Appreciation

     I took time from writing a blog to handle some family matters. During that time, I lost several friends. One was a fine writer who headed up the Summit City Scribes. She was the author of a number of books and a wonderful adjudicator. Another was a lovely talented neighbor, whose death at the age of 61 was shock. She was a Spanish teacher at Trine University, and ASTSP National Language Teacher of the Year in 2019.  Another was a gentleman, a quiet fellow who always sat two pews in front of me at church.   There was a businessman, who bravely fought cancer, the husband of a friend. He always thought “large,” and the American flag in his back yard will attest to his success and vision.  There have been others, including a genealogist and librarian, and another, who suffered from Alzheimer for years; I remember her looking sharp as a French model .  

     I also have had to deal with my own family, a matter that led me to tour many nursing facilities. And, oh how I have learned about nursing homes, insurances, and long term care matters!  And, oh how I also have learned how kind and caring some people are.  My world has changed.  The world also has changed. The only thing that doesn’t is change. Like a river flows, life and conditions ebb and tide. Football seasons, March Madness, summer outdoor concerts, commitments, and the IRS require attention, as do holidays, birthdays, and elections. But, through it all, my reality is that spring has sprung and buzzards are circling high above the oak tree on their way to wherever they go.  The grass is turning green. There is a sense of newness and a knowing that garden beds need to be cleaned and flowers planted.  

     My awareness is heightened that there are people who do incredible jobs of responding to disasters, people who take care of people in hospitals and nursing facilities, and people who cook, clean, paint, shovel snow, clean up downed trees and work in ice storms to repair and mend. I have a deep appreciation for them, especially those who do it and still smile and say hello and ask if I’m having a good day. 
  
     Recently I have had a chance to read a bit for pleasure. One is a little book written by Larry Koralewski titled CHICKEN STORIES, What The Hens Do When Nobody is Around. I read it and wrote a review of it, and I predict his little book may become a classic. (It’s on Amazon.) It was published earlier this year. I also am reading several short stories written by Latin American writers  published way back in 1977. Good literature never gets old.   
​
     Incidentally, March 27th is deemed Theater Day throughout America.  (April is Poetry Month).  As a theater aficionado,  I love and appreciate the statement made by choreographer and dancer Martha Graham :  “Theater is a verb before it is a noun, an act before it is a place.”  Reflect on her statement, and you will understand what Maxwell Schaeffer wrote in “Spotlight Magazine”   He writes, “Theater at its core, isn’t just something you watch. It’s something you do. It is motion. It is energy. It is action. … And the act of making theater begins long before the first actor sets foot on stage.”  Each one of us is on our own stage.  Sometimes we stumble and mumble and lose our place, but there are times when things come together.