|
|
|
Candle Burning to Petition the Female Saints
Here they are, our Ladies of Mercy and Divine Benevolence. Petitioning the Saints for Special Favours has been a big subject in the chat rooms lately, so in the spirit of Christmas and the Goddess energies associated with these martyrs and...
Chic Magnet
So you want to be “Chick Magnet.” So who are today’s Chic Magnet’s are they a new rock and roll group? Maybe today’s Chic Magnets are the Brad Pitt’s of the world or maybe the Chic Magnets are the new pick up artists found over at the “Thundercat...
How To Save Up To 70% On Christmas Gifts
How many times have you spent more that you could afford on Christmas gifts for your family? How many times have you bought gifts that weren't what you were looking for and on top of that, paid top dollars for them? It has happened to all of...
Need A Solution For Trouble? Try This Breath Of Fresh Air!
I just heard the story of a man who hired a plumber to restore an old farmhouse. After he had finished a rough first day on the job he realized he had a flat tire which made him lose an hour of work; then his electric drill quit, and then his truck...
Neti Pot – You Want Me to Stick it Where?
I LOVE my Neti pot. It is the first thing I use each morning when I wake up and it is also the first thing I pack when I am going on a trip. As a matter of fact, I can’t imagine living without my Neti pot. For me, it is the difference between being...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Memories, Meanings, and Lessons for Life
Some places just feel like home even if you’ve never lived there. I can feel calm settle over me as I turn from the highway and see St. Joseph Convent perched in its solid position above the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside. Its three-story arms spread across the hill as if embracing the furrowed farmland below. The manure-covered fields puff pungent perfume into the April morning air. The dense pine trees planted by my grandfather are almost as tall as the bell tower. I don’t remember the pink and white dogwoods that blush next to the retreat center but then again, I have never been here in spring. An emergency calls me here now.
Could it have been 45 years ago I watched my beautiful aunt walk down the aisle and become a “Bride of Christ”, a term that kept my eight year-old Catholic mind in puzzlement? I remember the coolness of the chapel and the stained glass colors dancing across the pews. Could it have been so long ago and after successive summer visits, that my twin brother and sister and I found the cows kept by Sister Phillip, the grotto walkway, the Lady of Lourdes statue and chicken coops? Could it have been so long ago that countless arms swaddled in black gauze reached to hug us against ample bosoms?
How strange it seemed that we had to meet her—Auntie Pep now-called Sister Mary Clare—in a small parlor with uncomfortable velvet chairs. Stranger too was hearing Nana and Pappaw call their daughter, “Sister Clare”.
There was mystery behind all those doors marked “private” just as surely there must have been some secret hidden behind the starched headpiece and cowl and beneath the long black skirt and veil. Yet for all the mystery, my overwhelming sense was always one of contentment when I walked up the steep marble stairs to the entry hall and candlelit chapel.
The black habits are gone and I am staying in one of the rooms behind the private doors .I wear my bathrobe and stand shoulder to shoulder with nuns of all ages at a sink to spit toothpaste and water. I carry my tray into the dining room and laugh at jokes around a table. I know the security code to open the backdoor and where the yogurt is hidden in the big
refrigerator. It is now a different kind of mystery.
What are the odds that my 86 year-old Florida-based mother would fall while visiting her baby sister? What are the odds that there would be room down the hill in St. Anne’s Home for the Aged where mother could recover from a multi-fractured hip? What are the odds that each one of her children could arrange schedules to fly across country and take turns caring for her and that the convent would find room for us? Mystery beyond mystery.
Psychologist Carl Jung would have called my mystery, “synchronicity”. This fortuitous set of circumstances- “synchronicity”-- is fraught with meaning and it is my task to figure the lessons.
Spending days between a health care setting where many will never leave due to infirmity and another home where women stay because of faith, I find these initial lessons the most universal:
Lesson One: From breakdown comes build up. Mom is getting stronger in the weaker places of her body. She still has more life to live. We all have broken places to rebuild.
Lesson Two: Caring for the ending of life is as precious as caring for the beginning. May we learn to see its beauty.
Lesson Three: Respectful listening is the greatest gift we give each other. No other species can verbalize its experience and feelings and have it held in sacred trust.
Lesson Four: Shared memories create a bond as potent as fire. A memory can either burnish or destroy. It’s our choice.
I’ve retraced my route and crossed the Susquehanna River. I am flying home to California from Baltimore with these lessons packed in my heart. Perhaps you might find them in a corner of yours.
© 2002 by Eileen McDargh. All rights reserved. Reprints must include byline, contact information and copyright.
About the Author
Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE, is an international speaker, author and seminar leader. Her book ‘Work for A Living and Still Be Free to Live’ is also the title of one of her most popular and upbeat programs on Work/Life Balance. For more information on Eileen and her presentations, please call 949-496-8640 or visit her web site at http://www.eileenmcdargh.com.
|
|
|
|
|
| Beauty Guide -- Hairstyles Makeup Nails & Skin |
| About.com's guide to beauty, hair & makeup. Learn new trends in hair color & styles, makeup dos & don’ts and waxing vs. shaving. See makeovers, tricks from ... |
| beauty.about.com |
|
| Shop at Beauty.com for Make Up, Cosmetics, Skin Care, Hair ... |
| Top Selling Prestige Brands - NARS, Too Faced, Vincent Longo, Philosophy, LORAC and much more in Stock. Free Shipping is available. |
| www.drugstore.com |
|
| Beauty Tips, Hair Styles and More at iVillage.com |
| Find beauty tips, including how to get hot celebrity hairstyles, at iVillage.com. |
| beauty.ivillage.com |
|
| American Beauty (1999) |
| American Beauty on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more... |
| www.imdb.com |
|
| Beauty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The usage of beauty for purposes of commercialism is a controversial aspect of the ... The ideal Roman is the more masculine form of pure male beauty. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| CSS Beauty | CSS Design, News, Jobs, Community, Web Standards |
| CSS Beauty focuses on providing its audience with a database of well designed CSS based sites, as well as news and happenings on the CSS Design Community. |
| www.cssbeauty.com |
|
| Dove |
| Real Beauty E-cards. Send your loved one a real beauty e-card to tell her how beautiful she really is. send now · countries · privacy policy · terms of use ... |
| www.campaignforrealbeauty.com |
|
| Free Beauty Tips And Samples |
| Free beauty tips: hair care, skin care, makeup, lips, cosmetics, hairstyles, eyebrows, nails etc. |
| www.free-beauty-tips.com |
|
| Beautynet.com - home |
| Offering articles and related stories, plus a directory of beauty salons. |
| www.beautynet.com |
|
| css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design |
| A demonstration of what can be accomplished visually through CSS-based design. |
| www.csszengarden.com |
|
| Beauty |
| Information and practical advice to make you even more beautiful. |
| www.ivillage.co.uk |
|
| Amazon.com Beauty: Fragrances & perfumes, makeup, skincare ... |
| Online shopping for all your favorite brands of beauty products in the Beauty Store, where you'll find the latest in makeup, perfumes & fragrances, ... |
| www.amazon.com |
|
| GlobalBeauties.com - Your Portal to a World of Beauty |
| Coverage of Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International. |
| www.globalbeauties.com |
|
| American Beauty |
| Official Dreamworks web site. Trailer, reviews, and credits. |
| www.dreamworks.com |
|
| Beauty | Seventeen.com |
| Beauty Secrets: Readers share tips on how to fix last minute nail disasters and get ... Beauty School: What was your best makeover experience? ... |
| www.seventeen.com |
|
| Sally Beauty Co. |
| World-wide supplier of beauty salon products and equipment. Corporate information, locations, online catalog. |
| www.sallybeauty.com |
|
| Beauty Bar |
| html hit counter. |
| www.beautybar.com |
|
| BeautyLink |
| Your official Gateway to the World of Beauty on the Web. Your FREE Beauty Link membership gives you access to gossip, model & celebrity news, a teen section ... |
| www.beautylink.com |
|
| BBC - Slink - Hair & Beauty Bible - A-Z <br><p class="recess ... |
| Contains fashion and beauty advice, news, views, and interviews. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| Health and Beauty |
| Natural Health and Beauty, review articles on health and beauty, Skin Care, ... Problems with deteriorating facial bones and beauty are more severe in women ... |
| www.emaxhealth.com |
|
|