STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

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Jan 1, 2006? 

Today??™s Announcements:

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? Happy anniversary everyone, I am so looking forward to this year being a better one for me and for you as well.?  Our time on this earth is relatively short contemplating time as eternal, so let us all make the best of what time we have.?  Count your blessings and forget your sorrows.?  Life will go on!

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Now on to the good stuff..........

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New Year??™s Day Messages

~**~**~**~

? This story was written so it can be e-mailed to all of
my? online friends on either Dec. 31 or Jan. 1.?  I
think it is a very appropriate story for me and many
of? my friends because we are breast cancer survivors
and each and every new day is a new beginning for us.
I hope you will enjoy the story. Doris

New Beginnings

Doris Fandal

I have a favorite card that I like to send to all of
my online friends when it is their birthday.?  In fact,
I like it so much that I send it over and over and
some of my friends may have received it more than
once.?  I wish I could find a printed copy of it so
that I could also send it to my friends who do not
have a computer.
I don't know who the singer is in the background of
the card but I love the music and the song.?  But what
I love most is the message in the card.?  The words are
so special for those of us who have gone through a
dreaded disease, a horrible experience with the
weather, ie, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis,
earthquakes and even fires and mudslides.?  The words
are special for those of us who have lost family
members, friends or a good neighbor.?  Each of our days
can be a day for new beginnings, each of our days can
be another chance to learn more about ourselves, to
care more for those we know and meet.?  Each day is a
day that allows us to overcome our problems and laugh
more than we did before.?  Each day allows us to do
more than we thought we could do and to be more than
we were.
I wish for each of you a wonderful year of beautiful
days and I wish that each of those days is a day of
new beginnings for you.
Take time now to begin anew; write a note to let your
friends know how you are doing.?  Make a phone call to
someone you have not spoken with in a long time.?  It's
a time for New Year resolutions but more than that, it
is a time to make time for yourself and a time to
share with others.? 
Be good to yourself in 2006 and make the New Year
truly a new beginning.? 
?© Doris B. Fandal
December 13, 2005

mkayla38@yahoo.com
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Doris Fandal, wife, mother, grandmother and full time volunteer for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Formerly a teacher but started writing after diagnosed with breast cancer.?  I am now a 6 1/2 year breast cancer survivor.?  I am 67 years old.

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~**~**~? 

Out of the Chrysalis
- Where caterpillars find their wings
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Maria Stepek Doherty

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It has been six months since I last wrote to you. It has
been a eventful time filled with opportunities for growth
and the practical application of love in testing situations.

Next year?  I believe I will have assimilated and processed

enough of the lessons of this year to convey them to all

of you in a meaningful way. I hope you are
sitting comfortably because there will be much to tell.

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As I write here in my warm, safe, comfortable office snug
within my home, it is Christmas morning. We were up at
7a.m. to open our presents which had been piled under the
Christmas tree, a smaller one than in previous years, but
perfectly shaped and beautiful, dressed in her sparkling red
and gold decorations. Our fifteen year old son was
delighted with his gifts, which included the new PS2
portable, totally unanticipated by him. The big bear hug he
wrapped his now comparatively, diminutive mother in was the
best present I could have received. Last year, unprompted
by anything other than his own sweet spirit, he sold almost
all of his computer games and consoles to raise funds for
the victims of the Tsunami. He is the greatest gift in our
lives; he is the beating of our hearts and the peace in our
souls. He is our Christmas and every Festival of Light
celebrated throughout the world.

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Unlike so many people in this world, we have a secure roof
over our heads, a reliable source of heat, food in our
kitchen and a wider family which although a little bloodied
after this year of change, remain lovingly unbent. Like the
willow, we have learned to sway gently in the winds of
life; better to bend gracefully than snap. Nature has many
lessons to teach us if we will only look and learn.

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Today I will give thanks for all that I have in my life,
the tears as well as the laughter.

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I will give thanks for the lost loves who returned to my
life this year and the lesson that once we give our hearts,
it is given forever, if love is true and not a hollow
illusion. The way we express that love may change with the
passing of the years and the shifting dynamics of human
relationships, but the love never dies.

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I will give thanks for the life of my friend of over thirty
years who slipped quietly out of this mortal guise and into
the beauty of her pure spirit earlier this year. It hurt to
lose her physical presence but I sense the pure joy in her
freedom and transformation. Then the hurt diminishes and
the pain softens.

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I am grateful for the gift I was given in being fully
present to another old friend as he walked the last steps
of this journey with his much loved brother. I am in awe of
the fighting spirit of this man, the incredible battle his
doctors put up for him, their grief when they lost him.
They make me proud to share the same humanity.

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I am grateful for the prayers and healing which poured in
from around the world when I asked for spiritual energetic
support for both of my friends. Each one of these wonderful
people gave their time and their love to a complete
stranger, then we are only strangers when we make that
choice to remain so.

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I am grateful for the glossy coated?  little black dog, our
own Gremlin eared Jessie, who was never more than a few
feet from me, for the fifteen years of her life with us.
We rescued her, half-starved, cruelly cowed and
beaten, when she was around a year old. She was my constant
companion in the three years I have now worked from home.
She passed yesterday and I miss her presence so much.

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I am grateful for each client who blessed my practice this
year. I received far more from them in so many ways than I
could ever have given them. I learned from their courage
and I grew with their growing.

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I am grateful for my schizophrenic brother. He teaches me
to stretch?  my patience, my compassion and my love. He also
teaches me how to set boundaries which allow for my own
self-care. Above all, I am grateful for his choosing me to
be his conservator, the one he trusts to make the decisions
about his life when he is not able to do so himself. It is
a sacred trust and a very precious gift.

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There is so much to be grateful for in all the light and
darkness of this life. It is the shadows which give our
lives their richness and depth. They are our challenges and
our opportunities for growth. It is better to embrace them
and allow the lessons of the pain to flow through our
lives, than to resist and remain trapped in them.

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I am grateful for every breath, for every tear, for every
smile.

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I am grateful for the incredible gift of life and I am
grateful for each one of you who reads this

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Take time to be deliberately aware of all you have to be
grateful for in your lives, especially in those moments
when external circumstances weigh heavily on you. It is in
those time of sadness and shadow that we can be so much
more awake to the beauty of the light in our lives. You
have only to make the choice to see it that way and your
heart will overflow with love and gratitude for all that
has been, all that is and all that is yet to come.

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Should what I write reach out to you in a significant way,
then I ask you to pass this on to someone you feel could

? also benefit from it. Thank you for joining me today as

we journey through our transformations to becoming all

? that we may be. Should any of the issues which were

raised in today's letter, bring up anything that you feel
the need to talk about, please e mail me and I will do
whatever I can to help. I welcome your questions, comments,
input.
chrysalistransformations@blueyonder.co.uk
Please feel free to use this article in your publication as
long as it
is credited to me and any alteration is first approved by
me.
***********************************************************************
Maria Doherty is Founder of Chrysalis Transformations.
www.chrysalistransformations.com? 
Should you no longer wish to subscribe ,please send an
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coachingcatalyst@blueyonder.co.uk
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I will be sorry to see you go.
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subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to
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? ? ~**~**~

ValueSpeak

By Joseph Walker

valuespeak@msn.com

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Dave called the other day.

Which wasn??™t an unusual thing ??“ at least, not 35 years ago when we were best high school friends and future college roommates. Dave was a central figure in my life in those days, and I thought we would be friends forever.

But you know how that goes. You stay in close touch for a while, and then life??™s currents push you down different streams. School, families, careers, community involvement ??“ you know the drill ??“ it all requires your strict attention, and before you know it years have passed and miles have interceded and those who were once your dearest, closest companions are little more than names on a Christmas card mailing list.

Names that bring smiles of recognition and memory, but names nonetheless.

Dave and I have bumped into each other now and then through the years, and when we did it was always joyful. Well, almost always. There was the time he came to my house to chew me out for not going to our 20-year high school class reunion. I thought I had very good reasons for not going, and he thought my reasons were dumb. He was right, of course ??“ my reasons WERE dumb, although I didn??™t see it that way at first. But even though our interaction that day wasn??™t completely pleasant, it was still wonderful to see Dave.

It always was.

That??™s why I was so pleased to hear his familiar "Jos?© my boy!" on my cell phone the other day. He was driving somewhere with his family, and I was finishing the last of my Christmas shopping, but we both paused for a few minutes to renew, remember and reconnect.

"I don??™t know what it is," he said in the middle of our conversation, "but for some reason I just feel . . . drawn to some of the people who were important in my life years ago."

"We??™re 50 now," I said, reassuringly. "Old people are supposed to do stuff like that."

"But I think it??™s more than just that," Dave said. "This isn??™t nostalgia. It??™s . . . I don??™t know . . . recognizing that these people were important to me for a reason. They??™re part of who I am, and who I??™ll always be. And I don??™t want to lose sight of that just because we don??™t live by each other and do stuff together all the time."

"So does this mean you don??™t want to get together for a little one-on-one hoop?" I asked.

"Not unless someone is going to be there with defibrillators," he said. "But I would like to stay in touch better than we have in the past."

"I??™d like that too, Dave," I said. "I??™d like it a lot."

So we both made our first New Year??™s resolution for 2006, right there on our cell phones. As old (Gadzooks! 50!) and dear friends, we resolve to become newer, less distant old and dear friends. At this point, I??™m not exactly sure what that means. But I??™m delighted by the prospect ??“ absolutely delighted ??“ and I look forward to renewing this precious friendship in 2006.

And I??™m thinking that maybe you might want to consider joining us in this renewal. Surely there are people in your life with whom you??™ve lost contact ??“ dear friends or distant relatives who once were important to you. These are the people who helped to shape you, human touchstones with your past that lead directly to your future.

You??™ve always wondered what happened to them, haven??™t you?

So . . . find out!

Let 2006 be The Year of Renewed Relationships. Find one old friend, one lost family member and re-establish communication. It might take a little effort and a phone call or two, but I truly believe it will be worth it ??“ for you and for the person whose relationship you renew.

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~**~**~

? A New Year Is Coming

Dianna Doles Petry

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I'm sitting here this morning in a quiet house reflecting on my life and what I can do to improve it as another year soon begins. I am remembering many highlights of my life over the last year and it has occurred to me that not only do I write about my life, I actually live it. So many people avoid life and painful feelings by hiding away from the world refusing to do more than survive with food and shelter. I'm going to share a few of my thoughts with you.

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First of all, I am a woman, not because of my anatomy alone but more because of my belief that I should not only live my own life but that I should help my family, my neighbors, people down the street and people half-way across the world. When I stopped to think about my life I realized just how amazing most women really are. I'm not saying that men are not amazing in their own right, I'm only looking inward to reflect on myself and what I can do to make the world a better place.

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Women help to ensure that the world has faith, traditions, energy, strength, education and that we react to the things that we need to change. We nurture, we love, we hurt when anyone else is hurting and we go to bed and spend a great deal of the night with thoughts of things that need to be done, things we might have said that we shouldn't have and things we should have said that maybe we didn't. We love to bring beauty into the world and we have a need to be heard. We assure that our elderly are cared for while our youth walks a path to becoming successful. We often do without things that would make our life easier so that the people around us will know that we love them, even if they never understand the sacrifices we make.

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We carry on traditions handed down to? us through the years and we create a few new ones to hand over to the people? we love. We teach our children about generations behind us and we hope that in knowing a little bit of their history they will be able to learn from it and help the next generation to accomplish more than we ever dreamed possible. We teach responsibility, dedication and respect and then we watch them go out into the world and often cast much of our lessons to wind. Then, when we least expect it, they do something that fills our heart with pride and we know that we have done our job here well.

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This year I couldn't find much Christmas spirit and I had not intended to put up a Christmas tree at all. I had an emptiness in my heart when I thought of other holidays with people I loved who have passed away. I thought of the many visits I've made this year to hospitals with my mother and my son. I closed my eyes and I could see the anguished faces that filled the corridors of the hospital and it broke my heart to be helpless to make any of them better or ease their burden in any way.

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Then my teenage boys asked about the tree. They wanted to forget the trials of life and enjoy the tradition of Christmas as they had always known it and I thought back to being sixteen-years-old and taking my grandmother a small decorated tree for her living room because she didn't want one anymore. I watched them pulling boxes out of storage and tossing stuffed Santas at each other that we had collected over the years and without any thought at all, I was organizing the decorating and laughing just as hard as they were. I will have some kind of Christmas tree until I can no longer move, even if it is a branch cut from a pine tree and decorated with aluminum foil strips. I will keep their tradition going just as my parents did for me. I will always hold onto the magic of hope and laughter.

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I will reach out to those who are suffering either physically or mentally. I will hold the hands of friends who are diagnosed with illness and I offer my love and support to those they will leave behind or in many cases, have already left behind. I will offer my ears, my shoulders and my home if necessary to those who have found themselves in a place they never meant to be. Failed love, unemployment, natural catastrophes and depression happen to the best of people. There is no prejudice as to who becomes ill, who goes broke, who loses a home to fire or flooding or who just can't face the world alone anymore. I will do my best to help these people through this rough spot, moment by moment until it becomes day by day and then week by week. I will always give of myself what I would hope someone would offer to me if I was the one in need.

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I will be happy every day of my life. That is my choice to make. There is no perfect place where loved ones never die, bill collectors never call, there is unlimited spending cash and teenagers have perfect manners and dress as though they are fashion models. There is no one out there who can read my mind and know when I need a card or note to remind me that they care and no one who can feel what is in my heart, or my body for that matter. My happiness is up to me, acceptance of myself is up to me and I will grasp the moment and let tomorrow come without worry and yesterday stay locked away in memory without telling myself that I could have done it differently.

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I am here, I am alive. I will not fret over the extra pounds I've gained and instead, be thankful that I'm able to buy the food and able to eat it. I will look in the mirror and not cringe at the gray hair I see and the wrinkles that are adding character to my features. I have earned those gray hairs and wrinkles through living so instead of trying to make them disappear, I am going to pray that I get to see much, much more of the same thing. I will take the time to get check-ups and I won't purposely do anything to myself that I know is dangerous but I will not attempt to cover myself, or my family, in bubble wrap to prevent injury or imperfection. If I did that we would not truly be living.

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I will always remember the friends and loved ones that left me behind. I make sure that the marks they left on my life and my heart always stay with me. I will see new things and smile knowing that they would love to be seeing it with me. I will tell a joke and know that they would love to be laughing right along with me. I will try my best to leave my own marks on the hearts of those that matter so that when my time here is over they will remember me in just the same way, with a smile and a good feeling in their hearts.

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You know, I don't really have any real resolutions for this new year that is soon approaching. I will continue to live my life in the best way that I know how the same way that I have already been living.

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Love,

Dianna Doles Petry

Dianna59@charter.net

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12/29/2005

http://diannapetry.tripod.com

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Writers Feedback

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? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

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? Agee, Vance;? Apted, Violet;? Baker, Kathy; Batt, Al;?  Berry, Nell; Blaine, Pamela

Boda, Ginger;? ? Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;?  Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark;? 

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Liles, Norma; Lilly, Jodi Flesberg; Lock, Joyce; Mazzella, Joe;? Morris, Deepak;

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?  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;?  Shiveley, Debra; Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Streidel, Saskia; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam; Verhoeff, Jan

Walker, Bill; Walker, Joe;? Warner, Gorden K; Walsh, Sue

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STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

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