FINDING MEANING IN 2018: WELCOME 2019!

What gave meaning to  2018  as it ended?   Ii was the action of people that had meaning for me.  Family, friends, and strangers whose words and deeds warmed my heart and gave me hope for a brighter future. People like these:

 After going to the theater to see a corny holiday show we went  to get something to eat.  We  went to a local, nearby restaurant.  When we arrived a group of people were coming out.  One was profoundly handicapped.   He recognized me and called out my name.  This simple gesture was a major accomplishment for him that  gave my evening greater importance and gladdened my heart.

In August I traveled with Don to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania for the North American Sundial Society's 25 Th Anniversary  Meeting.  I had not to been to Pittsburgh since I was a child. At that time there was great fascination with the  newly opened Tunnel which went underground through the Mountains.
That fascination remained the same when I went back with Don in August.

I was excited to take The Sundial Society's Historic Tour through neighborhoods. One site was Squirrel Hills.   The Tour took us past the shopping center near the Synagogue  where my family used to live.  Weeks later the horrific sense less murders of Jews in that Synagogue took place.  In the face of all this needless horror, of the grief and anger of people, politicians told the President of the United States he was not welcome to come.  Then other voices were heard. The Rabbi said, "Tell the President, he is welcome to come."  The wonderful memory of the Sundial Society Meeting has not been overshadowed. The irony for me is that the same sense of reason required for the science of sundials and respect for our laws was used by the Rabbi when he calmed his turbulent congregants.

Most recently I came upon three little girls dressed to have their  pictured taken with Santa Claus.
They were excited with the pictures.  I stopped to speak to them.  They were sisters between 3, 5 and 6 years old.  I stopped to speak to them and ask what they thought the holiday was all about?  The little one told me it was about the baby Jesus.

The older child asked if I had Christmas lights too.  I said no  but I do have lights that I enjoyed.  The middle sister shouted "Hanuka Mexican lights".  I told her yes and thought how wonderful this country has always been.  We allow each one of us to celebrate those things, religious or not, native born or immigrant, to enjoy the fruits of our own decision making even when it appears we are less than we could be.

So as 2019 begins to each of you I extend good wishes.  Keep well and keep in touch.

Beverly

MY FRIEND DELANEY: WRITER & POET

Her smile is broad, ever-ready as is her good humour

she will do things her own way

she succeeds, crossing all boundaries

religion, traditional customs, marrying her husband

spontaneously on Sadie Hawkins Day with hundreds of others.


We are two women who enjoy writing

sometimes working, many times not

but always looking for differences

in colors, hues, in painting, clothes

people and nature and in the hats we wear.


Her credentials are impressive

taking her from one city to another

writing for businesses to public institutions

to the love of a tree in her backyard.

All described in poetry,


We met because of aspiring to careers of our own

but kept in touch at writer groups.

She writes with a passion and consistency

about the life she builds with her husband

and in journals she keeps on their travels.


In September she published a 5 Volume Set of her Poetry

each one expressing another facet of her life.

On a snowy day in St. Louis I began to read Volume 5

"Shifting Gears"* because I am in the middle of doing just that

with my own life.


As I read I see clearly some of the feelings and surroundings

she describes. I recognize how wonderful it is to be alive

and be a part of the time in which we live even in times of great distress.

It is not politics nor party which can diffuse people like my friend

because she sees and appreciates life.


*"Shifting Gears", Poetry by Delaney (c)Copyright 2018 FlagshipPress
Philadelphia, Pa. 19147