I have been celebrating birthdays and life all month….and actually I have!

September has brought some “Boo Hoo” lows, filled with “BooBoo Owies“… but also some “Boo-ti-ful” moments that I will cherish forever!

I am quickly becoming a collector of all things “Boo!” …and I love it! Every fall, now for my birthday, I get at least one new “Boo” item for my garden, yard, or house and I can hardly wait to display it!

*Nothing sounds better in life these days than a little voice calling me on the phone  saying “I love you Boo Boo!” which Rutledge did Monday to spur me on to victory with my oncology appointment! Little sweetie!

So yesterday I went around the house taking pictures of as many “BOO’S” as I could find…come join me in the hunt on the deck and garden!

The beautiful golden orange day lilies are putting on a Fall Show in the garden these days!

And now the hunt goes inside: Boo’s, Boo’s and more Boo’s!

“Ghoulie the Boo”….that I got for my birthday! Thanks Colby!!!

BUT…the cutest little “Boo” was waiting for us in downtown Charleston….and when we got there we climbed some old creaky stairs and saw a little “ghost” looking white bundle… until he turned around with his mouth wide open….what was it…it WAS, it WAS! Lee and Vikki’s little RHODES BENJAMIN!!!!!

He wasn’t scary at all…he was adorable, happy, and quite content!

Now and then he would peek out to listen to his mother sing or look around at his great-aunt and grand daddy, grandmother, and great -grandmother. He was surrounded by love!

Rhodes got his name from the Greek Isle where Vikki’s family’s origin begins (on her father’s side) and Benjamin for my brother Ben (Grand-dad)…Left to right: Ben, YaYa,(Vikki’s grandmother),  Lee, Vikki, Rhodes, and Joanie, Vikki’s mother.

Rhodes’ great-grandmother (YaYa) has been hard at work on the baby quilt….what a lucky little boy he is!

So until tomorrow….When a Boo “Blessing” comes your way….hold it, love it, sing to it, and whisper its name softly….”Rhodes Benjamin welcome to this “BOO-ti-ful” world now that  you are in it!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Ben and I ended our wonderful excursion to see my grand-nephew and Ben’s grandson with a bowl of she-crab soup at Oscars and a toast of wine to new life and the love of family!

*Susan, Rhode’s other grandmother, stopped by and brought me a birthday present…or presents I should say….a most beautiful candle holder and candles plus a pumpkin linen cloth….love it all! So great catching up Susan!

Dear Reader:

Don’t you love this Alice in Wonderland quote? And don’t you remember how as children we could go from playing a witch to a princess to a pirate to a dancer….all in one short morning? We had no fear of ever being stuck in one simple category… especially one that we let define who we were. Children are so much more in touch and in tune with themselves than most adults around them.

At some point in our lives growing up…the Boogey-Man of our childhood becomes transformed into the “reality destroyer” of our dreams and hopes for our lives. We are told through assessments, evaluations, and verbal conversations that we should eliminate this or that vocational choice from our dreams….the scores or other determining criteria just don’t match up to the requirements.

That is the day we see the “light” start to go out of students’ eyes….For the first time they see themselves as less than others and not “good enough” to pursue their earlier childhood dreams.

My crushing moment was when I hit chemistry and advanced math in which I was absolutely, equally terrible…and I, slowly, realized that my dream of being a nurse like the  Sue Barton and the Cherry Ames Nursing Series was not to be for me.

(When I was growing up nursing comprised the most popular female vocational roles in young, female adolescent literature… in the first half of the 20th century.)

I ended up in teaching and history by default…so that is why I know there is a God…without Him, literally, pushing me on to the right path I would have been completely lost. Initially I was not a willing participant. It took me a few years to get my ‘feet wet’ before it dawned on me…like Brer Rabbit and the Briar Patch...that I had ended up just where I belonged.

I used Gin-g’s advice yesterday on my visit to Dr. Silgals’ office for his opinion on where we are now with “little c” and what he thinks we should do at this point. Gin-g had called on my way last Monday to Dr. Litton, my surgeon’s appointment to find out the surgical margins results. She told me to keep repeating “Be still and know that I am God” because God will be speaking through His instrument…in this case His medical instrument-Dr. Litton. (He did!)

Earlier yesterday (before I left for my oncology appointment)  I felt like Alice in Wonderland changing roles on the hour….first expectant and optimistic, subdued and doubtful, “But and What If” and finally “Be Still and Know that I am God.” 

I was somewhat pensive going in…but once again, the conversation quickly changed as I told Dr. Silgals about the crazy roller coaster ride I had been on since seeing him last, with all the surgeries, the waiting game, and the final results discussed with Dr. Litton the week before.

We both really laughed when I told Dr. Silgals that my friends and family were so appreciative of his immediate action with the spot on my chest and his decision to get it checked out. Everyone was curious as to why he suddenly thought something might not be quite right with the innocuous pink spot that had been there for quite awhile.

He thought a minute and said, “Well…I just got tired of looking at it.” 

“Ah, I replied, the immortal words of wisdom from my oncologist that will, no doubt, go down in the annals of medical history” and we both broke out laughing.

It feels good to laugh and let all the built-up strain tumble out, doesn’t it? Dr. Silgals and Dr. Litton are on the same wave length in that Dr. Silgals doesn’t think we will go with radiation at this point and time but simply continue on the medicine that still seems to be keeping “little c” in check and hope and pray this containment keeps on keeping on. Isn’t that what life is about….keeping on, keeping on?

I suppose I could look at it as living on “borrowed time” but then aren’t we all, from the time we take our first breath, living on borrowed time?

So until tomorrow…On a “wing and a prayer” we are going to continue with the medicine that has kept “little c” from spreading, thus far, and has allowed me to still be able to come and go as I wish…as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday I showed pictures of Jakie dancing….John used a program that animates the dancing and it was so cute I wanted to share it with you.

http://giphy.com/gifs/l2SpRr85zJKW60kiQ

* Believe me none of these latest medical going-on’s have lessened my appetite….My friend and neighbor Jane wanted to take me to lunch for my birthday this week and I called her as I was leaving my appointment and said, “Even with this deluge I feel like celebrating…why don’t we do it today?” So we did…ending with Oscars yummy birthday dessert!

*I have so many wonderful things coming up on my life agenda that I have little patience for any more medical “Wrinkles in Time.” I hope the wrinkles can all be smoothed out for awhile and get back to a more comfortable “norm.”

*After all there will be a wedding coming up in the forseeable future and as the groom’s mother I must remember to follow my friend, Kathy Boyd’s advice, when it comes to my dressing and acting at the wedding (she must have read this from an Erma Bombeck excerpt-sounds just like her)…“I was told the groom’s mother should wear an ugly brown dress and keep her mouth shut! Period!” (It’s just two things to remember….I know I can do this!)

Kaitlyn gave me this softest material for my birthday that can be worn as a shawl or simply wrapped around one’s shoulders for warmth…or like I did Sunday night add it to my bed covers. Thank you Kaitlyn…I look forward to wrapping up in it and reading. I love it Kaitlyn.

Dear Reader:

Aren’t there some days we feel down deep,  in our soul and spirit, are going to be just plain magical days…a bench mark in our life before it even happens?

That day was Saturday, September 24….Jakie’s and my birthday!

From the moment I walked into the house Saturday morning Mandy and John had outdone themselves decorating and setting up an amazing brunch for an amazing bunch… of family!

“Witches Allowed Who Can Party On!” Thanks Mollie….and see where she is now!

There were so many toys that all the children had plenty to play with….it was everybody’s birthday.

Jakie danced for joy over and over and over….that boy loves to dance…especially for his cousins!

• More photos of the crowd are hopefully coming with different picture-takers….so much going on I missed getting around to everyone.

Part I of the Dynamic Duo Day had come to a close….we got Jakie down for a nap and the rest of us decided to do the same….everyone slept except Eva Cate who watched television and played while the rest of us napped. If I could just zap a little bit of her energy…she’s like the Energizer Bunny!

The babysitter came later….and we were all dressed up with somewhere to go….The Oaks. I can tell you right now it was the best meal I have ever had…or at least had in a long, long time!

*When I spend the night with Eva Cate we always hold hands going to sleep. Saturday night or early Sunday morning I went to get up to go to the restroom….and out of the corner of my eyes I saw Eva Cate sit up too. I thought she was awake and asked her if she needed to use the restroom too…but she just flopped back down, sound asleep, and I felt our hands release. We were still holding hands at 2 something in the morning. Love holding hands while falling asleep!

When I got home yesterday around lunchtime I started putting cards and some of my gifts up around the room when Lassie and Steve dropped by with some Fall mums for me. I think that is when it hit me again….my sign that stands at the end of my bedroom hall: This birthday has far surpassed anything I could have dreamed about….but the best part was sharing it with loved ones.

This last card was an original oil painting from Joan Turner…so talented! She also gave me a beautiful organic necklace, the cross on the table (photo above) and another lowcountry framed scene. Unbelievable! The talents in our family just blow me away…everyone has their creative side which always delights me to see.

I can never thank all of you enough for the cards of encouragement these past few weeks and then turning other ones into birthday cards, food, flowers, seeds, paintings, and so many meaningful gifts and surcies.

I was blown away by the Facebook “Happy Birthdays”…I responded to some early Saturday morning before I left but it grew so overwhelming during my birthday Saturday….last count over 200 Happy Birthday’s… it will take me awhile just to scroll through them…but just let me tell you that all of it filled my heart to overflowing.

So until tomorrow I know God loves me everyday….and this goes for You and You and You! Never forget it. God loves all His children and if we keep in tune with God we witness it every day!

Dear Reader:

Isn’t it wonderful that life is never dull? Today Jakie and I share a birthday together and we are literally sharing it side by side…dividing the day in half.

A brunch birthday at 10:00 a.m. for Jakie and his “Little Blue Truck” birthday party starts the day with family and little cousins. He is turning 2…and I am not.

After the party I am staying on and hopefully we can rest a little before we get ready, later in the afternoon, and head to the Oaks for my birthday dinner! I am beyond excited! Adults only!

When I turned sixty the “kids” told me we were going there but surprised me instead with a “surprise birthday party” with old friends and new friends and family on Daniel Island in a big entertainment room near Walsh’s condo.

I remember it was there I made the announcement that I had just learned I was going to be a grandmother for the first time! (Eva Cate was ‘still in the oven’!) Wow…so hard to believe! (I was not quite two years into my continuing cancer fight at the time…I was diagnosed when I was 58)

So it has taken awhile to get to the Oaks but here I come! And nobody is happier to turn another year older than me! (Isn’t the building so “Charlestonese”?)

*I remember a couple of years ago when the American Cancer Society started their Birthday Campaign advertisements. They always made me tear up…but this year I am just so happy to be alive and having a birthday!

Anthem: More Birthdays Movement (Long Version) – YouTube

…And when the singing begins today…I, too, will look upon this song with a different perspective…it is a Victory Song!

KEITH URBAN – YouTube

Now if this isn’t enough excitement for one day….let’s do sprinkle in some more! Yesterday afternoon my nephew Lee and his beautiful wife, Vikki, became the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy. (I really thought for awhile there he was going to join Jakie and me on the 24th.)

But according to Mother Goose and her nursery rhyme…“Friday’s child is loving and giving” whereas, if he had waited, he would have been a Saturday’s child (like I was actually) and had “to work hard for a living” which I did! So Friday worked out beautifully…and with two such musically gifted parents…he shares his birthday with the likes of Ray Charles and Bruce Springsteen. Not bad at all!

I am especially happy our newest addition to the family shares the zodiac sign of the scales- Libra- (Sept 23-Oct 22) with Jakie and myself. (Even-tempered….strives to live a balanced life and is very creative!) We are the three amigos! 

So none of us (and as Vikki discovered yesterday – I feel sure- giving natural birth) know how strong we are until we find ourselves in situations that call for strength and in God we find it.

Great team work yesterday Lee and Vikki! Lee told me that Vikki is his “hero.” A long labor but she hung in there the whole time.

Psalm 46:1  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (and good times!)

(*Will have photos of latest family addition soon…but want to respect Lee, Vikki, and Baby’s time alone to get to know each other for right now.)

So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for continuing life and for new life…both are miracles from You!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Sometimes, in the Fall, I think I hear the flowers, plants, and trees sighing…for many the end is near and most are ready for it. It is time to rest for the winter and prepare for the spring when life starts over again.

There is one little special story I have told before in the blog, because it is one of my “Fall Favorites”  having stuck with me for many years. It was first told as a children’s story about Fall and changing, falling leaves…but the adult version was more about the importance of “letting go”  and giving God the reins in this life and the next. A Fall hasn’t passed since hearing the story that I don’t remember the day I first heard it. Enjoy!

One day, as I was walking by a second grade classroom in a school where I had been doing some teacher evaluations (when I worked at the district office, heading up the Social Studies program) I heard the children excitedly calling for their teacher to come see their “Abigail” leaf. My curiosity was hooked. What was an “Abigail” leaf I wondered.

So I stepped inside, smiled at the teacher as she was scurrying from one student to the next with their excited hands extended into the air wanting to show her their leaves they had brought from home… and for others… colored leaves they were making from construction paper.

“I wanted to come in and find out what an “Abigail” leaf is” I told the teacher with a wink…you caught my curiosity! The teacher called on one little boy, who was wildly waving his hand in excitement, “It is a leaf that doesn’t want to let go in the Fall because it is scared of being all alone,” the child said proudly.

The teacher then asked the class if it was okay to tell the story again for “our guest” (me) so I could hear it too. They all nodded and said “Yes” excitedly!

As the teacher began the story… the only sound you could hear was scissors cutting paper, leaves from home fluttering from the desks, and glue being squeezed from tubes. A large bare-branched tree had been made and placed on the front bulletin board…it appeared to be waiting on the children’s  leaves to join it.

“The name of our story today, children, is “Abigail, the Anxious Leaf.” Suddenly all the activity stopped as the children waited expectantly for the story to begin.

…Once upon a time a little leaf name Abigail was heard to sigh and cry, as leaves often do when a gentle wind blows. And the twig asked, “What is the matter Abigail?” And Abigail replied, “The wind just told me that one day it will pull me right off this tree and throw me down on the ground where I will be left all alone…tattered and torn.”

The twig told the branch on which it grew and then the branch told the tree. And when the tree heard it, it rustled all over, and sent back word to the little leaf “Do not be afraid. Hold on tightly, and you shall not go until you are ready… and then you will willingly let go.”

Abigail was still a little “anxious”so she held on tightly whenever the wind blew and she grew stronger with time…to the point that she thought nothing could ever pull her off. And so it went all summer long…until October.

And when the bright days of autumn came Abigail saw all the leaves around her becoming very beautiful. Some were yellow, some scarlet, and some striped with both colors.

She then sent word through her friend Twig, to his friend Branch, to the Tree that she wondered what was happening to the leaves with all the bright colors. Tree sent her a message:

“All these leaves are getting ready to fly away, and they have put on these beautiful colors because of the joy they feel about their upcoming new adventure.”

Slowly Abigail began to realize that she didn’t want to be the only dull-colored leaf left all by herself on the barren tree…she wanted to be pretty and joyful too…so she began to grow more beautiful each day  because of the way she now thought about things…about letting go. There was a special aura around her and she shone like gold.

One morning as she looked down, the fallen leaves looked so beautiful around the tree that she leaned farther out as a strong wind suddenly blew. Without even realizing what she was doing she freely let go of the branch.

Suddenly she began whirling and twirling like a spark of fire in the air…until she was gently placed among her friends in a pile of leaves at the edge of a fence. Everyone was so happy to be back together at last. Abigail tingled with joy and with the warmth of so much love …more than she had ever felt before.

Sometimes letting go, she realized, is the best thing that can happen to an anxious leaf...a whole new world of possibilities awaited her and she happily began to play with her new friends.

…………………………………

The teacher then asked the children what they thought the lesson in the story was all about. A little girl, with long pigtails, replied:” “Sometimes letting go of what you know is the way to make new friends and see new places.”

I smiled, waved good-bye to the teacher with a thumbs-up signal and another wink to her as some of the children began gluing their leaves to the tree branches while others glued their leaf falling to the ground.

So until tomorrow: What a wonderful story, what a wonderful lesson for a seven-year- old or a seventy-year-old. When we let go in life don’t we also reap the benefits of new possibilities in our lives here on Earth… and the next?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

The doorbell rang yesterday afternoon and there was a package from Honey…a birthday package using all her God-given talents/pottery to bring Fall indoors for me. Thank you so much Honey…the definition of the word generous!

Earlier I met Anne for lunch at Oscars and she treated me out for my birthday and gave me a card with a package of giant daffodil seeds in it….saying there were more where that package came from…Just think about the location you want (she said) and she will come plant them…Daffodils and rebirth…the perfect flower to remember this birthday! …And the seeds didn’t come alone… a little rabbit arrived inside the card too…one that you will see hiding all around the garden in the days ahead.  Too creative Anne!! Love it.

*Three Weeks from tomorrow, October 15, “Legally Pink” will be walking/running/skipping/hopping our way through the race. I want to take a moment from these past three crazy weeks to stop and thank so many of you who have already donated to our team. I want this race to be our best yet….and I want to give it my all! I hope many of you can do the same. I am just plain sick of cancer and its uninvited, over-stayed lack of manners. Be gone!

In 2013 Rutledge made his first appearance at the Race for the Cure!

***RACE FOR THE CURE – Saturday, 10/15/16.  Gates open at 7:00.  Participate in a morning filled with hope, love and strength as we lace up to run breast cancer out of town!

http://lowcountry.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/CHS_LowcountryAffiliate?px=13398752&pg=personal&fr_id=6459

To mail in a donation, please make checks payable to:
Susan G. Komen® Lowcountry
50 Folly Road Blvd. | Charleston, SC 29407
Phone: (843) 556-8011
Email: [email protected]

Dear Reader:

“All good things come to those who wait” and goodness knows we all have waited long enough for this most popular season of all to arrive-Fall!

If you are an early bird you might be able to say you witnessed “Fall fall” because one prediction puts it arriving at 7:30 this morning. Unfortunately none of us will really be able to “see” the equinox but hopefully we can “feel” it.

Yesterday I ran over to Belk when it was still overcast and drizzling. Suddenly the coolest breeze began to blow in the parking lot and I thought “It’s coming, it’s coming…I can feel it…Fall is about to descend on us.”

 I realize we still have some hot, humid days ahead but just glimpses of fall can keep us going…filled with anticipation! The clock is ticking and we are all waiting. (Actually I have gotten so good at this “game” (waiting) that I am becoming quite adept at it.

I have just finished my latest novel and felt kind of sad without my character friends around any more. I went on Pinterest to look at fall decorating ideas and suddenly this list of  emotions people feel but can’t explain popped up in the form of new words created for each unique feeling.

I was captivated…you know how I feel about words…a wordsmith at heart….learning a new word can make the day for me….and to attach a new word to a remote feeling that is actually universal was prodigious beyond my wildest dreams! For example:

VELLICHOR: (N) The strange wistfulness of used book stores. 

Wow! This is so true. Every time I go in a quaint little book store, off the beaten path, I revel in the sights and smells of old books in wait for someone to love them and take them home to read. A feeling of wistfulness and almost homesickness sweeps over me….a sort of deja vu feeling like I have been there before.

RUBATOSIS (N) The unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat.

Last week I noticed this exact scenario a couple of nights….the sudden acceleration of my heartbeats. It is not a comfortable feeling. It sounds deafening when you do become aware of your own heart beating. (Though I will take the noise over silence…if you know what I mean)

Jouska (n) A hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your head.

Wow…this word nailed last week. Every day I would play out the conversation I would have with my surgeon during my appointment last Monday and yet when the time came it didn’t play out the way I had envisioned at all…it was a warm, engaging conversation with plenty of laughter. No tissues and forlorn faces.

CHRYSALISM (N) Amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm

I have loved being able to stay at home the past two days…no medical appointments and enjoy the rain and showers. It is the most wonderful feeling in the world to be safe and sound in one’s bed with the covers pulled up and hear the distant rumble of thunder and catch glimpses of the far-off lightning. I just curl up tighter and thank God for the blessings I have…refuge from the storm! (My bedroom is right off the deck so I can hear the rain pattering on wooden planks….so lovely!)

Every now and then I think I will add another of these words in the blog….to me the word isn’t as important as the realization that we are not alone in these feelings.

I loved this picture because it symbolizes one of our greatest fears…falling instead of flying…failing instead of succeeding. It takes several falls to realize that this is the only way to discover the right direction in our lives that will send us flying high along our chosen path. A different kind of “Fall.”

So until tomorrow…Let us make time to enjoy our most popular season….Fall…taking in all five senses of each seasonal gift of life.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Linda’s (Karges-Bone) “Bread of life”… and is it ever! I went to check the mail Tuesday afternoon and I could smell it before I opened the mailbox….walked right back home…spread the warm bread with butter and jam….best supper I have had in awhile. Thank you Linda!

*Ging-g gave me a birthday surprise… we went for ice cream, listened to the music of  Broadway musical “Beautiful, ” we sang, went to Tractor Supply and Gin-g helped me with my old computer. A diverse list of activities but all fun with Ging-g! (Flowers and a Boo pillow!)

So until tomorrow….I am “Booing” Off!

HELLO FALL AND WELCOME! WE HAVE WAITED A LONG, LONG TIME FOR YOU…PLEASE STAY AS LONG AS YOU WISH AND MORE!!!

Our “Darling from Dubai” Ambika, wrote that they have saying- it goes like this: “Live life bigger, not just longer.” So my friend live your life King Size. (I certainly will Ambika… as big as I can!)