Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Sunday night was one of those nights where everything conspired against sleep. I was anxiously waiting to see a weekly television segment that came on at 9:00 one minute… and the next minute it was almost midnight. I awoke to a blaring television and brights lights on my sofa!

” Oh NO!”…. not again! I will never get back to sleep now!” I was right… tossing and turning and turning and tossing were my only two nocturnal options!

So as I groggily turned on an early morning show… my attention was immediately caught when the anchor girl reported… ” Having trouble sleeping… try savoring… will be right back with this new finding!”

” Savoring?” I muttered… savoring what? A dessert, a memory, an experience? ( Actually I was right on all three accounts.) Savor as a verb means to taste and as a noun… a pleasant taste or flavor. But ” savoring” as a noun?

For so long …sleep analysts have put the most emphasis on pre-sleep routines to help get a good night’s sleep… like fixed bed times, window screens on, television screens off… room temperatures, etc….all contributing to relaxing routines leading to uninterrupted sleep.

Now sleep researchers say that what we think about, as we try to go to sleep, is just as important as bedtime rituals.

The main problem in not being able to fall asleep is rumination… not being able to turn our minds off… especially worrisome issues. Savoring gives your brain something else to focus on… something emotionally compelling and pleasurable.

We should decide what our imaginative or past experience is going to be before we try to fall asleep. In one of the articles I researched …a man was remembering a ferry ride across Lake Michigan as a child. He pictured himself back on the ship, listening to the whirl of the engines, the smell of steam, the rushing water and the cold spray on his face. The more detailed the five senses include …the more drawn our brain is to the story and the better chance that the exasperating rumination stops. The secret is becoming completely pulled into the experience or memory so deeply we fall from it to unconsciousness.

It is different from gratitude because that involves thinking like meditating and trying to be ” mindful” requires quieting your mind… that can also keep one awake.

Sleep researchers encourage getting ruminating issues off your mind by dealing with them before you go to bed ( making to do lists, notes about a morning meeting, etc)

I decided to ” savor” the moment when I chose the last memory of Brooke and I eating our crème broule surrounded by a smiling, clapping waitress, rich sauce, crunchy topping, delicious aroma and hundreds of bright white luminaries to end an old girlfriend fun get-away!

So until tomorrow… Good morning and good night!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Life is funny how it never turns out as expected… it turns out better!

If you have a few moments today to reflect on your life’s ” good, bad, and ugly” please do so… because it is only when we take the time to see all the curves in our life’s road… in hindsight… that the epiphany finally hits… we ended up right where we belong.

I have told you several times… how horrified I was when mother informed me, at the end of my sophomore year at Erskine… that I would (” no and’s , if’s, or but’s”) get a teaching degree so I would have ” gainful” employment. A teacher! Help!

And I did get that help when it dawned on me those first few months in the classroom… that I might not see myself as a teacher… but I was a storyteller and with a little creativity… they could be one and the same… and a big plus… I had a ” captive” audience!

Youth is amazing in how adaptable they can be… I taught my first school year in the first year Summerville schools integrated and it never occurred to me that would be a problem… everyone in the class was simply one of ” my” students and at a young age ( 21) my eyes were opened to the strength of diversity that never left me.

Years later the biggest obstacle in my life appeared when my marriage went under and I found myself struggling to keep a sense of normalcy and not become a single parent statistic with unruly children.

But I was not alone… there was no greater role model than my own mother and the amazing Dingles kept the sense of normalcy and family alive and secure! No children ever had better grandparents, aunts, and uncles! Such lucky children! Such lucky me!

My educational career soared and I was able to travel the country and world through leadership opportunities I never could have envisioned… making friends nationally and internationally! Life just got better and better… that happens when we let God hold the reins on our own historic life’s tour.

And even when a potentially life-altering cancer diagnosis loomed after Mandy’s wedding… God dropped the reins and instead put on his stethoscope and has walked by me throughout this sometimes slippery slope… the Great Physician! Always holding my hand!

So until tomorrow…Remember… when working on your own life puzzle… you don’t have to start at the corners.. you can jump right in the center if you like!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Here are some more scenes from Forrest Gump… the ones filmed in Beaufort-five months of filming…

Forrest and Jenny’s homes were built and then taken down after the movie-filmed at Bluff Plantation… southeast of Twickenham near Yemassee.

The beautiful shrimp boat scenes were shot along Lucy’s Creek on Lady’s Island.

Later when Forrest was running across the United States crossing the ” Mississippi” state line… it was actually the Woods Memorial Bridge located in downtown Beaufort… the Mississippi State sign was kept on the bridge for awhile after filming until complaints came in saying the sign was misleading and confusing ( party poopers!)

Dear Reader:

What is a tour of an island city… without a tour of its oldest churches and even more so… their church yard/ cemetery ghost tales?

Today this original Anglican Church,whose congregation dates back to 1712, has had many famous South Carolinians buried here… including Thomas Heyward, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence … who also served on the vestry. Later Civil War heroes would also be interred in this famous cemetery… but it is the resting place of a Dr Perry- whose story draws the most interest to tourists today.

In the 18th and especially 19th centuries yellow fever was the most dreaded disease. -in a southern Lowcountry – It was given this name since the victim’s face body, and eyes turned yellow. Large percentages of the population died from this disease (that they thought back then was caused by ” miasmas” or bad air… the hot humidity coming off the sea islands.) ( not a certain breed of mosquito which wouldn’t be discovered until later. )

Dr. Perry, having treated many patients, feared what the population feared the most… being buried alive… since a patient’s breathing could become so shallow… they appeared to have passed away. Were they in a coma or dead?

The public’s fear of premature burials was enhanced by 19th century writers like Edgar Allan Poe. So knowing this… Dr. Perry built an above ground tomb and instructed his relatives…

” If I pass away, bury me with a jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and a pickax. Should I wake up and find myself inside, I shall drink the wine, eat the bread, and dig myself out.”

Dr. Perry, unfortunately, did die during an outbreak of yellow fever – so he was placed in this tomb entrance , sealed in wood, in case he woke up.

After time passed and the family gave up hope he would ” resurrect” – they bricked up the exit-it is the reason why newer bricks can be distinguished on one side of the tomb. ( Supposedly… our tour guide said that decades after adding the new bricks, some crumbled one night, and church members wondered if he finally got out…” better late than never.”

During this period of time some families had loved ones buried with a string attached to a bell above the grave …placed around the deceased one’s grave marker ( to their wrists) so they could pull the string and ring the bell for help. Expressions liked ” Saved by the bell” and a ” dead ringer” evolved from these unusual circumstances.

*** Someone even got a patent on it…

So until tomorrow… Whenever we grow too fond of ” the good old days”… there is a lot to be said for modern medicine!!!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

On our last night in Beaufort we had so much fun at Saltus with all the crowd-so funny and friendly… and splitting a crème brûlée … no better way to go out!

Dear Reader:

There was no way we were going to leave Beaufort without going to the Chocolate Tree yesterday-in fact it was the first stop on our last day itinerary… after all Valentines is just around the corner!

Plus… there is a fun story connection that dates back to the making of the movie Forest Gump with Tom Hanks. He became so fond of their chocolates… he stopped by every day during the filming in Beaufort to get his ” fix!”

As the local story goes… on the last scene of Gump holding the Whitman Sampler box… he had dumped them and refilled the box with the Chocolate Tree chocolates! … That’s their story and they are sticking with it!

From The Chocolate Tree we went to lunch just up a couple of blocks away…. Wren!

One of the girls at the chocolate shop had told us to try the Mango Tea… it was to die for… along with the chicken salad and soups! Once again the advice was right on target! From there we walked over to the food market… supposed to have great pimento cheese and many of you know… I love pimento cheese… will let you know tomorrow how that was when I make a sandwich for supper tonight!

One more interesting tidbit about Harriett Tubman that we heard on the carriage tour evolved around the Combahee River Raid lead by Tubman to free the slaves from the deserted homes fled by white owners after the union army arrived.

You can imagine many union soldiers and especially officers were more than a little taken back when they discovered Tubman was leading the operation. She planned to wear pants and several groups of union soldiers verbally disapproved… wanting her to wear a skirt.

Harriett started reading the military procedures manual thoroughly… and with a suppressed smile she called a meeting to explain that all ” uniformed” soldiers must dress alike …in uniform…so if she had to wear a skirt… then so did they. The issue was immediately dropped! Imagine!

Our tour guide said that , even later in life, Harriett always slept with a shotgun… so no one wanted to draw the short straw for the job of waking her first thing in the morning.

Brooke and I went home on the highways adjacent to the marine base

One last memory from this trip … our hotel was filled with family coming from everywhere to Beaufort to attend a family member’s marine graduation on Parris Island … we talked to many families on the elevator rides and there was excitement and also tears too… very emotional time.

It brought back memories when mother, David, and myself attended Ben’s graduation there and then had a meal before we left… I was terrified the whole time! I think I held my breath until we got back in the car and headed home. The ceremony was moving but the atmosphere was scary for me… afraid I was going to get yelled at!

So until tomorrow… Thank you Father for friends and adventures … and time to make new memories and reflect on the old.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

You know this retired history teacher is happy when simply crossing a bridge on Highway 17 yesterday morning ( Harriett Tubman Bridge) heading towards Beaufort had my memories spinning with the important role Tubman played in local South Carolina and Beaufort history, as well as American history!

Today we associate Tubman with the Underground Railroad but that was only one of her many daring feats during the Civil War.

In 1862 Tubman decided to go to the South Carolina sea islands to help alleviate the suffering of abruptly freed slaves who were in desperate need of basic necessities-she would remain for three years-till the end of the war.

In Beaufort Tubman served the Union army in many capacities-scout, spy, nurse, and recruiter… all the while running an ” eating house” and ” wash house” … helping Union soldiers by washing, sewing, and feeding the troops.

But it was the famous Combahee River Raid ( when she freed over 700 slaves) that titled her as the only woman to lead a military operation in the Civil war.

When Tubman died in 1913 ( at the age of 90) she was buried with military honors.

Today in Beaufort money is being raised for a statue to this amazing woman who gave so much to Beaufort South Carolina and freedom everywhere!

So until tomorrow… we arrived safe and sound… no rain as predicted and have had a wonderful day visiting historical sites and downtown shopping. Will fill in with all the pictures tomorrow… the internet is off… work out the kinks later!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Impromptu, last minute get-always are one of my favorite things to do… especially when one starts the New Year with one of multiple virus ” bugs” going around that spreads throughout the neighborhood… and not just mine but Brookie has had her share of recent ” upsy-daisies” too.

So today ( in spite of another Noah’s Ark rain) Brooke and I are celebrating our ( finally) Social Security increase… largest one in ( well-forever) … we are in the ” Fourth Wednesday of the month SS girls ” category to get our always welcome SS check!! Retired school teachers love you Social Security!

But there was also another reason for ” getting out of town” for a couple of days…( especially for Brooke living in Walterboro) – the infamous Alex Murdaugh trial started Monday with jury selections.

Local, national, and even international news reporters and stations have flocked to little Walterboro, SC. Just getting around town will be a challenge for locals. A mini-break from it all was perfect timing! So to beautiful Beaufort we go … where beloved movies like the Big Chill, Prince of Tides, and Forrest Gump were filmed.

Historically Beaufort is the second oldest city in SC after Charleston and shares many similar scenic backdrops… another charming sea town that is all about storytelling and southern comforts. For Pat Conroy… Port Royal Island on which Beaufort is located ( the largest of several smaller sea islands) became his real life home while starting his teaching career on a nearby smaller sea island… later memorialized in his first bestseller ( turned into a movie-The Water is Wide-Conrack.)

Rain today or not… it doesn’t stop one from eating and Beaufort is known for its southern cuisine… we hope to hit some seafood restaurants and local favorites known for fried chicken and pimento cheese sandwiches. ( Beedos) off the Sea Island Parkway!

So until tomorrow… Make every day an adventure at home or away… life is too short… not to…!

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

We usually think of ” nine months” as the gestation period for a little baby… but look what nine months of braces did for Jake! ( now will just be on a retainer)

Dear Reader:

You know how much I love learning new words and their definitions, especially beautiful words to pronounce and match memories from one’s life… and the first memory I associated with ” querencia” evolved out of the trip I took to Ireland with Anne back in 2014.

I had just come off a medical crisis in my oncology procedures and switched to a new ( still somewhat experimental) drug combination that did not include chemo.) But to my oncologist’s relief and mine… it seemed to be keeping everything at bay better than it had with earlier chemo procedures.

So when the opportunity to go to Ireland ( a lifetime dream) became available with Anne I knew intuitively it was then or never. And the trip was the best medicine I ever took! I felt so at peace in Ireland… like I was coming home. I felt exactly what querencia means.

But by now in my life… I have accumulated enough hindsights to realize that there have been many diversified moments that have provided that sense of belonging to this world… in the form of ” People, Places, and Things.” I will share some of mine…

( St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope-Trust, NC- The Chapel of Hope literally changed the direction of my life and after following the spirit found within ( Beverly Barutio) I began to follow my dream and write the on-going blog post begun fourteen years ago!

So until tomorrow… think about the meaning behind the word” querencia” and take a minute to pause and think where you were the last time you felt completely at home in the universe!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

All my life I have always dreamed about my secret hiding place ( that I would create one day) where I could escape the stresses, strains, and plaguing problems of ordinary life.

When I came across the title photo by accident yesterday… I wanted to scream with joy… it WAS the secret happy place ( or as close to as humanly possible) that I would ever visibly see … it was my perfect ” utopian” escape!

When we get glimpses into our personal parallel lives… we feel it before we see it…that deja vu feeling… that there is another me inside this one… a freer, more unrestrained ” being” longing for that ” Neverland” … open to all our wildest dreams and fantasies!

In order to keep returning to ” Neverland” we have to have maintained that child within us who was open to wonder and curiosity… the child who set no barriers or restrictions on the imagination dwelling within.

In our parallel life… we are not hindered by such mundane restrictions as chronological age, financial or societal tiers, gender, physical, mental, or emotional abilities or even interests and passions. We are simply ” beings” who are wide-open to life and the next opportunity hiding around the bend.

If you need a starting point to enter your parallel life… revisit some of your childhood dreams that turned into adult fantasy/reality locations- -for me… it is miles and miles of flowering fields.

What a fun afternoon and I didn’t even have to leave my recliner… no tickets or passports or immunizations or waiting lines… your parallel life is always there for you.

Saturday night Tommy texted me and said Pip had been staring at him for twenty minutes non-stop… didn’t want anything -just wanted to stare at him… Tommy looked it up and discovered a heart-warming explanation.

So until tomorrow… Take time to leave home and travel through your imagination… stimulate your creativity… and envelope the universal ” being” of being alive!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Add warmth… and turn a cold, rainy day into a cozy relaxing one!

January should also be filled with fun items that make you laugh and say thank you for life!

As we look toward the future this month… we must make time to remember the people, to date, who have served as our guide and mentor, keeping and steering us over to the right path.

As we reminisce on the special people in our lives, we must also honor our heritage and past family tree ancestors …best by how we the treat the living well. And sharing stories of those we lost is how we keep from really losing them.

Helen Keller once remarked…” So long as the memory of certain beloved friends live in my heart, I shall say that life is good!” ( And I think this goes for grandchildren too! ) Becky Dingle

When I came across this original idea I loved it… ” Make a home for yourself in your own head – then furnish it by memory, trusted friends, lifetime learning, and love of life. This way you share your ” home” wherever you go.”

So until tomorrow… Life doesn’t define us by the obstacles we encounter but how we handle them with grace, fortitude, and unity.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Last dinner out for Kaitlyn in Mexico!

Dear Reader:

I love curling up on the sofa in the den upon waking each morning…and reading texts and emails… scrolling through FB looking for friends and family photos. But my most favorite time is when the first early morning rays start filtering across the den and dining room. It is like someone is adding light to the everyday palette of the rooms’ scenery.

As I was reading texts yesterday morning… a light caught my peripheral vision coming from the dining room. It was so bright that I , initially, thought I had turned on the dining room ceiling chandelier but instead it was the slanted rays of the early morning light coming through the blinds … just beautiful!

The surprise morning delight took me back to a magazine article I once read in the oncology waiting room years ago ( before coronavirus prevented magazines from being available to waiting patients.) I really miss not having articles to read… some of them gave me great ideas for post themes.

It was a Charleston architectural magazine, filled with gorgeous pictures of homes and fun ideas on enhancing different rooms within. The designer and author of the article was describing one of her favorite couples who taught her a lasting lesson while planning their home design.

They had gotten to the potential location of their personal bedroom… the designer… was suggesting the best outdoor scenery locations… some creeks that surrounded the exterior of their property… but to her surprise the couple asked instead where the first early morning sun’s rays fell and the ” route ” they traveled across the room.

Surprised… the designer offered to take pictures of different rooms in which the early morning light faithfully filled the room. A few days later… the couple had made their selection.

Curious the designer admitted that most people want the bedroom dark to sleep longer if possible. The couple looked at each other and smiled. The husband reached behind him to pull out the plaque they had selected to go over their front door entrance to their home, JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING

The wife further explained that soon after they married in their first little one bedroom cottage… the sun coming in each morning and crossing their faces did wake them but it became a symbol of their happiness that they awoke to the light of another day together.

So until tomorrow…

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh