I am posting later today because I took the advice of William Wordsworth. Yesterday was a busy day for me, so I decided to take today at a slower pace. These are the things that have or will (before I go to sleep) encompass my Sunday.

REST – these are all things that bring rest to my body, my mind, or my soul.

• allowed myself to sleep in a little later than usual
• enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with my husband who made the delicious meal
• had unhurried phone conversations with both of my children
• attended to tasks that had been hanging over my head, but now that they are complete my shoulders can relax
• got to sip on a cup of tea before it grew cold
• gave myself the luxury of a nap
• watched some NBA games with my husband
• took time to read and write
• completed my daily stretching
• engaged in prayerful reflection

THANKS – these are just a small list of the things I am thankful for today

• waking up this morning – life is a gift not to be taken for granted
• my husband, Chuck, who does countless things for me everyday and picks up the tasks that I cannot physically handle right now
• my children who remain close to us and to each other
• my grandchildren who keep my humble and laughing – they say the darndest things!
• my home which may be small and in need of some work but keeps us safe and protected from the outside world
• my faith that keeps me grounded and hopeful as I try to process the events of the world

Tomorrow I go back to the craziness of school and the balancing act that all teachers are trying to perfect. I hope that each of you carves out some time each day, if possible, but at least each week to rest and be thankful. Take care of yourself, and have a peaceful week.

I am participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by twowritingteachers.org.

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.

Francis Bacon

Tinnitus – the sensation of hearing sounds when no external sound is present.

I wish I could hear
the sounds of silence;
tinnitus makes that
impossible.

When the world around me
starts to quiet down,
the buzzing and the hissing
jump at the chance
to take over.

I use to fight them,
but they only got louder.
The more I fought,
the easier it was for them
to drive me crazy.

Now when they
arrive each night
still – unwanted guests.
I let go and know
the time has come to
slow down and relax

Because it is only
when I hear the
intruders,
does the rest of
the “noise” of the day
fade away.

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge sponsored by twowritingteachers.org.

Dear Books,

I have been in love with you for as long as I can remember.

My first real crush happed when I was around ten, and the Hadigan girls from around the corner gave me about 20 hard-covered Nancy Drew Books. I treasured those books; I actually still have them. From The Secret of the Old Clock and The Hidden Staircase to The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes, and The Mystery of the 99 Steps, Nancy embodied “girl power” and set me on a mystery-loving course.

My love continued during those five summers of Vacation Reading Club (VRC) with Mrs. Den at the Northeast Regional Library in Philadelphia. Each week we a book from a different genre and discussed them. This was my first experience with book clubs. NERL became a second home. I even became a “page” who reshelved books on the children’s floor – especially in the picture book room.

My love of books led me to find the love of my life. High school found me sitting on my front steps reading every chance I could get. I have to admit, dear books, I did cheat on you just a little to sneak a peek at Chuck as he made his way down to Kenny’s house. A sort of “blind date” ensued, and over 48 years later we are still together and reading books to our grandchildren.

In 1996, Oprah launched her book club, and in 2004 I along with three friends from work launched our book club. We would grow to 10 women strong and dub ourselves the “Chapter Chicks.” We just celebrated 18 years of laughter, camaraderie, support, and a little bit of talking about books.

I still love you, books, even when I send you off into the world to be shared by others. You have been at the center of my life always, and some of my fondest memories involve you. You are a constant companion.

Here it is again, March 1st, the beginning of another Slice of Life Challenge. I wasn’t sure I was going to participate this year because frankly, I am not sure I had it in me. I know the pandemic has taken its toll on so many people in so many different ways, but I can’t even begin to explain to those not in the world of education just how difficult these past years have been – one harder than the next.

So many of the teachers I have met through this challenge have been struggling with the same decision and sharing their thoughts on social media. Reading their posts made me realize what I cherish the most about this challenge – the collegiality, the connection, the creativity. I have come to meet writers from around the country and around the world, and reading their stories fuels my creativity, my teaching, and my soul.

So today, I begin once more for the seventh year in a row. I look forward to reading the posts of the other “slicers” as well as the comments readers have about my posts. This may be harder than in previous years, but if it were easy, it wouldn’t be called a CHALLENGE!

I am participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by twowritingteachers.org

So yesterday I did this thing.

I am participating again this year in #100daysofnotebooking facilitated by the always smiling Michelle Haseltine (@Mhaseltine). Yesterday I wrote in my notebook, took pictures of my pages, and posted them in what I thought was the private (over 500 writers strong) Facebook group. I then went on to peruse Facebook for a bit.

Much to my surprise, I saw a comment on my post that was from someone not in the note-booking group. YIKES!! I had actually put my collection of thoughts out into my vast world of followers. 😉 For a minute of so I thought I would just go and delete it, but then there were more comments. My OLW for 2022 is EMBRACE, so I decided to embrace my “accident” and leave the post up. I posted this in the comments –

Rita DiCarne I accidentally shared this post. It was meant for a note-booking group I am in with other writers.  I was going to take it down, but I am “embracing” life this year, and this is what life was like today – challenging, but good. 

I couldn’t believe the outpouring of love and support I got from friends and family and my school community. They totally embraced my writing and then embraced me with their kind words.

When I looked at my post this morning and was reading through the comments again I realized I wrote something I had never written before – I called myself a writer! I know that might sound silly, but I have never referred to myself in conversation or in print as a writer. I guess I will just have to EMBRACE my new moniker!

While perusing Facebook one day, I came across a post by Positively Present which was announcing the start of their annual Gratitude Challenge. It piqued my interest, so I went to the website to find out more. The goal of the “Challenge” is to focus on something to be thankful for every day. Blog author, Dani DiPirro, provides readers with a list of words to help spark the writers’/artists’ sense of appreciation and thankfulness. Since I have been in a writing slump, I thought this would be just the thing to get me writing again. Below are some thoughts inspired by DiPirro’s prompt list. I am still working on #6 and #9.

#1 WORDS – My world revolves around words – reading them and writing them. I am thankful that I have a love for words. Words have the power to heal, to hurt, to inspire, to tear down. If I can make my students understand how important and powerful their words are, I will have done my job as a teacher.

#4 LAUGHTER – I don’t laugh as much as I used to; I read somewhere that the average adult laughs 17 times a day while a child laughs 300 times a day. I don’t even think I make it to 17 some days. Yet, I am very thankful for the people I can count on to make me laugh. My husband is never at a loss for “Dad jokes,” but being able to laugh together, at each other, and at ourselves keeps us going after 41 years of marriage. My kids and grandkids keep me laughing ALL. THE. TIME. I don’t know where I would be without my book club, The Chapter Chicks; our meetings have us cackling about anything and everything.

#5 HEALTH – Health is something you often take for granted until you have problems. I have a laundry list of ailments – most of which I am managing, but I am thankful that I can still go to school and teach, that even though they are not as sharp they once were, I still have my hearing and eyesight. and that there are generous people who help me manage the things I cannot do because of my health issues.

#7 LOVE – When I hear the word love, I think of my family – my husband, kids, grandkids, my siblings, and their partners. We are not a family that says, “I love you” at the drop of a hat. Those words don’t always roll off of our tongues, but that is not problematic. True love is revealed in actions, not in words, especially over the past four years. I have experienced a wealth of riches in the love department. In my world love looks like an unexpected helping hand to get through a difficult time, loading the dishwasher, filling my tires with air, laundry, an ear to listen to me when I’ve had a bad day. I could go on and on because my family is the best a showing me love!

#8 NATURE – Nature is my muse, my happy place. Now I am not what you would call the “outdoorsy” type at all, but I love observing the wonders of God’s creations from afar. These are just a few of the things that make my heart happy: the flaming colors of autumn leaves, sunrises and sunsets, the first frost crisp and crunchy under my feet. a gentle snowfall, ice-covered branches, winter songbirds, blossoming trees and flowers, fireflies and butterflies, the wind and the rain. We can learn a lot from nature if we only stop, look, and listen.

Sometimes Bad Things Have to Happen Before Good Things Can

Becca Fitzpatrick

Each September has me thinking about the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, especially this year with it being the 20th anniversary. It saddens me every year to recount the events of that day and watch memorial ceremonies. It also saddens me to recall how this country rallied around each other on 9/12; we found that there was more that united us than divided us. Now 20 years later, our country is so divided on so many fronts. It is disheartening. Enter a tornado..

On September 1st, our region in Southeastern PA was under seven different tornado warnings in one evening; several touched down wielding wild winds and destruction. Unfortunately, one the size of four football fields made its way through Ft. Washington, Upper Dublin, and Horsham (the town where I live). The 20 or more tornado and flash flood alerts we received that night were unnerving, but I was one of the lucky ones. The tornado skirted my neighbor by about 1/2 mile. Others were not so lucky.

On Thursday morning, 9/2, I received word that there had been significant damage to the school at which I teach. We were set to return on 9/7 with students on 9/8. The tornado lifted part of the roof off on the older side of the building. The four – seven inches of rain that fell completely destroyed two classrooms and seriously damaged many others. While it has been a very challenging couple of weeks, it looks like we will open on 9/20. This is no small feat, and it is only through the leadership of the principal and unbelievable support and help from faculty, parents, and contractors. Again, I was one of the lucky teachers who did not lose classroom and personal belongings.

On Friday, a parent invited me to join an Upper Dublin Facebook page (UD Storm Damage 9/1 Helping Hands) set up to help with disaster recovery. Here is where my faith in humanity was restored beyond belief. While I don’t live in Upper Dublin, many of our school families live there, and so many residents took a huge hit; many losing everything. Yet, seeing how this community ralled around each other was amazing.

What did they do? Everything and anything.

• Organized chainsaw crews to help cut and remove trees to clear properties. There were men, women, and children with lots of muscle power.
• Set up meal trains and ran errands.
• Helped find short term housing for displaced residents – some offering their own homes and extra bedrooms and then helping to pack salvagable items from their homes
• Gathered supplies – generators, rakes, gloves, lawn bags, water, gatorade, plastic containers – they found a need – they found the supplies
• Offered to foster family pets.
• Collected books for schools that lost their classroom libraries, (There were three schools including mine impacted by the storm.
• Kids had lemonade and bake sales
• People drove around bringing sandwiches and snacks for the workers
• Community businesses stepped up by donating food, supplies, and services such as places to shower and charge electronics, mental health help and yoga classes.
• People offered childcare including for children attending the public schools.
• Lists of places to find help in the county as well as FEMA were shared. If someone posted a question many people offered solutions.
• Sold t-shirts and magnets to raise money for disaster relief

I am sure I have forgotten some of the wonderful works of mercy these community members offered to one another, but I will never forget the awe and joy I experienced when I read each new post. Just when I thought I had seen the very best, another generous offer of service surfaced. I felt like those days after 9/11 when we were kinder to one another and respected each other. No one cared if the generous people who offered help or the thankful recipients were Democrat or Republican, Christian or Jew, old or young. They are all just UD Strong.

The thing that I am most thankful for is that these selfless humans are being great role models for the children. The children who lost their homes or possessions see that they are not alone; the children who are helping with the recovery see and feel how good it is to be of service to another without an expectation of tangible reward. My hope is that this is the beginning of positive change.