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"The Turtle Journal"
Rae understood the importance of taking things slowly and none
of her She is sorely missed by many.
We do wish you all a peaceful and loving holiday. It is the
time of
Long Overdue Update ~By BobI have to admit in the last few weeks it has been very difficult for me to try to put together my thoughts for the Turtle Journal. However, I have been thinking about it for a longtime and thinking about all of you. I've been thinking about all the people who have helped Ginny and me so much. I think of all the blessings that we have. And we have so many blessings it is impossible to count them all. They keep us well afloat through some very difficult storms. I have received a few writings regarding the subject of healing from some of you. And I have been working on an essay-poem myself, called The Journey, which is taking a long time for me, and I do get stuck periodically. I am trying to go deep into my feelings and write about the inner process of this journey for me. Ginny likes to call it the Epic Poem. I plan to include it in the next Turtle Journal–who knows maybe it will be long enough to go over the course of two or three Turtle Journals. I will also include some other contributions on healing in the next journals. But for now, it is time for us to get out our Holiday Turtle Journal. Very sorry for the long delay. I have been encouraged by one of my friends lately to send out a shorter turtle journal. When it comes to writing, it is not in my temperament to do anything (except for Haikus!) in a short or quick manner. Nevertheless, it was a good suggestion –so this Christmas Turtle Journal will be bit shorter (for you Lisa!) The November 14 benefit concert was a smashing success! It was filled with great music, wonderful musical artists and a truly loving audience -fun was in the air. There were also beautiful donations of art for auctioning by some of our artist friends. Many of you were there, so you know. For those of you were not there or for anyone who may want a souvenir of the concert, we are in the process of making a shorter version CD available. (The concert, with speeches and surprise guest, lasted about three hours.) One of the highlights of the evening came at the very end when Ginny got on stage and delivered her thank you speech. (See below for her speech.) A more recent event, just last Friday, was the Waldorf School’s Holiday Assembly. It was eventful for me because I was carried up a flight of stairs in my manual chair and some strong men carried up my power chair as well –I was able then to scoot up to the front of the assembly to give some welcoming remarks and introduce the orchestra. It was very special for me as I watched the students perform, thinking to myself as I looked at each one of them, how many blessings I have to teach them, to learn from them, to witness their respect for each other and their teachers and their striving to do well. I do feel very blessed to be a teacher, especially a music teacher and especially at the Waldorf School.
Courage I want to echo all the t hanks and gratitude that Bob has just expressed to everyone here tonight. Bob's poem says there are different wells within us. He's right. Music and poetry are great inspirations his life. I tend to be psychologically minded and love all the arts, especially theater and the movies. The very first movie I remember seeing as a small child is the one I resonate with tonight, in the challenging journey that Bob and I are making, and making it through that journey, in some way, with each and every one of you here.The movie I’m thinking about it is the Wizard of Oz. I've always liked to ask everyone I meet, "If you could be any character in the Wizard of Oz, who would you be?" Think about it... a simple day in Kansas on the farm and then, without warning catastrophe hits in the form of a tornado and a new version of the world takes hold. You meet and befriend all types of people, animals, fairies, and witches... and have to... have to embark on a new journey that's full of the unknown and obstacles and eventually return, changed by it all, to the home of your newly discovered self. Sometimes the journey of ALS is like that. I feel we are somewhere in the middle of the journey, somewhere still in uncharted Oz. These days I feel most like the cowardly lion, the character I‘ve always loved for his humanity, worry and whininess (all qualities I possess)... and his quest for courage. I'd like to share with you what I've learned about courage from taking this journey with Bob having ALS. I'm learning that courage is being true to what is, what you're going through and what you need. It's about daring to ask for help and invite others in to do so with as open a heart as you can muster. To dare to not be stoic or alone or to have to do it by yourself... an uninformed and erroneous model of courage that I had prior to really understanding the Wizard of Oz. In the movie what helps everyone is that they make it through because they make the journey together...and through some mighty fierce times, indeed. Dare to ask for help when I…we, need it. A colleague in my field of elder care, Andrea Cohen, had an immediate family member with ALS. Her advice to me was this: continue to have fun, savor every moment, watch movies together and most especially... when a person asks you, "How can I help?", tell them some way that they really can help you and Bob. She made me swear to never say, "Well everything is fine now... but I'll get back to you if I ever need to..."I am so grateful for the help Bob and I have received and for being able to practice asking for it. Look around this room.. It’s brought you all here tonight. My hope is that it doesn't end here. There'll be a time in all our lives when we will need a lot of help, times when my hope is that a Circle of Support will be there for all of you. All it takes is...daring to ask...for help...to open your heart to people who care… "Courage."
This joke came from the internet. It seems fitting for the theme of healing as it reminds me of some of the places I’ve been on my journey, especially those precipices that are necessary to leap from in order to keep growing…the choice to trust is always there… THE FALL
A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day, when he accidentally
got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which
temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the
canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. "Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's get you off from there; then we can talk." "Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully." "I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do." "Okay. Let go of the branch . " What?" "I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go."
"Well, since you've asked, here's the recipe for my famous "Turtle Bars"! I got this recipe from a dear friend, and I used to include them as part of the selection on my plates of Christmas cookies. Then I started getting feedback from various folks that I should dispense with the rest of the offerings, and just give out plates with nothing but Turtle Bars. They are rich and decadent, definitely holiday food, and very easy to make. Enjoy! Warning: It is VERY hard to eat only a small quantity of these bars!" Ingredients: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9" by 13" pan. In a medium bowl, or food processor, mix together the flour, 1 C. of the brown sugar, and 1/2 C. of the butter. Combine until crumbly, and pat this crust mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the crust. In a heavy saucepan, combine the remaining 3/4 C. brown sugar and remaining 3/4 C. butter. Heat to boiling and then boil, stirring constantly for 45 seconds (watch the clock, seconds really do matter here.) Pour this hot mixture evenly over the crust and pecans, trying hard not to move the pecans too much. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and light brown. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips. Wait about 3-5 minutes, until the chips are very shiny, and then spread with a knife to form a frosting. Cool the bars in the pan (set on a wire rack) completely before trying to cut. Store the cooled bars in an airtight container.
Wind chases the sun
The Tortoise and the Hare One day there was a tortoise and a hare. The hare was running along the road and bumped into the happy tortoise. He said, what are you doing here? You must be the slowest in the town. Then the Tortoise said, no I am not. The hare said what are you doing just lying around? I’m listening to the birds sing, he said. The birds do not sing, how can you hear them? You are crazy. I bet you’re really slow, the hare said. I am not slow the tortoise said. Then how come you never won any ribbons, I have some at home, said the hare. Well I haven’t really won any ribbons because I have never won any races at all, the tortoise said. I bet if you raced me, I would win the race, said the hare. If you think I’m so slow, then I challenge you to a race, said the tortoise. Ok, said the hare, On Wednesday we will have a race. And so they did. On Wednesday they had a big race. They had to go over the mountains, over Crookity Bridge, through Thornberry path and up and down the big hill and through the finish line. So, when they got there the tortoise was last to come to the race. And then the judges yelled out, on your mark, get set, GO and they were off. The hare running very fast, the tortoise not very close behind. The hare was going ahead, he was almost at the end. And on the big hill he was tired of racing so then he said, I think I should just take a rest right here on the edge of the hill because I need a rest, the hare said. And he did. He lied down there until he fell asleep and then the tortoise caught up to him. Then the tortoise was up ahead. The hare did not know that he was in front of him. The tortoise went up the hill and then down. And then the hare woke up and saw that the tortoise was down the hill and got up and ran after him. But it was too late. The tortoise had already crossed the finish line and won the race. The hare came through the finish line last. And the hare was so upset and the crowd cheered for tortoise. And he was so proud that he won the race. Slow and steady wins the race!!! There are two main characters. The tortoise and the hare. The end. 
And that’s the end of this (short –ha!) Holiday version ~ Peace and love to all~ Love and Help is All Around
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