Life's Loving Memories

    BRENDA “Every single problem you have in life is the seed of opportunity for some greater benefit.”  Deepak Chopra , Seven Spiritual Laws. While teaching high school. I had a delightful student named Brenda. She was a very bright young lady, got straight A’s all through high school, was valedictorian of her class and went on to Berkeley to study accounting. One Summer vacation after her first year at Berkely, she was lamenting her low grade in statistics.  She had gotten the first D grade of her life, and took in again over the summer, to bring it up to only a C. I asked her why she was majoring in accounting, considering she was such a people person.  She told me that her dad told her she would make a lot of money as an accountant. I asked her if that was what she really wanted to do, and perhaps she might consider discussing it with her counselor at school.  Well, she changed her degree to sociology, became a social worker, and then later went on to b...

  THE KIDS AT CASTLE PARK HIGH "Live, Love and Laugh! Let the heart be glad and free; rejoice in the thought of life and be happy." Earnest Holmes When I was a teacher at Castle Park High in the 80's, it was one of the best jobs ever.   The school was just starting to include 9 th graders for the first time in ten years.   They were also restarting a drama program after the same ten years.   I had a wonderful building all to myself to teach in, and I had a great group of kids to help me kick off the program.   We had no sets or props, so we spent the first year doing a lot of building. There was no speech team, so we started one.   The students were so involved, and hungry for new ideas and experiences. We had a principal who was so supportive of both my programs. Our shows always sold out, and students were so appreciative of something to be involved in. It was proof to me, that having the ability to be involved in something brought out the best in young ...

  SCOTT ANDERSON   “As you become more fearless, fear itself loses its grip on you. You cultivate immunity against anxiety and doubt because you are no longer constricted by fear’s energy. Creativity can then flow through you, offering skillful ideas, solutions, and possibilities.” Michael Beckwith    -- Life Liftoff Cards When I started teaching, I had a student named Scott who had cerebral palsy. He was born with it, and his parents put him up for adoption. A very wonderful family adopted him, and by the time he arrived at the high school I taught at, he had developed an optimistic view of life.   He never thought of himself as having a disability, and he never let anything get in the way of doing something he wanted to do. He was in my drama class located up a steep flight of stairs.   The climb was a huge task. Other students would fight over who got to carry his wheelchair up the steps, and he would navigate the stairs at his own pace, holding on to...

  UNDER THE BED "Every experience, good or bad, is present in our lives for one purpose: to make us conscious beings." Walter Starcke, The Third Appearance There are some events in our life that we remember with regret. One of these events happen when I was I child of eight and living in California. We had dear friends who visited us from Illinois, a woman, who was my mother’s best friend; and her daughter Hope, who had been blind since birth. One day Hope, a neighbor girl and I were playing in my bedroom, and the neighbor girl signaled to me that we should hide under the bed.   We did and then the neighbor girl started laughing.   Hope was frantically trying to find where we were.   It is my first memory of doing something to another person that was not a kind thing to do. I remember asking the neighbor girl to go home, but the act of unkindness stung for quite a few years. It was one of those things that gave me a horrible opinion of myself, but it also made me re...