Some years ago, while I was in college, several of my
friends benefited directly from a professor who taught them
by example. Sister Mary Consuela, IHM, used to tell her
students at Immaculata, ???I throw the pebbles girls, and you
have to make the ripples.??? She instructed them to take what
they had learned and share it, again and again and again.
Little did Sister Mary realize, that she had over time,
turned us all in to pebbles-making-ripples. I can tell you
this since not only have I seen ripples, but have seen them
interconnect and return anew!!This particular
???pebble??? was thrown two years ago, when I read a beautiful
story by Azriela Jaffe; it was published online and was
called ???Locks of Love.??? It chronicled her son??™s third
birthday ???haircut??? and his sisters??™ decisions about their
having haircuts as well- to donate it to ???Locks of Love???.
This organization makes and provides wigs to financially
disadvantaged kids who have medical hair loss. At the time,
her daughters Sarah and Elana (then 6 & 5 respectively) had
decided on their own to have their haircuts, even after
they??™d heard they would end up with short hair to meet the
10 inch minimum donation length.
Inspired by the little girls??™ generosity, I wrote to
their Mom to congratulate her on their selflessness and love
for others and to tell her that she is doing a great job.
She and her husband had given their daughters some
invaluable gifts ??“ intangible ones they needed to give away
what most little girls (and big girls) value most : their
hair! (a ripple)
This story really touched me for many reasons. You see, I
had been a sick child and anyone who??™s kind to sick
children, I think, earns a lot of points in heaven??¦not to
mention from the sick children for we never forget
your kindnesses. Also, it really touched me because at
the time, one of my dear friends was getting chemo for her
breast cancer and for Jean, like so many other patients, it
was very tough losing her hair. Because of this I
copied and pasted the Azriela??™s story, another pebble, into
an e-mail for many of my friends to read. (ripples??¦) Several
had written and phoned me to comment about this beautiful
gesture and how impressed they were, especially since the
???givers??? were 6 and 5 years old! (more ripples??¦)
Meanwhile, ???Locks of Love??? author, Azriela Jaffe,
contacted me about a grassroots letter campaign my friend
Jean and I had begun: ???Turning the Whisper into a Roar???.
This is an ongoing and active letter writing campaign to the
President asking for more funding for breast cancer
research. Azriela??™s version our the story put a business
spin on it: Former competitors join forces to save lives.
It was a pebble that resulted in great publicity for us in
about 7 syndicated newspapers in NY, NJ and PA. (more
ripples).
Tonight, a dear friend, my comadre, told me about my 13
year old Goddaughter, Iraisa Ann. Her daughter has decided
as part of her 8th grade Graduation from St Nicholas school,
to get a haircut, a short haircut and give about 15+ inches
of her hair that she??™s been growing since Kindergarten to
???Locks of Love.??? This seems to be a great ripple and yet a
pebble as well.
Sister Mary would be so very proud because Iraisa (her
Mom- my comadre) was one of her students at Immaculata and
one of those same girls who so often have reminded me that
we are always ???throwing pebbles and making ripples.??? Here we
are, more than 20 years and another generation later- we are
sometimes unknowingly throwing pebbles. So I suppose what
Sister Mary would want us to remember is this ??“ we never
know whom the ripples will touch or how far or long they may
go, so make every pebble we toss meaningful and good!
Thank you Sister Mary Consuela, for your life lessons in
???pebble throwing??? and thank you too, to little Sarah and
Elana Jaffe, for without you, and your Mom who shared your
generous spirit with us through her writing, and of course,
Iraisa Ann, we would have no story ??¦and no ripples of love
to share and once again toss another pebble into the waiting
pond of life.
(c) 2003 by Jeannie Paslawsky
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May you be blessed today.
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher |
