Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Wouldn’t you think just by twirling a globe around that we visibly could mentally process the elementary concept that land is quite smaller in vastness than water.

I remember, as a child, being slightly disturbed by so much water and so little land…would oceans swallow us up one day… without warning? I was awed by the ocean when we went to the beach … and kept a respectful distance from it …building sandcastles. I preferred solid ground.

With Earth Day this week …water seems to be taking top billing. So many statistics leave me disinterested but one grabbed my attention and that is… only 3% of the Earth’s water is fresh water-of that only about 1.2 percent can be used as drinking 💦water!

” Water Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink” … these days… the famous line from The Ancient Mariner is becoming more prophetic by the day. So many Americans are used to giving donations to the annual World Water Day Walk or Run for people in third world countries… when the reality is millions of Americans do not have safe drinking water. Poverty, location, broken weather patterns, and funding mismanagements are the culprits.

Most of our water on Earth is found in glaciers, ice caps, and permafrost. Most of our drinking water comes from rivers or streams. And that leads us to the disappearing water levels of major rivers… like the Colorado and Mississippi. And what affects man… affects all animals who live on Earth also.

Humans can exist without food for about a month …but only a week from lack of water.

I find it interesting that the term ” waters” first appears in scripture from Genesis 1:2. Right after the ” Beginning ” when God created the heaven and earth. ”

” And the earth was without form , and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

We first meet God, not in light but darkness and not on solid ground but moving upon the face of waters. It is only in the third verse that light appears.

I can’t think of anything scarier than being in the waters ( ocean) amid complete darkness with no land form to swim towards and no light to guide us. And yet… it is here that God first dwells.

So until tomorrow… Remember… God gave us everything we needed for life… as stewards of our planet… He entrusted it to us/ we are the only ones to blame for poisoning and greedily destroying our blue planet … now it is up to us to save it for our children and the creatures of Earth -along with the generations yet to come. Let’s pray we are in time…. for the beauty of the Earth.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

But somehow Pip’s giraffe play bone disappeared … bad baby brother George! It’s Pip’s birthday!! ( He escaped with the evidence)

Dear Reader:

Did you know that wonder is the most human of all emotions? Wonder has inspired our greatest achievements in science, art, and religion. It is considered the most important aspect of human nature-being linked with curiosity … it is the drive behind intellectual exploration.

( Simply put -the next time you feel like screaming and pulling your hair out – if your toddler or little grandchild asks for the umpteenth time … ” But Why ???” … try counting neurons exploding in their beautiful little heads. )

The emotion ” wonder” appears when something you see or hear is so unique… your memory bank can’t pull up any prior learned image to match it. Sometimes ” wonder” is found in an extraordinary fact… like… If all the neurons in our brain were arranged in a single line… the line would stretch 700 miles – from London to Berlin.

Awe is an intense form of wonder and both words appear together most often when humans are subject to a vastness that overwhelms their knowledge of reality. Case- in-point: Star Gazing At The Universe.

There is no more beautiful moment than a child’s face filled with wonder…

Jake is our outdoors boy and nothing makes him happier than fishing in the pond near his house and finding turtles/baby turtles! His face brims with excitement and wonder.

Tuesday night I was watching PBS and Kiera Knightly’s documentary into her family’s life during WWII came on- My Grandparents’ War. At the very end… she read a poem written during the horrors of war and concentration camps a relative endured… and suddenly she was overwhelmed by the homespun words. The Beauty and Wonder of it all in the simple expression of the appreciation of life. Wonder.

There was never a day, so misty and gray, that the blue was not somewhere above it.

There is never a mountain top so bleak, that some little flower does not love it.

There was never a night, so dreary and dark, that the stars were not somewhere shining…

There is never a cloud so heavy and black that it has not a silver lining …

So until tomorrow…

Dear Reader:

If you are like me… you might be thinking to yourself … why do all the ” experts” pick on ” being comfortable ” … as if it is a negative drawback on one’s personal path through life? Can’t we be comfortable without feeling guilty? Didn’t we earn this right after years of dizzying cycles around the proverbial work merry-go-round?

I have discovered the answer myself since my ” formal” retirement from education and the answer depends on the depth of the entrenchment we dig ourselves in post- careers.

Human beings are drawn to familiarity and order because they both provide us a sense of security and we feel most at ease when there is minimal stress and uncertainty in our surroundings. But too much of anything is not healthy. We soon come to realize that ” All play and no work make Jill a dull girl.”

For me… so much happened so quickly after my retirement that I never had time to process my own dream for it. Mandy’s wedding, breast cancer diagnosis and multiple treatments ( still on-going) becoming a grandmother, discovering St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope and then finally taking the leap into daily journalism via the blog post ” Chapelofhopestories.com.”

The biggest ” Something I Did for the First Time” was taking a leap of faith to share thoughts about Bill and Beverly Barutio’s amazing story creating St Jude’s Chapel of Hope… a story that needed to be told to the world. To this day I feel Beverly’s spirit every day while waiting for a new idea to appear. No doubt Beverly is my angel post deliverer.

My only regret is and was not meeting her in person because I feel we share the same sense of humor mingled with our own take of a shared spirituality . So everyday I do ” Something for the First Time” with a little help from my friends!

The secret to the balance of comfort and productivity is ” optimal stress.” ( Or as grandmother used to say ” Do something everyday that puts a giddy-up in your step.” )

So until tomorrow… Try to live the message your teachers reenforced ( including myself) every year ” Become a Lifetime Learner.” I know it keeps me curious about learning new things continuously … the catalyst for personal growth and discovery.

Today is my favorite day. Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

” Winter showers and showers and showers bring a bounty of wildflowers!” Suddenly newspaper headlines are filled with the ” miracle ” of a rare Poppy Super Bloom” replacing earlier pictures of devastating mudslides, floods leaving death and destruction in its wake… followed even earlier with California snow blizzards enveloping homes for weeks and hulking trees crashing into homes and severing electricity. ( Seemingly endless nightmare on top of nightmare on top of nightmare.)

I could hardly bring myself to watch the devastation keep repeating itself in the same proximity … I would silently scream ” Enough already… enough!” It appeared way too high a price …as a relief from earlier prolonged droughts… it was like some kind of bizarre ping pong game… drought, rain-drought, flood-drought snow storms. But finally the prolonged rains and floods did help bring relief from a prolonged drought… but at a high cost.

Now suddenly… like the Israelites finally reaching the Promised Land… California is drenched in color – from the Sierras to Malibu- deserts to meadows in Sacramento.

Meteorologists say the a similar phenomenon occurred four years ago… these days with California’s boom-bust cycles of precipitation-it is anybody’s guess when a super bloom might occur again… and if there is enough recompense for all the hardships but like Noah’s rainbow… it restores hope. One resident commented on the rare poppy super bloom where once only deserts existed … ” This is how we find our souls again.”

The Super Bloom is so massive and densely packed across large tracts of land that satellite photos look like paintings touched by a painter’s brush.

So until tomorrow… Hope is just not sought after in darkness but learning to accept it in the light of a new day… in all its beauty.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I had a sixty second ” pity party” … when I observed my Confederate Jasmine vines bursting in bloom…so full of blooms this year ( on two white picket decor fences) that they were stretching and lapping over benches and anything else in their path. !

As beautiful as visually they were… one major component of their reappearance each spring was missing… their luscious aroma… like honeysuckle on steroids! I should have been floating in the scent of so many blooms.

I picked off one blossom and held it directly under my nose and inhaled… to my sheer happiness I got a small whiff of a scent… just enough to store in my memory and apply whenever I sit on the garden bench wedged in between the two hedges!

When friends and I constructed the original moon garden ten years ago this June… we discussed the importance of infusing the five God-given human senses into the garden… it should be visually inviting, provide a taste as in honeysuckle, diversified ( touch) textures and designs, sounds of birds at the trickling fountain, butterflies flitting from plant to plant and cultivating plants and bushes that provide the rich aromas ( smells, scents) of life in the garden!

Unfortunately I can no longer pick up the scent of the three tea olives purposefully planted next to the patio deck… because the closer you try to get to a tea olive to smell it… the scent seems to vanish… yet a breeze can carry its sweet scent on its wings… very mysterious.

Admittedly my limited sense of scents affects food… more and more these days I have to rely on my memory for how a certain food should taste… and the “texture” of food plays a more important role… over just plain taste ( or lack of.)

But how could I ever bemoan this one set-back in comparison to being alive… 15 years of different chemo infusions, shots, and now daily oral regiments have taken their toll on certain physical restrictions but all pale compared to waking up each morning and being able to say ” Thanks God for another day of life… I feel like I get a birthday ” surcie” from God daily!

So until tomorrow… Didn’t we think when we left school… there would be no more tests and later as a teacher …retirement ( to me) meant not having to grade anymore tests? The reality, however, is that we are all tested every single day… on the choices we make daily…yet in spite of our ” grade” …we keep learning and hopefully growing – thanks to our Teacher who loves us and never fails us.

Today is my favorite day- Winnie the Pooh

The Turners got home late Saturday night minus their luggage but thankful to be back in their own beds…

They really made the most of their time… getting to most of the monuments, museums, gardens, and important buildings.

And another favorite was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum…

The only thing they didn’t like was the Washington airport …spending most of Saturday stuck while their flights kept canceling! But all in all… it was a fun memorable family spring vacation!

*** For Grandmother Boo… just happy to have all the ” brood” safety back home again! 🙏🏻

Dear Reader:

Doesn’t the thought of ” SOMEDAY ” still bring back images of Snow White singing about the possibility of true love and happiness… since it was first sung in the 1937 Disney animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?

On the flip side – reality, we know too many dreams of ” somedays” with no plans to reach them …ends in failure and disappointment. WE have to make our ” Somedays” go from idle dreams to consistent preparation …concluding in satisfaction- an accomplished ” NOW” reality.

Still I never could have imagined that the next time ” Someday My Prince Will Come” (from the 1937 Disney film) would end up being performed in a World War II concentration camp by jazz musicians in 1943. Quite a story! Scary reality!

Heinz ” Coco” Schumann was born into a middle class German family. His father was Christian who converted to Judaism after marrying Coco’s Jewish mother. It was a happy life until Nazism and the Third Reich changed Germany forever.

The Nuremberg Laws were passed banning Jews from owning businesses and they were forced to give up their trades. At the time Heinz had a French girlfriend who nicknamed him ” Coco.” At 14 he began playing guitar and developed a life-long love of jazz and swing music.

Soon, however, jazz music became sanctioned… considered ” alien” and unacceptable in German culture. Jazz was banned. By 1943 there was a complete crackdown on nightclubs playing swing music.

An informant turned Heinz into the Gestapo and he was shipped to the Theresienstadt ghetto… it marked the beginning of his story with the ” Ghetto Swingers. ”

Surprisingly the Nazi guards allowed prison musicians to form bands… even playing jazz-the reason Coco was imprisoned??? The Ghetto Swingers were one of the most recognized camp bands by war’s end. And the most popular song requested-the jazz band’s rendition of ” One Day My Prince Will Come.”

Coco admitted it was the camaraderie and music that saved his mental state and kept his desire to survive burning. He later wrote,” When I played I forgot where I was … We knew everything but then forgot everything the moment we played a few bars. “

For over 50 years Coco refused to speak about his experiences but after attending a camp survivors’ reunion… the attendees begged him to tell his and their story. In 1997 he published his story first in German and later English.

So until tomorrow… Let’s all be ready when our ” Somedays” arrive… understanding that all of us are ” Enough” being ourselves …just as we are… but hey… who’s going to turn down a love of your life … your Prince? 😂

Today is my favorite day. Winnie the Pooh

And speaking of Winnie… Tommy picked up Winnie for John and Mandy before her ” camp” closed… Mandy reported their flight kept getting delayed… typical these days…

Mollie reported they got back in from Florida about 9:00 Friday night and were up and at’em Saturday morning-at Goose Creek – for the boys’ football games. Probably got more sun yesterday than their whole week in Florida!

Eloise dressed up for the games! Sure she ended up shedding accessories in the hot sun! But accessories make the woman!

Dear Reader:

When I came across this expression, while reading a novel a few days ago… it made me stop and remember times in my own life when I experienced and then acted on a hunch. Webster defines the term hunch as a belief or idea about something that is not based on facts or evidence. In a nutshell… a gut response.

I found this following true episode fascinating. A clinical psychologist was called to give assistance to a wealthy client’s son who was mired in a depression and seemed lost with no direction. The father and his two children were still suffering from the loss of both wife and mother to a fatal disease. The son , particularly, seemed the most affected by the sudden loss.

As the psychologist began meeting with the young boy each week… she noticed that most rooms looked pretty normal, typical… except for the ” living” room. This was the room where they met weekly… it was dark and gloomy compared to other areas of the house.

One day… she noticed that as soon as she left… the father scurried back in the same room. Later that night the hunch came bright as light. It wasn’t the son as much as the father who needed some extra help… to be connected to the world again… to feel affirmed.

The hunch came in the form of the thought -” Living WITH life.” The father was in a deep depression-he just covered it up better but his inclination to hide in the dead and dreary ” living” room revealed the source of the problem.

After counseling to help him cope with his grief… a dramatic change took place. It started with bringing light, air, into a freshly painted ( bright color) living room… the father began socializing more, dating and eventually remarried. The whole family began living again once the father took the initiative to model his new response to change.

Spiritually speaking ” lucky ” hunches are more than luck. It is our Creator opening our eyes and minds to new paths and perspectives towards others and ourselves.

In retrospect most of my hunches deal with personal impressions …that the person I just met is open and willing to be there for me… ( someone I feel I can trust) as in bankers, nurses, doctors, plumbers, builders, lawyers, etc. I am either very ” lucky” in the people who form a circle in my life or God’s radar is getting through to me loudly and clearly.

So until tomorrow… I have a hunch it is time to end this post… and ask anyone who has a good ” hunch” story ( they would like to share) to please do so.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Beth Brewer wondered if the bird I saw was an anhinga water bird sometimes called a snake bird or even ” devil bird.” It looks mighty close to me… any thoughts?

Our ace reporter, Eva Cate, said that they had saved the Washington National Zoo for the last full day ( yesterday) but it was so crowded it wasn’t fun. She much preferred Colombia’ Riverbank Zoo… a tribute to our state zoo. Sometimes bigger isn’t always better… just more crowded! A good lesson in life to learn!

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I awoke with a smile and could hardly wait for the day to begin… I wanted the day to go slowly, not fast… because my date was with an important part of my past!

The first year Brooke and I moved to Charleston to start our teaching career… after graduating from Erskine College… we were not alone. The ” Baby Boomers” were out in full force… and we soon met many other first year teachers (in the surrounding apartment complexes) and formed car pools … since saving gas was very important on a $ 500 dollar monthly salary. ( Our rental took half that away)

We were surviving ” on a wing and a prayer” but having too much fun to worry about it. One of our new car pool friends was Jean Craig… and yesterday ( fast forward a few decades) Jean was at Edisto with Brooke and family… and we all reunited at ” The Sea Cow” … a popular gathering site for lunch!

Strange thing happened when Ka and I got there… I thought there was a bird sculpture on display overlooking the back parking lot but when I went to take a photo… it suddenly spread its wings-really scared me. But after staring at the photo… did I just take a picture of a vulture or just plain buzzard? Anybody know?

Unfortunately the weather predictions said that rain storms and possible thunder showers were moving in earlier than predicted yesterday…so I couldn’t stay as long as I wished… but long enough to share some past memories and give each other pep talks for bright futures! That’s what friends are for!

I made a stop at the King’s Market ( on the way home) to pick up several frozen homemade casseroles to take with me. They are the best… especially the Artichoke Chicken Casserole… it is thawing as I type-guess what’s for supper! Yum Yum!

So until tomorrow… isn’t it amazing how by just breaking our routine for one day and surrounding ourselves with friends and laughter our world shines brighter… regardless of the weather.

And speaking of weather… Walsh, Mollie and friends think Florida needs to change its nickname ” The Sunshine State” -out of six cloudy rainy chilly days… they only got part of one day when the sun appeared… then yesterday ( their last full day) there were tornado warnings and gusty winds. They still had fun but certainly not the spring break they visualized.

However Eloise made the most of the sun Wednesday…

Prayers for safe travels as they return today and the Turners tomorrow.

And speaking of the Turners… Ace reporter Eva Cate spent the day… having special moments at the monuments…

Thanks for sharing the pictures with us…Eva Cate … she also said the Washington monument was her favorite!!!

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

What a year we have had with ever-changing bizarre weather patterns! It used to be the weather segment part of news stations was squeezed in right before sports and after headline news. These days, unfortunately, the weather IS the headline news.

Take for instance… the difference in two of my children’s family spring break vacations. Walsh and Mollie are in Florida with friends and Sunday and Monday… it was in the fifties with dark skies… though, hopefully, it is supposed to improve gradually throughout the week working up to mid-seventies. Still, it will be cooler there now than Charleston. ( high 70’s and low 80’s)

John, Mandy and the kids flew out yesterday for Washington, D.C. -while showing the children all the sights… the temperature will be in the mid-eighties! No one can escape elevator weather anymore… illogical at best.

BBC Radio held a contest for folklore and mythical stories about Earth in relationship to the Sun and Moon … and how they came to be. I read and listened to several tales and narratives from different nationalities and Native-American tribes … but when I read one anecdote ( by Cassie Beggs) she had added another important element to her story-an important element that has ravaged destruction, lately, more than any other … wind!

***The story was rather long… so this is a synopsis…” The Sun and the Moon.”

A long time ago, the Sun and the Moon walked the Earth, living among the humans as equals. Without their light, the Earth turned peacefully beneath the light of the stars.

The humans were watched over by two guardians-the first was mysterious and beautiful with white, silvery hair, blue glowing eyes and skin paler than milk- she was called the Moon.

The second guardian was handsome, strong and his laughter made flowers bloom while his glorious smile covered the world in bright light. He was the Sun. Despite their differences the sun and moon were close friends and respected each other.

The humans loved them but took little notice of one other force that shared the land… the Wind… who was very jealous of the humans’ love for the Sun and Moon when he got no attention.

Spiteful and vicious he decided to spread lies about both of them and divide the humans’ loyalty to each … instead turning on each other.

So he sent both the Sun and Moon on a ” fool’s errand” to the North… while he spread his lies.

The Wind would slip under doors and through cracks in windows spreading poisonous lies and turning humans against each other. By the time the Sun and Moon returned the world was in turmoil! No one would listen to reason.

The Sun and Moon pulled together to punish the Wind for his wicked scheming! They took the Wind’s ability to speak away… since his speech was filled with lies… now all he could do was howl at the sky for the rest of time.

The Sun and Moon promised the humans that from now on… they were a team and would never leave them unguarded again -the Sun would take the first twelve hours as the sun rose and would call his protective guard time DAY… while the Moon would shine with the stars and call her guardianship NIGHT!

From that time on… together they have watched over humans in peace and harmony!

*** I thought since it has been the Wind that is still causing so much destruction and death… (even without speaking) and that its howls will probably be cemented in many people’s memories forever… that this story was quite timely!

Wind is my biggest enemy too since it plays havoc in a garden in more ways than one! Particularly a colorful planter garden!

So until tomorrow…

Just heard back from my ” Ace” reporter checking in from Washington-today her favorite pick of the day was the private Capitol Tour-the rest of the family agreed too-Eva Cate got to see the Helen Keller monument-dad John is from Alabama!

Today is my favorite day! Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

I fell over laughing when I read this true quote-a young man had cheated on a young girl, mistreating her terribly… she spent the whole night thinking up mean, spiteful responses to his abrupt hurtful email break-up.

By morning she was exhausted from venting and then she remembered hearing her grandmother tell her …If someone hurts you… ” kill’em with kindness”- when she asked what that meant- grandmother replied ” Don’t stoop to their level… rise above it.”

Finally after much thought she wrote her ” kind” double-edged ( right on) response: ” May Your Life Be as Pleasant as You Are!” ( The young girl could feel her deceased grandmother’s smile and nod) She waved an imaginary ” high-five” in the air! She felt vindicated and strong!

In Golden Girls… it was always Sophia who put Sicilian curses on anyone who hurt any of the ” girls” or old foes from Sicily.

I remember one year when the classes had gotten to WWI … we were studying the flying aces… America’s ” Ace of Aces” -Eddie Rickenbacker) and of course the famous German aviator – Manfred Von Richthofen.

I remember the first year Red Baron Pizza came out and they had a big banner advertising it-a teaching colleague talked the management into ordering another poster to give to education( my class) and it was good advertising too. At the end of the unit test we even celebrated with Red Baron pizza! A Win Win Win!”

These days it is getting harder and harder for me to stoop for anything… I take my stool out to plant seeds and flowers! So it behooves me to rise above hurtful situations with wit and creativity …instead of mundane spite that imitates dirt.

So until tomorrow… ” A man that studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well. ” -Francis Bacon

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh