Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

No… I am not doing an advertisement for Chicken Salad Chick. As I was running errands yesterday… I just happened to be in the vicinity when my stomach started growling and I pulled in to pick up a sandwich and some ice tea to bring home.

Later… sitting in my recliner… munching happily away… while watching television..I idly starting reading the writing on the cup… an endorsement by a satisfied customer who wrote” Have you ever wanted to hug a place?” ( And then goes on to mention the eating establishment)

But it was the question that caught my attention… I began to wonder… ” Is there a place in my life that I would want to hug?” Immediately Erskine College came to mind!

My beloved Grandmother Wilson was born and raised in Due West, SC -where she attended the Erskine Women’s College /graduated in 1903 and taught school there until she married Granddaddy and moved to Laurens.

So when I attended Erskine I was following in my grandmother’s footsteps. But that is not why this is the place I most want to hug and say thank you too… it is because it was the place where I finally began to find me… the real me.

…And that was due to the close friendships forged there… I found a sister… Brooke and two closest friends, Libby and Jackson who gave me the confidence to peel off the layers of indecision and insecurity that had shadowed me for too long. I was truly happy for the first time in my life… blissfully so!!!

We were in each others’ weddings and gathered for long weekends until the children started and then we talked and called… but it wasn’t until we all came up for air… with the children in college or working that we reunited again… this time as the Ya Ya’s!

I can not imagine my life without these three ” girls” in it… as we all grow older ( thankfully) the number of people in our lives who knew us when… begins to dwindle leaving us with precious few who knew the young girl in each of us on the brink of life itself. All of our dreams were still in front of us. It was a pivotal period of life and we were fortunate enough to share it together!!!

So until tomorrow… I know it is cliche ( especially with Betty White-the last of the Golden Girls gone now) but from the bottom of my heart… Brookie, Libby, and Jackson… ” Thank you for being a friend.”

We might be ” shadows” of our former selves but we know our shadows well now and are at peace with them. Accepting shadows takes a lifetime.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

As I was dusting off my old Dell Desktop computer over the weekend … I once again marveled at how long it has lasted… ” Old Faithful.” It was my first home computer… the ” basic vista.”

You might remember I was tearfully saying good-bye a few months ago and even got a chrome book ( which I still use also) but after leaving ” Old Faithful” off a few weeks during the transition … it miraculously came back to life. ( I can certainly relate… sometimes we just need a little hiatus).

I still love my desktop because the screen is big enough to read easily and it contains all my posts from August of 2008! And it isn’t its fault that newer systems reject its limited capabilities-they just got too fancy for desktop.

So now I switch off writing blog posts on my mobile phone and chrome book. I don’t like using the chrome book because it is difficult to insert and transfer pictures but also because I miss my ” typewriter ” keys. The keys on the chrome book are too flat… my fingers fall off if I try to type and type I do.

The last time I used a typewriter was to write my last research paper… at Charleston Southern University in the last class required to take before receiving my Masters. It was the summer of 1997. I still shudder to think about it.

I can’t remember the exact title but it was something like Statistics-Analysis of Assessment. I was completely terrified of taking that class. I had put it off until the summer session so I wouldn’t be teaching while taking it. The last class!

To make it worse… I got off on the wrong foot. Apparently the faculty didn’t want to teach it anymore than we poor educators wanted to take it so I walked into a class with a visiting professor (from some college in Florida) who had been hired to teach it.

I had stopped purchasing any required texts ahead of taking a class… because I had discovered that there was a 50/ 50 chance we wouldn’t need it. And I was so broke… both Mandy and Walsh were in college -and every penny counted.

But this time… it backfired … the first thing I was asked as I entered the classroom was if I had all the required texts with me and if not… to go to the book store, purchase them and return. I was mortified! I certainly wasn’t alone but all of us who slinked out shook our heads in dismay together. And I was afraid my card might reject the purchase-had just had to charge supplies from one of Walsh’s classes.

The woman professor was certainly courteous enough but a no-nonsense kind of teacher. I just prayed everyday she wouldn’t call on me.

All I could remember was our social studies department’s secret mantra at my middle school ” We don’t do windows or math”

Well… now I was doing it or ( at least trying to) … I could assess my elected program using a quantitative or qualitative method.

I remember my hypothesis was ” Did storytelling increase student retention when added to a factual curriculum? ” I certainly knew it did from my own personal experiences in the classroom but proving it involved a whole other set of tedious research hours.

To add even more stress… computers were still a relatively new ” toy ” on the block… the younger grad students had just started using them and college professors but there were several others in the class who had not made the transition yet. ( along with me)

I remember typing that research paper long into the night and early mornings… with my loyal White-Out bottle by my side… I never prayed about anything more ( academically) than I did this course. I was one course away from bringing in more income to help out during the children’s collegiate years.

I remember being so exhausted finishing that paper.. and then I found it… the perfect quote to end the paper IF my professor had a sense of humor-certainly nice enough but reserved-but I made the call and added it.

” Who knows if this ”tis true or not, but it is how it appears to me.” Cicero

I have never sweated any results more than this one… when the papers were returned I put mine inside my folder without even looking at it until I got to my car… and slowly peeked! A- !!!( The minus was for too much white-out I believe) .. but I was so deliriously happy I didn’t see something I initially missed… until I got home. Beside the final quote was a happy face with tears rolling down! And a nice comment-she enjoyed having me in the class.

I had done it… I had a perfect 4.0 in my graduate program…. graduated with honors. Believe me… much improved from my collegiate record! Isn’t it amazing how much more seriously we take studies that we pay for ourselves?

So until tomorrow…prayers and a little touch of humor can get us through some of our most challenging situations in life.

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

These days… one of my greatest challenges is chopping off bamboo stalks … it is a full time job … and a lesson in futility…

Dear Reader:

When I arrived home from Mt Pleasant yesterday ( after watching Rutledge and Lachlan play their last game of the season -Lacrosse) I happened to look up and saw Honeysuckle bursting out all over the tops of trees in my backyard. Can summer be far behind? Remember the old adage… Summer Starts in April in the South!

Rutledge helped Lachlan get in the spirit with his ” war paint!”

My favorite spiritual yarn Archibald Rutledge shares with us is the tale he was told by one of his childhood friends growing up at Hampton-it still makes me smile!

” The Walk-Off People”

After God created Eve He thought He had Adam and Eve all set up to live happily ever after… but discovered man is the most complicated of all His Creations.

One day Adam came to him , deeply troubled,to seek out God in the Garden of Eden.

” God” he said , you know I love to catch fish in the river and to hunt rabbits. But, well, Eve she is complaining. She says she gets lonesome because I fish and hunt so much. She’s talking of leaving me. ”

“That ‘s easy,” said God, ” come down to the creek with me, and we will make a few more people. They will keep Eve company while you are hunting and fishing.”

Arriving at the water’s edge, God shaped some new people out of mud and leaned them against a rail fence to dry.

“Adam ” God said,” I will come back before sundown and put some brains in them.” Then they will be all ready to go!

But God, forgetting that He had some other engagements that afternoon, did not return to finish His work until the next morning.

Before that, the people with no brains had walked off ! ” Do you know that ever since that time they have been multiplying in abundance?” I bet you might have met one! ”

So until tomorrow… the next time you run into somebody that you simply can’t understand or leaves you completely puzzled…just remember he/she must be a direct descendant of the ” Walk-Off People!”

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Honeysuckles and Honey… both sweet as they can be! Honey called and let me know that Winnie, Mike’s mom passed around noon yesterday… funeral services will be in early June… and she and Mike want to thank all of you for prayers, cards and comments! We all know how hard it is letting go of mothers and grandmothers.

… Mandy just informed me that my Facebook has been tampered with so please leave it alone until further notice😳

Dear Reader:

Pause. Write. Give Thanks.

Yesterday Mollie came over for a visit in the ” Ville” to catch up, have lunch and run some errands. We compared raising children generationally… and in mutual consent agreed that it never gets easier… and that when in doubt call on the One who can bridge problems over troubled waters.

After Mollie hurried home to pick up the children from school… Susan stopped by with ham biscuits, a salad and a chance for grandmothers to share the happiness and challenges afforded us in raising a new generation of future citizens in a confusing world of technology that seems to know more stats about humanity than feelings.

So I decided it was time to write God and lay it all out again so our relationship grows stronger with each passing day.

Dear Universe:

Let me take a moment and re-introduce myself to you… my name is Becky but You can just call me Boo. I am not as young as I used to be but not as old as I hope to be ( still …getting closer!)

Sometimes I wonder if anyone hears my small, tiny voice questioning my existence out there in the vastness of space and the vacuum of silence among the indescribable beauty of stars?

I have heard that we are all made of star dust. I hope so… because to me that makes me magical… like pixie dust from fairies. I am quite imaginative so I have no problem believing in things I can’t see.

On this beautiful spring day I want to make a promise to myself and You that I will continue striving to turn more mundane problems over to You, the Creator, of this mind-boggling universe and live my life as if I were dancing and hopping from star to star.

So bring on those God Winks, dandelions, wishes, rainbows, magic and continue bringing me signs that my life matters-Reassure me my life does exist for a purpose -though it may seem inconsequential as defined by society-remind me not to be deterred but to keep following my vision drawing me closer to You God.

PS. If I haven’t told you recently ” I love You!”

So until tomorrow…

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Don’t light and airy musical notes make us feel better… and especially Christmas tunes that revive happy memories?

I mentioned earlier this week that I have been cleaning out closets and drawers to bag and take all kinds of clothing/ shoes paraphernalia to Goodwill. While working through this rather arduous undertaking… I have run across old books and stopped to read excerpts from them … one was an old Christmas story told by an office manager in an assisted living residence.

One Christmas Eve while working the desk a package was delivered for one of their favorite residents…Charlie. He was one of the most social and popular residents at the facility.

Assuming Charlie would be in the Great Hall social room the manager went inside to find Charlie among the carolers-all the residents had been given copies of the Christmas sheet music with the words for those who had forgotten them. But Charlie was not there.

The manager continued on down the hall to Charlie’s room where she found him sitting in his wheelchair facing his bed. On the bed lay the sheet music the staff had distributed. Charlie was singing the Christmas carols quite loudly, off-key, with his arms dancing in front of him.

Sadness overcame the manager knowing he was in his room singing the same tunes as the others-yet not participating with them.

When he felt hands on his shoulder… he turned around with a bright smile and noticing the package shouted with glee-his present had come just in time. Inside was a brand-new shiny black cordless microphone. He blurted ” This Christmas gift is for all the residents so they can hear what is going on in the Great Room with its tall ceilings. ”

The manager smiled brightly …though her eyes glistened … what a selfless Christmas gift, for Charlie had been totally deaf since he was a young boy.

Since my brother Ben has been at Wellmore Assisted Living he has become quite the popular asset also. Because of his love for golf Ben is helping the staff organize putting halls in all three annexed buildings and he won the first Wellmore Putting Tournament!

Recently Ben accidentally left his phone in a friend’s car who visited him from Conway. Thank goodness I drove over ( a couple of days later) to take Easter goodies and his favorite snacks to discover the loss- Joe was able to mail his phone to me ( though he didn’t know how to turn it off so mailed it ” live” -thank goodness the battery was dead so it didn’t start ringing on the mail delivery-the poor mailman would probably think it was a bomb??? ) Joe still uses a flip phone but he was Ben’s hero getting the phone back in one piece!!

I received it Monday and took it to Ben Tuesday morning-happiness is-being connected to loved ones and friends again! Ben was so relieved!!!

Ben also introduced me to one of the staff who is a physical therapist at Wellmore. He loves playing golf so has started taking Ben with him to hit balls at Patriots Point on his days off or after work and plans to get two more friends to join them. Other people-staff and residents are sending Ben used golf balls they find-Ben washes them and separates the useable ones from the others and distributes them to the different buildings.

Kindness really does have a melody all its own and nothing lifts the spirits like it!

So until tomorrow…Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see-Mark Twain

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Most of us grew up reading or hearing a parent or teacher read us the story of two mice cousins who learn how different life can be… depending on the location of our childhood and later adulthood.

The initial version, titled ” The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” was one of the original Aesop’s Fables. In this version the proud town mouse visits his country cousin-who serves him a simple meal. The town mouse scoffs at the lackluster meal.

So town mouse invites his country cousin to come eat with him. At first all goes well as the cousins dine on white bread and other fine foods. But suddenly they are attacked by the house cat… who had already killed town mouses’ parents.

Country mouse decides to return back home immediately-preferring security to opulence. Or as Aesop concludes: ” I’d rather gnaw a bean than be gnawed by fear constantly.”

The beautiful writing prompt that reminded me of this story had nothing to do with cuisine or an abundance of material goods… but an abundance of faith.

Archibald Rutledge, once owner of Hampton Plantation and Poet Laureate of South Carolina writes in his famous memoirs…

” To me it has always appeared that a simple faith is far more natural to people rurally environed than to those amid the artificial cities and palaces of civilization.”

” From the dawn of history… shepherds and herdsmen and woodsmen have been natural worshipers. Lying from birth on the ample sweet bosom of nature, they who are country dwellers never find it hard to sense the nearness and the power and the love of God, whereas the city dweller, surrounded by the work and the power and the imperfections in character of man, are less free to feel God with them. So, at least, it seems to me.”

So until tomorrow…. ” It is my fixed conviction that if a parent can give his children a passionate and wholesome devotion to the outdoors, the fact that he can not leave each of them a fortune does not really matter” Archibald Rutledge

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

And here’s another cutie Winnie-straight from the ” beauty parlor.”

Dear Reader:

In Voskamp’s latest book …she looks on God as a ” way maker “… the One we go to when we find ourselves caught between the proverbial ” rock and hard place.” It is then that God finds the way … the hidden path for us… the right path, leading us to our dreams…reminding us that God is present in the totality of our lives.

I think God is not only the Waymaker but the Memorymaker also. And nothing brings back memories more than cleaning out drawers and closets. Since Monday was dark and rainy throughout the morning… I knew it was perfect for some spring cleaning… by lunchtime I had filled up four large garbage bags to take to Goodwill.

In the midst of cleaning out drawers I came across old wrinkled t-shirts that instantly took me back in time… like my ” I Survived Hurricane Hugo” dating back to September 22, 1989. ( Definitely a ” Wrinkle in Time” memoir.)

The benchmark birthday that never was… but instead God was there for my family… the home structure was damaged but repairable and God spared my family so we could all continue to follow our dreams…leaving behind a memory of thankfulness. Suddenly a dreaded birthday benchmark turned into a gift of time and life… best gifts ever! ( Bring on those benchmark birthdays that symbolize continued life! )

Sam and Donna brought me back this t-shirt from an earlier vacation because they thought the famous quote on the front pretty much summed up two of my favorite passions… gardening and story reading and telling! They were and are right!

So until tomorrow… Cicero was right… ” I want for nothing.” And now my most cherished memories come from family and close friends! And one secret has been revealed to me -” Imperfections make the best messy memories! ”

Dear Reader:

I wanted to take a moment today to thank all of you for your funny and appreciative comments on how yesterday’s post ( with the talking chicken egg in my car) made your day… made your rainy Monday morning brighter!)

I was thrilled! Y’all had me laughing right back from your comments! Laughter is contagious! When I hear people ask if God has a sense of humor… I think how can you even consider He doesn’t? There is no doubt in my mind He enjoyed the sassy egg-talking ” chicken egg” as much as the rest of us!

The first thing we learn in scripture is that we are all created in God’s image… so if we are all capable of a sense of humor… then we know Who gave it to us. David knew it when he wrote: ” Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of the heart. Psalm: 37:4

Think about it…delight means to take great pleasure and/ or to give a keen sense of enjoyment. Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us … “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh… a time to mourn and a time to dance.”

Humor was my saving Grace while going through chemo, radiation and several different surgeries. I will never forget …that before one surgery a young intern came in to let me know the doctor was running a little late from a prior surgery but he was there to reassure me that my surgeon was one of the best… he was observing him and helping out on basic procedures.

Just then his phone pinged and he told me my doctor was on his way and that he would be waiting outside.

” I’m going to stand outside… so if anyone asks… I am OUTSTANDING! ” With a wink and a big grin he was gone.. and I was still laughing when my surgeon arrived! 🤣

God showed Adam His sense of humor when He created all kinds of funny-looking animals to keep Adam company and let Adam name them… elephants, seals, platypuses, kangaroos…

So until tomorrow…

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Look what has been happening with the moonflower seeds I planted last week… hopefully a better ” crop” this year… looks encouraging!

Dear Reader:

Every holiday usually has one memory stand out at a family gathering and the Easter of 2022 will always be remembered as the ” Extreme Egg Toss” game that admittedly I ordered and brought to the family celebration.

Let me warn you… do not be deceived by this innocent-looking face… this ” extreme egg toss” ” egg” is a mystic in a egg costume!

The idea behind the game is to toss the ” egg” back and forth-each time taking one step backwards until you miss and you hear the dreaded words ” You cracked my egg” and then one tosser is eliminated and/ or you just start over. The egg has 40 different sayings and touch sensors to evaluate the outcome of the toss. ( Believe me… it was sensory activated-especially sound!)

Eloise and I played and really had fun… the older kids sometimes got too competitive… but still, overall, it was a fun diversion.

After eating a delicious lunch, then desserts, conversing about spring break vacations ( the good, bad, and ugly) watching golf and baseball games, as well as the family Easter Egg hunt… I was about ready to head home. I could hardly keep my eyes open … all that food!

Mandy helped me pack up and take everything to the car and put it in the far back! Another wonderful memorable Easter gathering… I just didn’t know then how memorable.

Just as I made the circular curve onto the interstate… I slammed on brakes while pulling down the visor because I was temporarily blinded by the bright sun. Suddenly I heard this voice say loudly and clearly…” ” What’s wrong? You got egg in your face?”

I almost had a heart attack! At first I thought a stranger had “snuck” in the backseat and hidden but as I stared in the mirror I realized there was nothing in the backseat-Mandy and I had put everything in the rear compartment.

My car was still swerving as I tried to gain my composure… ( Am sure the man behind me must have been thinking I had too many ” libations” celebrating Easter.) It wasn’t until I heard the voice again ( ” The yolk’s on you”) that I figured out who the ” voice ” was …but it was far out of my reach ( without stopping) in bumper to bumper Easter traffic. It was going to be a long trip home.

Things got eerier… a car pulled into my lane without any warning … again forcing me to hit the brakes and shake my head at the driver while blowing my horn to let him know how close he came to hitting me…suddenly the egg shouted out… “Was that an egg-splosion” or what? “

By now I was so exasperated …things could have gone either way… but finally I saw the bizarre humor in this situation ( a writer for a comedy sitcom couldn’t come up with anything this funny… in hindsight. )

One of the main problem was that the ” voice ” in the trunk was on high volume for the outdoor sound level egg toss.. so every time the egg talked …it shouted!

The timing on the egg voice became funnier and funnier-almost like a comic waiting for his turn to throw the punch-line! As if the egg was listening…

For example …As I drove past the paper plant… I heard the voice say” ” We-eeee… Rotten Egg! ” I burst out laughing-it was pretty bad.

A sudden clap of thunder was met with “ What’s Crackin’? ”

By the time I turned onto Rainbow Road… the egg only had time for one comment before I parked and I got the “egg” out of the car… but the last voice echoed my final thoughts…” My brain’s fried; I’m going to sleep!”

This evening as I finish the Easter Day post… I already know that this story will make it into the legacy of…” Remember when Boo Boo brought that talking egg toss game and she forgot to turn it to the ” off” mode before driving home and it talked to her the whole way?”

So until tomorrow… Thank you God for the pure joy of the resurrection… and homespun humor as we follow our paths back home to you.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Happy Easter to everyone! My family is all home today and we are gathering together to celebrate Easter … the day the world really did turn upside down and love was elevated to a height never before experienced… the love of everlasting life.

This has got to be one of the most beautiful springs we have had… the Easter timing just perfect in the beauty unfolding around us!

The most difficult question I was asked as I worked on completing my memoirs… in the Story Worth year-long project ( last year) was ” What is your definition of love?”

Think about it… would you have a ready answer? I struggled trying to define an essence of a feeling description that we all seek so longingly. Finally… this is what I answered .

” Love is a feeling of belonging in connection with life’s vast relationships between all living things.. a feeling that separates life from mere existence.”

Jesus spent His short time on earth living love rather than passing out definitions. It would be St Paul who probably found a metaphor that best explains how the cross and the resurrection changed love forever.

St Paul explained in one of his writings that Jesus never used Divinity to spare him from the trials of everyday life for humanity… even when crucified. Instead St Paul tells us Jesus ” emptied himself ” … by becoming a slave, taking on our humanity…staying obedient … even to death.

Today we honor, remember and celebrate the Jesus who ” emptied himself” by pouring himself out for us. Why did he do this? Love. A love directed at others… not one’s self. A love so powerful it conquers death and lovingly gives us in return ever-lasting life.

This is the love that manifests itself for us in the Resurrection of Easter Sunday.

So until tomorrow… Take time to feel the love and then pass it on…

Today is my favorite day/Winnie the Pooh

Ctto c t the fr f f from lgo

The Turners on the Bahamas Cruise