Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Nepo tells us that so much more can happen in our lives with our hands open rather than gripping fists. He shares this ancient story from China.

Traps were set to catch monkeys using a hollowed-out coconut through an opening that was cut to the size of a monkey’s open hand. Rice was then placed in the carved out fruit.

Sooner or later a hungry monkey would smell the rice and reach its hand in. But once fisting the rice, it’s hand could no longer fit back out through the opening. The monkeys that were caught were those who would not let go of the rice. As long as the monkey kept its grip on the rice, it remained a prisoner of its own making!

The metaphor? We need to always ask ourselves ” What is our rice and what is keeping us from opening our grip and letting it go? “

What about us and love? Haven’t we sometimes experienced, while believing in our moment of hunger, that there is no other possibility of love out there for us? Instead of balling up our fist for something we want so badly that we end up prisoners of love, we have to find the courage to let go and our life will unfold. For love is everywhere!

So until tomorrow… we should learn to appreciate life momentarily instead of trying to hold onto incidents and fond memories too long-balled up in our fist. We need to open our palms to new experiences and feelings -it keeps life rich and alive!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday Peanut Butter and Jelly, turkeys from Indiana, were slated to be pardoned by President Biden in the Rose Garden but one was to also be named the National Thanksgiving Turkey for 2021-I kept googling but couldn’t find the selection results. Both are going home to live out their lives in blissful harmony-outside Perdue! Happy Thanksgiving Peanut Butter and Jelly!

Dear Reader:

Have you ever had one of those days when past, present, and future all appear to run together leaving you puzzled and exhausted by the end of it? Well guess what? You are in good company-Einstein’s company !

I read a quote a few days ago that got me thinking about the reality of a time divide. ” The future is always beginning now.” ( Mark Strand)

True… and ” now” becomes “past” before we can finish making our daily ” future” plans. And sometimes a phone call or doorbell can send us scurrying back in the past to complete something we missed or overlooked causing earlier future plans to be abandoned and put away the past folder.

Albert Einstein first revealed his new perspective on time in his theory of relativity. I always thought it was too complex for me to understand but I think the process of aging helps us grasp new ideas as our own perspectives change.

Basically Einstein believed ” Everything Exists at Once: Past, Present, and Future.”

Did you know that TIME is the most commonly used noun in the English language? It is so versatile-we can kill time, do time, save time, and spend it. Most of us wish we had more of it-it is a priceless treasure and worst enemy-time ends our life.

Without getting into physics -the idea of a universe in which all events exist simultaneously is both sobering and comforting. Things and people who we have lost aren’t gone, merely a little out of our reach at the moment.

So until tomorrow… time still remains a mystery-we can do a lot with it-except-understand it.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

*** I will always find time to keep searching for beauty everywhere-especially in my own backyard!

Dear Reader:

If there was a lesson I learned from my experiences over this past weekend, it was stop jumping to conclusions before you get all the facts. Easier said than done… right?

Momentarily bad days make us feel like our whole life is in the pits . A little overly dramatic, right? But then , in my case, my greatest strength is my imagination and creativity-they bring great joy to my life. However, they can also become my greatest nemesis!

My mind can conjure up some ghastly outcomes to my on-going fight against breast cancer. That is what happened over the weekend. My imagination was completely out of control until it was reined back in by a caring doctor with calm reassurances.

Last night I slept in a deep slumber that evaded me for two previous nights. When I woke up I made myself stop and write down a list of things I was grateful for. Modern medicine being one of them-yes I am living on the edge-I just happen to be more aware of it when confronted with the fact that one person’s definition of a” critically low” white cell count is another person’s ” normal.”

But then haven’t we all been living on the edge since we took our first breath? Thanks to modern medicine we might not have found cures for all cancers but today millions of people are living with cancer and enjoying every extra minute it gives them!

I mentioned yesterday that Janet Bender loved the idea of the ” wind phones ” and thought how cool it would be for each country and state within our country to find a beautiful spot and build a ” booth.” Old landline phones could be donated-and what about giving someone grieving a landline phone as a type of memorial. I thought about this idea after reading about how one mother discovered her four year old daughter , on a play princess phone, talking to her ” Grandy” ( grandmother) updating her on her day. ” Mama told me you can’t talk back ” Grandy” but that’s okay-just listen please! ??”

So if anyone has some ideas on implementing ” wind phones” please join in! Thanks Janet!

So until tomorrow…Remember BREATHE… it’s just a bad day, not a bad life!

Today is my favorite day! Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

This past weekend was a strange roller coaster ride of emotions. Thursday I went and got my flu shot-finishing up all my COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots! I felt on top of the world- ahead of the game!

With my annual physical and Prolia shot slated for this Wednesday… I decided to go ahead and get my bloodwork done early-and last Friday sealed that deal! I was clicking along.

It wasn’t until late Friday evening that I realized a message had been left from the Primary After Hours Care Clinic. ” How odd?” I thought but by then it was quite late so I went to bed.

Saturday morning the phone rang and now I recognized the number as the same as last night. A voice came on calling to let me know that my bloodwork white cell count was ” critically low” and they wanted to switch my doctor appointment to Monday instead of Wednesday.

I was trying to gather my thoughts-finally squeaking out that I have breast cancer and just finished going over my bloodwork two weeks earlier with my oncologist and all was well? Something didn’t seem to add up!

I asked her if the flu shot might have distorted the results but she didn’t know-not a nurse-just a caller.

Well you can only imagine how all the good air was pulled out of me and my weekend. Worry crept in as hard as I tried to rationalize the message.

My mind started creating all kinds of scary possible scenarios…as I watched football games come and go in a daze! Would I have to start infusion chemo or other treatments locked up in my memory bank?

Then I tried to pull a 48 hour health marathon-One of my thoughts was to start drinking water-as much as I could drink-was told one time it helps bloodwork outcomes. So I started drinking and exercising ( running back and forth to the bathroom. )

Then I thought ” I need protein and vegetables-lots-surely that will bring my white cell count up” but the thought of going to the store was more than I could bear. Just then I heard a noise coming from the other apartment so I ran out on the porch-it was Susan dropping off creamy chicken/ rice soup chopped full of vegetables! ” Manna from Heaven!”

Susan and Ady had just left and I went inside only to hear the doorbell ring-it was Vickie bringing bean soup and a tremendous slice of cornbread! ” This soup is filled with protein… guaranteed to cure any ills that come your way! ” Serendipity at its best! Two friends, perfect timing and no doubt a God Wink!

I had everything I had asked for-God sent two guardian angels when I needed them-my faith was restored.

So yesterday with a nervous dry mouth-despite all the water I drank over the weekend- I prayed silently in the waiting room. As soon as my amazing doctor came in-I knew all would be good. She was shaking her head as she read her folder and said” I am so sorry for all you have been put through but all is well. Obviously, comparatively speaking, your white cell count remains low because you have cancer and are on oral chemo BUT your numbers have remained constant year after year and is an acceptable number for the medication you are on.” You should not have gotten that call. I am so sorry this happened and kept you worried-so I am taking care of everything right now so you don’t have to return until your next Prolia shot! Six months!”

So until tomorrow-Bring on Thanksgiving, bring on thankfulness, bring on life!!!!! Celebration Time!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

And speaking of Winnie… Guess who is one year old?

Janet Bender has a great idea concerning the ” Telephone of the Wind” -will share with you tomorrow-we need some brainstorming ideas! ❤️👍

Dear Reader:

When Stevie Wonder wrote, sang, and performed his mega hit -” I just called to say ” I love You” he had no way of knowing how the idea of calls to loved ones could continue to bring such comfort. No ” wonder” … the loved ones have passed away.

How many times, I remember wanting to call my mother, soon after she passed, when something good happened-I still wanted to make her proud and in those few seconds it took for reality to kick into my consciousness, I felt sadly isolated and alone.

Corey Demback first heard about the idea of a Wind Phone -created in Japan out of the 2011 devastating tsunami, from the news. Survivors started flocking to a small phone booth high on a hill, put there months earlier by a man who wanted to talk to a loved one who had died of cancer.

For all the lost souls who the sea never returned, that “Telephone of the Wind” became one of the few places to offer a kind of inexplicable solace.

When Dembeck heard about it, it stuck for reasons he still doesn’t know. ” I just thought it would be perfect now and as far as I know, at the time, there wasn’t one I knew of in the United States.

It makes no logical sense, to dial a phone connected to nothing and yet for countless families… speaking their grief aloud and to the wind seems to offer a kind of connection that heals.

Erin Sylvester , who lost a daughter, thinks that one of the most dangerous things one can do is keep one’s feelings locked up inside.

Something so simple, an old rotary phone in a tree, it’s just crazy how much impact it has made. ” Just called to say I Love You!”

So until tomorrow…Whispers in the Wind -you might not hear them… unless you listen.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

My grandchildren’s maple trees, now turned red, and more fall beauty in my garden

Dear Reader:

I have a strong suspicion that this particular college football season has tried many players, fans, and coaches’ souls across the country.

And for me, personally, Clemson has certainly experienced one of their most challenging seasons of late. No doubt a lot of soul searching has commenced among all the different ” players” involved including, not just the players, but the whole ” family ” who are the souls of the team-coaches, athletic personnel, administrators, parents, and the whole Clemson community.

In complete honesty I doubt few people didn’t suspect that this year would be different from the top national award-winning teams that preceded it… but I doubt to the extent of the depth of the ” drop. ”

If anybody’s soul has been tried, the most likely candidate would be Dabo… and no doubt he wonders how his team and the escalating injuries continue to fall under the category of ” snake bitten.” But then Dabo and his outlook on life differs from many of his coaching colleagues/ opponents. There is just something spiritually amazing about this man of faith-love of family and team-in fact the two becoming synonymous. For example:

In other words, everyone can be ” Mr. Nice Guy” when things are going great-but what about when they aren’t? This year the Clemson team is told everyday that ” It doesn’t take talent to be a great team-just be a great human being and everything else will fall into place.

In other words Dabo’s love and affection hasn’t wavered because Clemson is struggling with an uncharacteristic “off-season” – Dabo never takes a day off encouraging and loving his players because the struggles are bonding the team closer personally.

There is no one big name now defining who Clemson is… Clemson is the whole team and all who love them through good times and tough ones.

So until tomorrow… I have no doubt that several upperclassmen players now fully understand and appreciate Coach Dabo’s favorite quote:

” Let the light that shines IN you-be brighter than the light that shines ON you!”

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

I caught the last part of a Christmas show on Hallmark and some advice was being given to a young girl just starting out in entertainment-it sounded like something Dolly Parton would say-” It’s easy to keep a train on the tracks if it’s not moving.”

In other words… life is not stagnate and neither should we be in our lives on earth. Don’t all of us emerge from the womb kicking and screaming-a force of nature in full anger management mode?

Indignant, righteous anger-one minute we were securely nestled in our mother’s cocoon-warm, safe, fed constantly, listening to the rhythm of our mother’s heartbeat and the next we were thrown out into the cold, with blinding lights and incessant chattering noise.

Many of you read the medical findings during COVID-19-warnings actually -to get off our recliners and get moving. Sedate living can be lethal to our hearts and lungs-walk, run-get up and get moving.

Like Lewis and Clark… each of us have our own frontiers to explore, risks to be taken and new surroundings to adapt to -making each of our lives unique. God did not intend for us to settle for a sedentary lifestyle-life is one big adventure and not to be missed.

Every time I give up on a plant-most times they surprise me. I have only had one, yes one, moonflower bloom and now here, in November, with Thanksgiving just around the corner look what I discovered! Maybe the plant needed a respite this year.

We must remember … we will never know what is waiting on us just around the tracks if we never take the journey !

So until tomorrow…as Alex Elle explains so beautifully in this card..,

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

I love stopping by this camellia garden near my neighborhood-it is my respite when life gets hard.

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I woke up determined to get my flu shot. I decided that I would be Publix Pharmacy’s first customer… but to my unpleasant surprise the pharmacy opens an hour later than the store-all the blinds were drawn. A whole hour to ” kill.”

With another bout of fortitude … I returned home to put a load of clothes in the washer, make my bed, check my blog and squeeze in a few more daily routine chores.

At 10 till 9 I was sitting in a chair waiting for the blinds to be raised and the pharmacy window to open . At 9:00 both expectations simultaneously occurred.

The cute girl asked if I had already signed up for a time appointment and I let her know that I just showed up-actually at 8 hoping to get in for a flu shot -so I had already been back home doing chores.

She gave me a paper to fill out and said my appointment was at 10! Another hour to ” kill.” The girl must have seen my disappointment and responded -” You have already worked through one hour-why don’t you treat yourself and do something fun … just for you… with this hour?”

I gave her a weak smile and tried not to audibly sigh as I headed, once again, back to the car. Fun, huh? Then it hit me. The best thing about living in the Lowcountry is that fall starts peaking at its most beautiful the closer we get to Thanksgiving. I had been wanting to ride around town and take fall pictures of my charming town -dazzling, delicate, and delightful! Now I had the luxurious gift of time to do just that!

But first I wanted to drive over to Hutchinson Square and check on this whimsical archway that had been going up a few days before. Upclose it was even more mysterious-beautifully translucent-like a butterfly-but no plaque or story behind it.

From the town square I drove along the back roads of old neighborhoods looking for fall in every living form. Here are some samples of my ” treasured”scenes!

A lone leaf fluttered down and landed by my feet-what a gift from the universe!

And how great is my genuine affection and love for my adopted home town of several decades-time has been kind to old town center of Summerville and I thank God everyday that His Path lead me here-the ” Flowertown in the Pines!”

So until tomorrow-the next time you get the gift of” wait time” go celebrate the beauty around you filled with gratitude and a ” shot” of thankfulness for simply ” being.”

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday Ben called me… more excited than I have heard him in a long time! It just made me so happy to hear him excited about anything- too many times his calls are fraught with confusion and/ or perplexity over his mobile phone and loss of memory how to work it… making him feel isolated. It is, rarely the phone where the problem lies.

Ben told me he is being remembered …(and for someone who fights a constant battle daily, trying to retain his memory) he was overwhelmed with gratitude. I was so thrilled !

The director of Wellmore had come to his room to talk about his veteran status, his book ( sweet Libby ordered and sent 9 copies to him to distribute in the two libraries there) and an invitation to a special day ( today) with lots of activities to honor their in-resident veterans….The first event being a bus trip over to Patriot’s Point for remembrance programs offered there, then a special lunch, followed by an in- House honor ceremony recognizing each Wellmore veteran individually!

I started telling Ben about this

new caddie program ( started in Scotland) I saw last week on television and immediately thought of him. ( Called Caddie School for Soldiers) The program also exists here in the United States.

The rationale behind the program centers around the emotional struggles soldiers returning home experience. Because soldiers are dedicated to the ideal of self-sacrifice, when they return to a world defined by the opposite-personal gain, they really don’t know how to fit in and becomes strangers to themselves. And when you are a stranger to yourself, you quit believing in yourself.

The Caddie School for soldiers program was created to help veterans earn back their belief and worth in themselves…. so they can carry on in life with the measure of dignity they deserve.

*** Think about it! Ben is surrounded by golf courses that he can’t play on because they are private to property owners only. But with this program veterans who love golf can help others again with their own expertise! Caddying! A win-win!

So until tomorrow… “In this world of give and take, there aren’t enough people willing to give what it takes! “

Let’s help those who were willing to give what it takes ( at the expense of their health) by giving them a chance to give back from their own unique passion-golf!

Today is my favorite day! Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

I think I am not alone… when I find myself crossing my arms over my chest-it sends out a loud message-I am holding something in that I want to keep close to me-perhaps I am simply not ready to deal with a certain issue, or I am withdrawing inward-I need a break from the world-out of fear, guilt, or sadness.

Over the recent cold, rainy weekend I watched a program on the history of Queen Elizabeth’s royal gardens on PBS. One scene showed baby birds emerging from their nests-ready to take their first flight.

At first there was a hesitancy, but then their little beaks went up and down like they were tasting the air and instinctively they knew to open their wings as widely as possible to rise above the ground-to fly! What an exhilarating experience it must be.

I have decided that there are special, select groups of people who are born to openly embrace life-and my friend, my sister ( in every way except biological) Brooke is one of these people!

From the first day she entered our freshman dorm room… bursting in with wide hug embraces for everyone-the light shone brighter for my whole family.

Having overcome many personal tragedies , in her life, before I knew Brooke-her whole-hearted embrace of life and laughter was even more remarkable. It got to the point that if I came home for a weekend from college… a sigh of disappointment was audibly heard if Brooke didn’t , also, appear at the door!

Even tall, thin 6’5 inches of David would ” pretzel ” down to get a big hug and embrace from Brooke. Our family had never been particularly physical in their expressions of love but all that changed with Brooke!

Brooke’s heart was always wide open and -she knew intuitively , with all her friends, that to enter a friendship without opening one’s heart was to jump off a roof without spreading one’s wings. It was what made Brooke so popular-her love of life was and is infectious!

So until tomorrow-When we find ourselves pushing inward with arms crossed-remember to fling them open and rise above earthly troubles… embrace life… it’s too short not hug it!

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

❤️ Please continue to keep Brooke and family in your prayers -Ted has been moved to a rehab center in Walterboro .

This is too cute! Rutledge wrote the Phillip Simmons High School Coach congratulating him on his outstanding football season and expressing his hope to quarterback there one day. The coach and his outstanding quarterback for this season surprised Rutledge at his school yesterday!