Outreach

Although many of us are able to speak frankly about death, we still have a lot to learn about dealing wisely with its aftermath: grief, the natural reaction to loss of a loved one.

Relatively few of us know what to say or do that can be truly helpful to a relative, friend or acquaintance who is grieving. In fact, relatively few who have suffered a painful loss know how to be most helpful to themselves. - Understanding Grief by Jane E. Brody, The New York Times https://nyti.ms/2EJ2fka]

Interestin

“When you answer this call, before any legal action takes place, you must call back. My name is Alice Johnson with the Canada Revenue Agency and you can reach me at my division at 289-640-xxxx. Call back immediately”

Here I am, sitting in my home office and the phone rings. This was the call I received that day. Just as a side note: the information was repeated, however I did not get all of the information since my mind was working overtime as you will see.

As I listened, my mental p

Recipe for a Happy New Year

Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly

Free of old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate, cleanse them

Completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness

And littleness; in short, see that these months are freed from all the

Past-have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the

Great storehouse of Time. Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one

Equal parts. Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at o

The Trouble Tree
The Carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door, he underwent an am