“Life is like the ocean. It comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.”
Sometimes life seems to come at you in waves…Some days are ordinary, almost mundane…they have their routines and set patterns. Nothing out of the ordinary happens. You experience lots of “small moments” that don’t seem significant at the time. The water is calm…all is right with the world.
Other days are like nothing you have ever experienced before…New experiences emerge that can be stressful and they may involve your relationships, your work, your health… and the waves seem to become larger by the minute…
Then there are “in-between '' days…that provide a mixture of emotions…and the waves are there, but manageable.
Through each of these days, the good ones and the bad, the ordinary and the challenging, one thing remains the same…The existence of the day itself and all the opportunities it offers us.
This past week had a variety of ordinary moments and challenging ones for me. This week, I learned of the death of my wonderful teacher and mentor, Sister Agnes. I wrote about her influence in my life in my essay entitled Encouragement back in October.
A few weeks ago, which turned out to be our last telephone conversation, we talked for almost an hour on the phone. Since last December, we have been calling one another every few weeks. I looked forward to seeing her name pop up on my phone.
She was 89 years old and was dealing with cancer and its effects but you would never know it from our conversations. Her upbeat attitude was very much like my mother’s.
Sister Agnes had spent a lifetime spreading kindness and joy, teaching all age groups, ranging from elementary age students to adults, including teaching English to new immigrants. Her remarkable life and career are described here.
She always had a way of actively listening and I felt her love every time we communicated. I still have the email she sent me during Covid entitled, “Decision of a Lifetime”, where she laid out the pros and cons of leaving my teaching career due to my health. Her advice was always both logical and compassionate.
Her cards, letters and phone calls were wonderful reminders of the friendship we had and I am so grateful for that.
So now I am struggling, as I usually do, with the sadness of losing another wonderful person in my life.
But our last conversation resonates with me. During that conversation she reminded me of the importance of using the gifts God has given us to make the world a better place. She pointed out how much she enjoyed me writing this newsletter and I expressed my appreciation for having a great teacher like herself who helped inspire me to do it.
These thoughts will be helping me in the future as the waves keep coming in…
Reflecting on the lives of the people I have loved, and will continue to love and using the lessons I learned from them…That was one of Sister Agnes’s gifts to me and so many others…
Rossiter W. Raymond said it so well when he wrote about handling the loss of someone we love,
“We give our loved one back to God
And just as God first gave them to us
And did not lose them in the giving,
So we have not lost them
in returning them to God.
For life is eternal,
And love is immortal,
and death is only a horizon,
And a horizon is nothing
save the limit of our sight.”
I love you Sister Agnes. Thank you for everything…
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Tranquil Moments…
I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here is this week’s:
Children’s Corner
Back in 1999, when I was an elementary school librarian, I started a project where I wrote letters (old fashioned, printed letters) to a variety of famous people. This was prior to the daily use of email and text messages. My questions were simple…
1) From your own life experiences, how has reading affected your life in a positive manner?
2) Was there any particular person or experience in your life that made you aware of the value of literature and the importance of reading?
I am going to share these letters and let you experience the joy many of my students (and myself) have gotten from their touching words - Here is this week’s:
This week’s Smile video…
Retired music teacher Robert Moore spent 30 years directing one of the greatest high school choral groups in the country. The impact he left on his students was a lasting one, so they decided to do something for him in return. Steve Hartman has his story "On The Road."
#believe #smilevideos #spreadkindnessandlove
What I am reading…
Our next book for our book club at the church where I work is entitled Deep Kindness: A Revolutionary Guide for the Way We Think, Talk and Act in Kindness by Houston Kraft.
The Amazon description is as follows: “Practicing kindness is an essential step in helping to repair a world that has grown to be more divisive, lonely, and anxious than ever. But with quotes like “Just be kind” or “Throw kindness around like confetti,” we’ve oversimplified what it takes to actually demonstrate kindness in a world crying out for it.
Deep Kindness pairs anecdotes with actions that can make real change in our own lives, the lives of others, and throughout the world. Diving into the types of kindness the world needs most today, this book takes an honest look at the gap between our belief in kindness and our ability to practice it well—and shows us how to put intention into action. Exploring everything from the empathy gap to the skill of emotional regulation, Deep Kindness is perfect for anyone who believes in a kinder world and recognizes that there is a lot of work to do before we achieve it..”
So far I am really enjoying book…I encourage you to check it out if you can!
Podcast Picks - All There Is With Anderson Cooper
Do we ever move on from grief, or do we just learn to live with it? In Season 2 of All There Is, Anderson Cooper continues his deeply personal journey to understand his own feelings of grief in all its complexities, and in moving and honest discussions, learn from others who’ve experienced life-altering losses. All There Is with Anderson Cooper is about the people we lose, the people left behind, and how we can live on – with loss and with love.
This is a wonderful resource for anyone dealing with the loss of someone they loved. I highly recommend it!
Comedy Lift…
I love to share funny cartoons or memes with friends and family. Who doesn’t need to smile? Here’s this week’s Comedy Lift…
Music Moments
Music inspires me in many ways. Here’s a beautiful rendition of a song I remember singing at St. Louis Catholic school, “Kumbaya My Lord” ...Enjoy!
Quote of the week
Until next week. Please remember…Begin and end each day with a grateful heart…and always, always be kind….