Words from the Heart

All Souls Day - Church Cemetery - Bangladesh - Wikimedia CC The words "in memorium" often grace the cards they hand out at wakes in New England. When I was a child, we called them Holy Cards and collected them much like the way some people collect baseball cards.  Collecting them served two purposes, although I am not sure any of us kids were really aware of them. First, having a cared that memorialized someone assured the family that this person would not be forgotten. Second, the cards often displayed classic religious paintings and poetry, both of which we ended up memorizing after so many times of staring at the cards. One of my favorite pictures was that of a Guardian Angel guarding over two children as the crossed a rickety bridge of a swollen stream. This was a card from the funeral of a child who died of pneumonia before we had penicillin.  Today is all Soul's Day - a day of remembrance - a day to offer a prayer or light a candle for those who h...

  Gray Winter Garden January 2007   Seven years ago this past January, I began this blog as part of a teacher training I was taking.  Looking back over the past seven years, so much has happened.  Reading the first blog entry I ever created made me smile, especially after this VERY snowy winter.  In spite of that, it seems that there is still much truth in what I wrote.  Let me share it with you, again.   After living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I never thought I would be depressed because it hasn't snowed! The lack of white stuff here in New England is so disheartening. What is it about snow that makes most people feel good? Could it be that the sparkling flakes create a fantasy world in the sunshine or moonlight? Or, is it that the child in us longs to run headlong into a snow drift rolling over, arms waving madly, to create a snow angel? It is gray out at the moment. It feels as if the world is in limbo. Nature isn't dea...

Easters from the past - moments captured in time as we stand in our Sunday best.  How the years have flown since I was the little girl with the cute hat and big smile.  Now, I enjoy my grandchildren, not always on Easter, but close enough.   E aster Memories - The Neas Family at Castle Island 1963   Easter with my brothers - 1963 My Mom and Girls - Easter 1984 Cold and windy Easter week with grandchildren 2012 May the grace of this season of renewal and rebirth wrap you in hope and joy.  Namasté!

The sentiment of our nation has changed greatly over the past 50 years.  Back in 1960, I attended my first Veterans Day service.  The Girl Scouts, my troop and others,  marched in line with the Boy Scouts, the Fire and Police.  We hung wreaths on street signs along the way to the old graveyard, which dating back to the Revolutionary War. The streets along the way were lined with people who clapped, taking off their hats and covering their hearts as the flag passed by.  At some point, someone read a Veterans Day poem.  I think it was, "Flanders Field." Everyone got red poppies to wear. Then, the 70's hit, dividing our country and splintering families, communities and lives.  For each advance we made during that time, we lost something, too.  Assassinations became commonplace, war could be fought from the comfort of the couch, death tolls were the appetizers for evening meals.   Veterans Day was still celebrated.  Sometimes, my Dad and...

Thursday many of us around this country will gather with family, friends, friends that feel like family and/or family that we wish were friends. There will undoubtedly be bountiful feasts prepared...some perhaps from our own gardens...most prepared by someone in attendance. Children will run around gleefully playing, football games will be held at many high school fields, some folks will sit together to watch the parade and to see their favorite pro teams battle for THE title, mothers/grandmothers/aunts/sisters will gather in the kitchen to prepare their specialties. Finally, everyone will sit around a table filled with mouth-watering delicacies to eat. Stop! Here is where I make my humble request. It will only take a moment. Before everyone digs into the food, whether there are only two or thirty-two of you gathered, take a moment to reflect on the feast before you. Take a moment to realized how blessed you are. Take a moment to explain to the children that they are privil...