Welcome Home…

  “Do you ever stop feeling sad when someone dies?”

Miss G. asked this question of me not long ago, and in doing so she opened up feelings that I hadn’t realized I was trying not to share. As she often does, she sensed something deeper than words and too complicated for her age , but her question made me think a lot about how we share our experiences of loss and sadness…

  

So many of us have lived through the death of a friend or family member and felt irreversibly changed by the experience. Four months ago, faced with the loss of a great and inspiring friend, I knew that life would not be the same for me. The feelings of shock and emptiness have weighed heavily on my thoughts and actions, and even regular tasks have taken more effort than they should…

I miss her every single day. I miss her laugh, her advice, her creativity, her enthusiasm, her style and optimism and certainty about things…

And yet. The sadness of missing, the inactivity of mourning would have made my amazing friend crazy. That girl was a do-er. She set her mind on following and fulfilling her dreams, and in doing so shared passion and joy for living everywhere she went.

When she wasn’t inspiring learning in the the littlest people she was designing welcoming places for all the rest – creating spaces for people to be themselves, to live their own dreams, to love their families and to build their own futures…

“Just Home and Love! the words are small

Four little letters unto each;

And yet you will not find in all

The wide and gracious range of speech

Two more so tenderly complete:

When angels talk in Heaven above,

I’m sure they have no words more sweet

Than Home and Love.”

(Robert W. Service)

 

Home is the people or places that bring you love and comfort, and help you bring love and comfort to others.  Whatever it looks like for you, wherever home is for you, you can fill it with the kind of welcome you want the world to be full of.

“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.”
(Pascal Mercier, Night Train to Lisbon)

  

It was her mission to create places where people would be comfortable and inspired. For those of us left behind, we have that mission to carry on – I can let the shock and emptiness weigh me down, or I can spend my energy on making something out of it – wherever and whoever is home to you, you can do it too. Make yourself welcome, open yourself to others, and build…

She would be proud.

In Between…

There are certain times and places in life that are neither one thing nor the other. In between seasons, in between jobs, in between awake and dreaming, in between childhood and adult life…

Coming through these in-betweens always gives me a slightly unhinged feeling; the surreal rearranging of place and personality goes through a period of “unsettled” before becoming something new. Nothing is familiar, there are no landmarks or keystones, there is a lingering feeling of discord.

  

I began this post in between seasons – in that wet grey time that isn’t winter and isn’t spring. I kept thinking about it as I travelled with my family – in between work and holidays, in between countries, in between states, in between city and country landscapes, in between ever changing weather patterns…

…but now I have come to an in-between that goes well beyond unsettling. In between life, and death.

I have lost an amazing friend. Even though I knew it was coming, even though I thought I was prepared, I am in between acceptance and overwhelming grief. I might be here awhile.

    
There is no easy way to be in this place.  I am wallowing in sadness – for her beautiful girls, for the man who loves her, for her younger brother and his family too, and selfishly for myself and my own family as we have to live in this world with a little less light in her absence.   

An amazing friend. In her last letter to me she noted the in-between herself:

“It’s funny how certain life changes make us appreciate what we have/ had before it’s too late. It’s good that they come our way sometimes.”

The moments that give us pause, that make us uncomfortable, unhappy, unwilling… Those are the moments that can really open our eyes to ourselves and our possibilities. They’re like windows into or out of reality – a place to change perspective and focus.

  

In those places in-between we have the opportunity to transform. As quoted in my favourite film, just a few seconds are so much more than waiting:

“We Breathe. We Pulse. We Regenerate. Our hearts beat. Our minds create. Our souls ingest. Thirty-seven seconds, well used, is a lifetime.” (Mr. Edward Magorium)

  

In between sunrise and sunset there are hours filled with choice and opportunity. There is life to be lived. There are people to be loved and helped. There is laughter, there is joy, there is kindness. Use your in between – it’s everything…

“The moment in between what you once were, and who you are now becoming, is where the dance of life really takes place.” (Barbara de Angelis)

Oh Margaret; How I miss you…
 

Yet…

My new favourite word. Three letters, but strong enough to hold the darkest thoughts and feelings back long enough to give a little bit of time to regroup…

  
  
We’ve all been there: a place where frustration or discouragement keeps us from seeing clearly the potential on the other side of a temporary setback.  As adults we (hopefully) have the tools to deal with the emotion and to motivate the action needed to get past that place. As teachers and parents we have the responsibility to model and support children who haven’t (yet) developed those tools for themselves…

  
  
Regularly, in the resource room, I work with children who have been unsuccessful in much of their short lives so far. Often their default phrase is “I don’t get it.” This is my least favourite phrase, and has been jailed in my classroom for many years. I have asked children to replace it with “I need help” or “I don’t understand”, but that was all before I discovered yet.  

  
  
When visiting another school recently I joyfully came across some fantastic “anchor phrases” in an eighth grade science room… The classroom teacher was surprised I didn’t recognize them – they are inspired by Carol Dweck’s “growth mindset” – based on her 2006 book. (I was having Miss G. In 2006  – quite a few things snuck by me that year…) 

This post is for Miss G. She is talented at many things, but not so much at accepting her own (even temporary) limitations. Of course, she’s 9.  When she’s having “one of those” moments I get her to scroll through the pictures and read them out loud – it’s cheesy, and she laughs, but it works. There’s hope for us yet…

  
    
    
    
    
  

I have looked at these pictures over and over again since taking them, and have shared them with friends, colleagues and students alike. The magic word is yet. There isn’t a phrase I can think of that doesn’t improve with the addition of those three letters. 

Today’s bonus: this rubric of assessment language posted in the same room:

 

I had the fortune of hanging out with some students who belonged to this actual classroom – they explained this rubric (in their own words!) for me, emphasizing their understanding of each stage of learning, and how important the growth continuum was.  Each phase, just like in life, was essential before moving on to the next.  We are not born ready to be extending learners. Many of us will spend a great deal of time in the acquiring phase. There is great satisfaction in developing and refining our learning, and in circling back to another round of acquiring… If we are learning we are living and changing and successful – we’re not done yet. 

  
I can’t help but connect these ideas to some speakers I heard at the FISA conference earlier this month – one on the inspiration for change (learning?):

“How can we make small changes toward bigger change? Attunement: understand perspective and find common ground. Buoyancy: face rejection, setbacks and failures. Clarity: curate information, develop expertise, find and identify problems. Tapping into feelings of why we do what we do increases our effective connection to tasks.” (Daniel Pink)

…another on the diversity required to create a world changing around us:

“Producing only one type of people reduces talent diversity. We need people on the fringes. We are differently talented and differently motivated – this is the beginning of passion. Doing things we are interested in makes us intrinsically motivated and gives us energy. Desire creates opportunity for creativity – human diversity becomes valuable. Successful schools value creativity, entrepreneurship, unique talents, autonomy, voice, exploration. Develop the discipline to sustain creativity and discover strengths. Learning from and for other people creates authentic products.” (Yong Zhao)

…and lastly:

“We have to be hopeful to help humanity adapt to its challenges.” (Charles Fadel)

Personal Universal… (#ChrisHadfield and #fisa2016)

“Not only are we in the universe, the universe is in us.  I don’t know of any deeper spiritual feeling than what that brings upon me.” (Neil DeGrasse Tyson)

 

Space is an awe inducing subject – it makes us all feel so small.  No matter how much we know about it, there is always more and further – it prompts the contemplation of infinite.

And wow.

 Infinite, as an adult, is almost unfathomable. For children it is much more reasonable – their combination of cognitive flexibility and open mindedness allows them to accept it without reservation because it just is.  Our ability to learn may not be as infinite as space, but we have barely begun to tap into the potential of our own abilities.  Who knows?  What great wonders are waiting to be discovered? 

  
 I was thinking these thoughts as I waited with 5000 other educators in Vancouver to hear Cmdr. Chris Hadfield talk about his own journey into the infinite; within moments of his arrival on stage it transformed from the unfathomable into the absolute, and ultimately relatable story of a journey to change:

“This is about having a radically different set of circumstances by the time you go to bed.  Change is scary. ” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

Commander Hadfield was speaking about his life-altering (and potentially life ending) journey into space, but he spoke empathetically to a group of educators who face a daily journey to change, and who are about to embark on a large scale journey to learning that is dramatically different from the one we have been used to.  The room was silent; I was riveted.

“Why take a risk? Why change on purpose?  Why increase the perceived danger in your life?  And then what?” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

If you are alive, you are changing.  It is natural and inevitable.  Once we realize this, it is a simple step further to change what we can in a conscious way.  (“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not in fighting the old but in building the new.” -Socrates)  Conscious change can open our minds to new possibilities, and gives us access to tools for communication and collaboration in the process.  

  
For Commander Hadfield the change at hand was “…a tremendous human adventure that would motivate me to bring out the absolute best I could bear on that problem… Change one little thing and suddenly people don’t see what they expect to see – the possibility of invention.”

Where to begin?  Set a goal.  (Chris Hadfield’s goal was to walk on the moon by age 45.  It didn’t happen, but so much else did.)

“The beauty of setting ‘impossible’ goals is it gives you a clear idea of what to do next… Enjoy what you’re doing and let yourself succeed everyday.” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

These thoughts resonated long with me.  Every moment of life is a gift, something that can get overlooked when the more mundane details pile up, and many small things could be celebrated with joy and gratitude! (Martinistyle mantra!) Hot water, fresh air, clean sheets, small kindnesses…

  
  Just a step away from the impossible goal, framed with joy and gratitude for life, is a vastness that can only be filled with wonder:

“Infinity.  Just outside your window.  It’s a huge deepening of respect for our planet and for each other… To be alone in the universe, holding on with one hand and facing the incredible endlessness separate from earth is ‘revelationary’ perspective building.” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

I sat in that audience, spellbound by the images on the big screen of the earth’s horizon covered in a spilled rainbow of light.  There is our home, fragile and beautiful. (“For small creatures such as us, the vastness is bearable only through love.” – Carl Sagan)

“What do you do with an unbelievably beautiful experience?  It’s important to try and share the beauty of being alive.  When we really want to share the experience of being human we use art.” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

My heart was pounding.  How brilliant and beautiful is the mind of a space travelling scientist who knows the benefits of art and music are essential to help us connect and develop and grow?

  

“There is genius everywhere.  We need to create an environment where each young person emerges with opportunity.” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

This opportunity comes from learning.  Learning comes from wonder.  Wonder comes from art and music and science and joy and gratitude and hope…

“The opposite of fear is education – the enabling of human capability and developing global responsibility.  Never be satisfied with your own level of expertise.  The more I learn the more I build the platform under my feet, the further I can see.  Ask yourself, ‘What don’t I know? How can I learn a little bit more so I can stand a little bit higher?’ ” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

We are challenged, as educators, to never stop learning – to grow alongside the students we teach in order to see farther and to work harder for this world of ours together.  We are challenged, as humans, to care for our planet and for each other.  It is a simple and beautiful image, taken “with a very good tripod” from the perspective of space.

 

“There is visualization and preparation and then a magnificent memorable blur.  The first few times around the earth are focused on recalling your own experiences, the next few times on sharing them.  About the thousandth time around you develop an intimate relationship with the world and recognize that we are all together.” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

There is so much beauty in contemplating the universe – it has been the inspiration for many creative and scientific minds. Great works of art and science have been built out of the curiosity, awe and wonder that exist beyond our own planet – the earth is so huge but in space it’s a tiny speck. Humbling, isn’t it?  

   

That thought can help us get perspective when our own lives feel overwhelming…it manages to place our real, earthly, human experience into a galactic context without making any of it trivial.  We are all together, for each other, on the same planet in infinite space.

“Life is the inevitable consequence of the thousands of small things that you chose to do next.” (Cmdr. Chris Hadfield)

What will you choose to do?

 

Snow Scenes…

Inspired by our recent snowshoe adventure I went on my annual search for snowy art installations in the classrooms.  It does sometimes snow here in January, but this year we have had only the tiniest bit to tease us.  Maybe that wishing and hoping for snow has made us all the more creative with our own artistic renditions of wintery wonder – the art in the school halls this year is lovely…

First from Gr.5:   

    

“Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood.” (Andy Goldsworthy)

    
     

  Next up – from Miss G.s’ art class – 4th grade:

    
    

 “Snow isn’t just pretty. It also cleanses our world and our senses, not just of the soot and grime of a Fife mining town but also of a kind of weary familiarity, a taken-for-granted quality to which our eyes are all too susceptible.” (John Burnside)

   
   
 
 

From Gr.1:

  
  

“We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt.” (Walter Scott)

  
  
From Gr. 2:

  

  

   
 
From Gr.6:

  
    

“A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder.”(Susan Orlean)

    

  

  …even our preschool has been playing with “snow”:

   

“One of the very best reasons for having children is to be reminded of the incomparable joys of a snow day.” (Susan Orlean)

   
    
 

“Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, 

Arrives the snow, and, driving o’er the fields, 

Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air 

Hides hill and woods, the river, and the heaven…”

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

  

Light…

As last year was winding down and I wrote my advent reflection on love I was a little bit surprised at how many moments were influenced by the word/idea I had chosen to guide my yearlong evolution…  The process was so good at making me come back to what was essentially important, even as life got dark and overwhelming in places.

 Over the last week of December I gave a lot of thought to a word for this new year that could be as inspiring and representative of the journey I am taking.  Unlike last year, when I knew that Iove was my word instantly, I needed to think a while this time.  So many words were suggested by friends and family but the one that kept coming back to me, the one that was perfectly simple and incredibly complex, the one that made me feel a spark inside was… light.

 Such a simple word but filled with so much meaning.   To lighten up, to tread lightly, to bear light, to light the way…

 A quick dictionary search tells me that the root word “light” is part of at least two hundred fifty other words in English alone. (Delighted! Enlightened!  Lighthearted!) Defining light, though, is often easier done by stating what it is not: not heavy, not dark, without burdens, difficulties or problems.  Or more philosophically: a source of illuminating grace and strength.  Can I be those things?

  
Looking back through the photos I have taken recently I see light represented over and over – I find myself drawn to it like a moth.    

Thinking back even farther, I remembered that light has long been a theme in my favourite books (Epiphanies!) and an underlying current in my regular writing…  It seems I am trying to write light into my life like a photographer captures its imprint on film.  This year, I hope more than ever, will be about light.  And more than ever I am looking forward to sharing it!

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.” (Edith Wharton)

Ready to take flight… 

In Search of Snow…

I have lived my whole life in the land of frequent rain, and while I love the blue/green/grey landscape with my whole heart there are times when even I get sentimental for other weather…

A few years ago, when she was quite small, Miss G. cried inconsolably when we put away the Christmas decorations before she had seen actual snow.  It seems that snow, in particular, is emotionally tied to our winter celebrations.  There are pictures of snow on Christmas cards, sparkly snow in globes, and snow filled landscapes in almost every holiday film we watched.  Here in Vancouver, though, no snow.  This year, to avoid the blues that can follow a green Christmas we promised to whiten up with a trip to the mountains in search of some real snow…

We were spellbound on the switchbacks up the mountain by the blanketed city lit up below us…

  … then outfitted with snowshoes, poles, snacks and many (many!) layers of woolens we found ourselves a little winter wonderland along the Cypress Snowshoe Trail on Hollyburn Mountain.
I have wanted to do this for so long, and am so glad we finally got around… Beautiful, bright and so much fun for all of us (even dragging G. Jr. up the tiny inclines by pole…)

Snow Fort

It all starts
with the quality,
the density, the size
of the snow bank.
True now, true forty years ago;
it is the critical ingredient.
We piled it high, over successive storms,
waiting not so patiently
for the right time. The right mix
of wet and cold
Snowman snow.
Digging, with shovels, with hands
creating a dome, an inner sanctum
interconnected tunnels, in and out
meeting in the middle
all within the pile of snow.

(Raymond A. Foss)

New Year, New Mindset…

Starting fresh is a New Year tradition for many, but it is becoming a new daily reality for us all.  Over the last few years I have increasingly heard the words neurodiversity, neuroplasticity and cognitive flexibility across disciplines and in various contexts; it seems we are all shifting towards  growing evidence that says we need to be able to think differently.  We need to be able to increase, decrease and regulate our cognitive control depending on the demands of any given situation.  (Is it time to create?  Is it time to analyze?  Is it time to discuss?)  We need to be able to open our minds (or close them) quickly and easily as we navigate the demands of learning, working and interacting in our modern world.

Does this seem obvious to you?  As a teacher working with diverse students (as well as their diverse families and support teams) I see firsthand and daily an endless variety of learning styles, skills, challenges and opportunities.  We are beginning to recognize, as educators, that our traditional (for us) methods are not working for all learners.  It is our challenge to be open to new ideas and to have the ability to take action and create change.  We need to support a wide variety of interests and hobbies in students and lifelong learners if we are to create thinkers and do-ers for our future.  Children (and adults) need to drive their own learning, on topics that are interesting to them.  It’s about the process: the ability to explore, connect and reflect across disciplines develops memory, creativity, innovation and purpose.  It is also greater in community.  Our social identity, as well as the encouragement and constructive feedback available within that framework, makes collective learning greater than “the sum of the parts”.  The school years provide an incredible opportunity for inspiring the lifelong educated contribution required by our evolving world – how can we let it pass without making the most of that potential?

Several books I have been encouraged or inspired to read over the past year (The Brain That Changes Itself, Drive, Quiet, You Are Not So Smart…) have challenged me to think about different learning styles in new ways.  I am inspired by their message of change and optimism because the world my children and students are growing, learning and potentially working in is vastly different from the one I knew as a curious child or idealistic teen.  I see change there, and want to feel prepared for preparing them.

  

It won’t surprise you, if you have read this far, to hear that many students in our high schools are not actively engaged in their learning.  Maybe you experienced that yourself at school.  I loved school, which is probably part of why I still show up at one every single day, but I was motivated enough from as young as I can remember to drive my own learning, and independent enough to suffer silently through the boring parts.  (Remembering Professor Summerfield’s English 383: less exciting than cold porridge and only bearable with Dr.Pepper, BBQ chips and a great friend to commiserate with.)  Like many other students I jumped through the hoops of education in order to get to a life that I could create myself.  Foolish me; the real innovators were bypassing the boring and creating a fantastic future without the traditional education system.  Creative thinkers and do-ers (Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos “Innovation is disruption!” and Mark Zuckerberg) turned the world upside down by re-writing the possible and creating the future they wanted to be.  The world I work in today is completely different (both environmentally and technologically) than the one I worked in even fifteen years ago.  So why are we still arguing about doing things differently?

A great New Year’s challenge for educators and students ready to embrace flexible thinking/learning is to help create the balance of conditions that supports the basics we know to be useful foundations for learning, but opens up avenues for exploration, creativity and choice. (“Autonomy”, “mastery” and “purpose” if you are a fellow disciple of Dan Pink’s Drive…)  Flexible schedules, “distributed practice” (over a longer period of time) and “interleaved practice” (mixing new learning with prior concepts) are examples of choices that are having positive results.

  

All of this change in thinking and learning can’t be done in isolation.  The worldwide connections and implications of our actions have long ago erased the idea of individual learners.  What we are seeing instead is individualized learning in community.  We are thinking about the big picture, and working toward learning how to be a part of it in the biggest global sense.  Like Adrienne Gear suggested – as she developed her “Reading Power” process – we are making connections, asking questions, thinking and sharing as we learn.

“Don’t ask kids what they want to be when they grow up, but what problems to they want to solve.  This changes the conversation from who do I want to work for, to what do I need to learn to be able to do that.” (Jaime Casap, Google Global Education Evangelist)

I love this quote because it emphasizes not only what do I want, but how can I serve? We work in community for each other.  This idea is as old as humanity, but more relevant than ever.  It is not about the I, it is about the we and this future of ours.

By embracing the diversity we already see represented in students and educators we may be able to see the patterns of inquiry and action needed to form a new model for moving ahead into the bigger/smaller world community and creating real, effective, positive, impactful change there.

(Art by Gr.6 students. Awesome!)

Love…

The fourth candle of the advent wreath represents love. Depending on when Christmas falls during the week it can be the shortest week of advent, but love is the Christmas gift that is meant to be the most enduring. Christmas itself is a celebration of love, and when we light the Christmas candle tonight it will be with a wish for love to live in the hearts of our friends and family all over the world…

(by G. Jr.)

Love has been a constant theme on my mind over the past year, thanks to the New Year’s Day invitation from a friend to consider choosing “one word” to represent my journey through 2015. After considering both joy and gratitude – the two pillars of my daily life and the regular focus of this little blog – I decided on love. It was something I needed, and something I could give. As the old song says, “it’s the only thing that there’s much too little of…”

(by Miss G.)

I began with the intention of seeking out, celebrating, creating and sharing love throughout the year.  I was inspired by the many quotes of Mother Teresa who saw God-as-love in every person she met, and posted them over the year on Twitter to remind myself of my focus…

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one come to you without leaving happier.”

“Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”

“Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”

“I have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

“Don’t look for big things, just do small things with great love… The smaller the thing, the greater must be our love.”

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”
“Intense love does not measure, it just gives.”

“A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.”

“Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.”

“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put into that action.”

Wherever I went (if you read this blog regularly you know we try to stay on the move) I found love.  Whenever I could, I shared love. It has not been an easy year, and it is not always easy to love, but I have found that the effort has helped me to grow in ways I did not expect.  More than ever I wish for love in my home, amongst friends and strangers, and in the great big world…

(Street Art, Granville Island)

(Love Poem, Miss G.)

(Classroom Graffitti, anonymous but appreciated!)

(Mothers’ Day, Miss G.)

(Street Art, New Westminster Riverfront Park)

(Loving Hearts Staff Art Project)

One Small Moment (Joy…)

The third week of advent is traditionally the week of Joy – that moment when we have come halfway toward our Christmas celebration and pause to see the beauty all around us.  We lit the candle last Sunday but I hesitated to write about it as I was nowhere near a joyful state.  I was cranky from not sleeping and from tasks at hand, and short-tempered with the (perceived) shortcomings of others, and so I delayed until my mood improved.  We bought, put up and decorated our tree in stages over the first half of the week, and the joy in my children started to be contagious.  I thought maybe I would write about the meaning and the memories attached to the ornaments we love to unpack each year – each one is a symbol of a joyful moment we have shared… 

  
 But then the worst.  Devastating news from a dear and treasured friend – beloved by all who know her and irreplaceable for her many and generously shared gifts; the sudden return of a serious illness that has thrown all thoughts of joy into complete chaos…

Alternating between anger and tremendous sadness, I can do nothing but feel helpless and pray…  Part of the time I am angry at myself for my selfishness, and part of the time my heart is breaking for the relatives who are doing everything just to keep going right now, in the face of Christmas cheer raging all around them.  The deepest empathy, a gift my friend is so blessed with, hardly penetrates the shock and fear and sadness; how can you feel Christmas in the midst of pain?

How do we feel anything in the face of darkness and suffering? 

  
 And yet… I can’t just sit here and wallow in the darkness and despair.  My beloved friend, if she had the strength, would tell me so I’m sure.  Life is riddled with sadness, but even through the sadness there are smiles.  Even in the winter there is a promise of the spring, and even deep in advent there is joy…

“Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light.” (Theodore Roethke)

My amazing friend, with her gracious spirit, shares so much of herself with me and with many: her love of life and laughter in spite of the many struggles that she has faced, and her endurance of all manner of frustrating difficulties without judgement, without criticism and without complaint.  She finds beauty in the ugliest castaway things, she brings life to places that have been ignored and neglected, and she makes note of humour when all seems to be lost… She has a powerful, joyful spirit.

  

“Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Facing the increasing darkness of the winter horizon as day by day we are still losing light, facing the scarier darkness of illness and worse, I imagine what she might say.  Like Goethe, she relishes the little things. She has found joy in giving of herself, and in the joy of others. If I have shown love and hope and mercy it is in part because I learned from her. Her joy has helped me follow that path, and through all the selfish anger and sadness that is clawing at my heart right now I will dig deep for what joy there is to be had in giving of myself to others – one small moment at a time…

“Only those who give can know joy.” (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)