It's Time to Say . . .

I want to thank each Stewista....Babs, Barb, Janet, Michele, and Vicki...for giving so much of yourself throughout the past eight weeks. (Yep, its been eight weeks...our first day of this session was May 27.) I'll be closing down the Googlegroups this weekend, probably Sunday. If you have a final story to submit, please feel free to do so. I know we've all been extra busy this summer and it wasn't always easy to get to the assignments but, in retrospect, each of you knows how much intimate, funny, sad and just darn good writing was put out there. Like I've said, my 1" blue binder is chock full of all your wonderful writing. I'm thinking of opening another MAS session in mid-to-late September. I'll make sure and keep you posted. So, goodbye, for now. . . and thank you.

MAS: An Oft-told Tale

BACK IN '78 my ex-husband and I lived in Lafayette, a suburb of San Francisco. Our best friends, Sally and Ray Caldwell, had recently attended a weekend seminar offered by Lifespring, a New Age, large group awareness training, often compared to Werner Erhard's 'est' seminars. The focus in these kinds of groups is on personal choice and taking responsibility for your life. Sally and Ray enthusiastically encouraged us to go to the next weekend seminar which was held at the Holiday Inn in S. F.

On Sunday evening, one of the final exercises was to pair up with someone from the group that you didn't know or come to know during training. As I recall, there were nearly 200 people in attendance. The purpose of the exercise was to use our intuition in getting to know the other person; to try and discover some nugget of information unlikely to be known by anyone but the person in front of you. After a weekend of opening up to new ways of thinking, the trainers said that we were in a state of "suspended awareness" and open to such an exercise, unlike we might have been earlier in the training. My experience had been very positive over the weekend. I was game. We were allowed to ask questions but the respondent could only shake their head 'yes,' or 'no,' to the questions.

I was paired with a man in his early 60s. We sat opposite each other, knees barely touching. I volunteered to ask questions first so I got comfortable, quickly scanned his face, and relaxed into the process. I asked him some general questions, like...are you enjoying the workshop, do you live nearby, but I was almost immediately distracted by a strong aroma. I tried to ignore it but the aroma only intensified.

Finally, in a fit of frustration I apologized to the man and said that I really didn't see the need to go on because of the distraction. Of course he was bewildered and asked me to explain. I felt totally foolish in even mentioning it but figured I had nothing to lose. I told him that I couldn't focus on the task at hand because of the powerful smell of ... dare I say it ... peanuts. The man swallowed hard and looked at me as if I had just revealed a dark family secret. Seemingly out of nowhere, he confided that his baby granddaughter had died less than a year before. The next thing I knew he began to cry and I found an unused Kleenex in my pocket to give him. Clearly distraught, I gave him time to gain his composure and then he dropped the bomb. "Her nickname was Peanut," he said. "That's what we called her from the day she was born. She was so tiny; so precious. Peanut is what we called her."

Now, THAT'S What I'm Talkin' About

HOW ABOUT a review of our class assignments? Maybe you'll be as surprised as I am about how much good "stuff" was put out there. According to my records, we have one more assignment too. Look for it at the end of this post. In Week #1 we were asked to write OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS for ourselves and Barbara Proctor gave us THE BABS, (inspected by Eileen,) who gave us this important addendum: "Pair with another model sharing similar characteristics for optimum results;" while Vicki gave us THE VICKI BOND INSTRUCTION MANUAL, warning us...DO NOT KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN; ALWAYS LET CHILDREN OPERATE AND PLAY WITH THIS MODEL; Jenny gave us the JKF60 MODEL, while Barb Tewksbury wrote on the MODEL "T", telling us to "keep her content and happy and she will find a special place in your home and life;" Janet Jobe wrote a note to her family--IT'S ALL ABOUT ME, laying down the edict that "when I die, any animals I may leave behind MUST be taken care of in the style to which they have become accustomed" and in a 10-point list, Michele Feeney gave us OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR MICHELE, beginning with, "Know I am a woman of many lists."

In Week #2 our focus was on HAIR and ROLLER COASTER experiences. Babs wrote what it's like to be "blessed with great hair;" Janet gave us a moving tribute to her friend, CYNTHIA DARLYNE PETERSON, whose hair was "thick and full, in a perfect bob, every day, day in, day out"; Jenny wrote about her Uncle Gust in GENE'S PINETOP BARBER SHOP; Barb T. wrote HAIR TODAY, STILL HAIR TOMORROW where she confesses that she "secretly envied my cousins with their straight bangs and swinging ponytails"; HAIR by Michele focused on the ups and downs she's gone through with her son's hair. LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER by Vicki began, "I am a roller coaster connoisseur." ROLLER COASTER by Janet ends with, "Life is a roller coaster. That's a big enough ride for me." I joined ranks with Janet and wrote RELIVETHEMAGIC.COM...I DON'T THINK SO. Also, during this time, Janet lost her soul mate, Boo, after 21 precious years together and she wrote and shared beautifully about him. Bless Boo and Janet.

In Week #3 we were asked to write about our lives in 10-year increments and choose one of the selections to elaborate on. Barb, Jenny, Michele, Janet and Babs all wrote their lists. Babs also elaborated wonderfully on one of her entries called BOSTON & THE PENNY.

Week #4 was an ALL QUESTIONS, ENDING WITH A SENTENCE exercise. Jenny kicked it off with a piece to Angelina Jolie and Boojum; Barb T. wrote questions to her first true love and to Elvis; Janet wrote to Queen Elizabeth I, Vicki wrote to Tom Cruise, Babs wrote to the big "C" and Thomas Edison and Michele wrote about buying a dog and to Harper Lee.

Week #5 asked that we write to someone we miss and/or about an experience with God ~ Spirit. Janet got us off to a great start with TALKING WITH GRANDMA OSBORNE; Barb T. gave us a touching piece about her Grandma Grippi entitled REMEMBERING GRANDMA; Jenny wrote MY GRANDMA KEIPP. Babs gave us an endearing and loving look at her friend, Lorraine. (I think Babs should think about sharing what she wrote with Lorraine. No amount of money could buy such a special gift.) On the subject of God, Michele wrote about a precious conversation she had with her daughter about adopted son, Joseph, and Jenny shared a piece about a lost (and eventually found) teddy bear, named Tony.

So that leaves us (finally) at our last Week #6. I know how hard it was to catch up to this point and some of you may still feel you're behind. If what you've submitted is "it" for you, then so be it. If you have one more assignment in you, make it this one. The wonderful writer of "Cowboys Are My Weakness," Pam Houston, once said, "Any good story is never the same story twice." Think about a story that you have told and re-told many times over your life. You know, the one you know by heart and love to tell. The one that makes people laugh, cry, think. There are probably dozens of 'em but you are to pick just one and tell us the story. I'll keep the MAS Googlegroups open for at least two more weeks, more if we need it. So whether it's a long story, a short one, or in-between, tell us the story, one more time. Begin.

My Grandma Keipp

My Grandma Keipp had the strength of a bull and showed it in many ways. She bore nine children and lost several more through miscarriage and early death. She put up with an abusive, alcoholic husband who never said thank you for her delicious cooking but, instead, would burp, giving her the acknowledgement she needed to know that it was good. She wore housedresses and aprons and, if not in her slippers in the evening, would wear black, solid-heeled shoes, with nylons that she rolled around her knees.

She went back to work at age 60 so that she could help raise her 16-year old daughter's illegitimate child. She walked the mile to and from work, saving the 10 cents one-way bus fare to the bank building where she cleaned offices and rest rooms, so that she could buy new carpet for her living room. When her daughter couldn't decide whether to keep her child or give her up for adoption, it was Grandma Keipp who insisted that they keep the baby and that she would help raise it. In 1945, a staunch Catholic from Germany would have it no other way.

My grandmother planted flowers and vegetables in her massive backyard in Mansfield and ran up and down the stairs to the basement (without railings) well into her 70's. There, she ran clothes through the ringer washer, stockpiled homestyle canned goods of all kinds, especially pickles, cucumbers and sauerkraut and secured a private niche way in the back where she kept a small bottle of whiskey.

I remember visiting my grandmother in Phoenix in 1980 when just a few weeks before I had left my ex-husband in Florida and was contemplating divorce. Sitting on the porch, looking at the clouds drift by, one day she said, "Are you still married?" I said that I was but had left my husband several weeks before. I told her I was thinking of getting a divorce. Her expression didn't change, she simply paused a few seconds and then asked, "Why?" I knew she didn't want...or need...to hear the details of my failed marriage so I went straight to the chase and said, "Because I wasn't happy, Grandma." Still expressionless, she said nothing for a long, long minute. I could see her mind working, deciphering what I had said, a puzzle to her stoic nature. Finally, she shook her head and clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth..."Not happy? I've never heard of such a thing." The subject was not brought up again.

In 1984, my Grandma Keipp died of a stroke at age 98 while on a road trip with my mother in her RV in Chula Vista. We buried her in Mansfield, in St. Peter's Church, where she attended mass every Sunday for nearly 60 years and where my mother and I were both baptized. While waiting for the service to begin, my Aunt Mag told me that Grandma loved me very much and that I was very special to her. This wasn't earthshaking news, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend my formative years with her but somehow hearing it from my aunt, who doesn't lean in the direction of compliments very often, was very special.

Back in 1994 I visited Mansfield and one gloriously beautiful October afternoon I made my way to the Mansfield Cemetery. It took a while to find my grandparents' tombstones and when I did I sat and had a "talk," especially with my grandmother. I brought her up-to-date on my life, that I hadn't remarried nor had children, that I lived in Boston and had a great job. The late afternoon winds tossed the dying multi-colored leaves all over and sent me scrambling for my sweater in the car. I felt a connection with her then and many times since I have felt her presence, especially when I'm sad or need guidance. I'm lucky, I know, to have had her in my life. I can't wait to see her again.

Hey, Tom, Read This!

IN A recent MAS assignment we were to write only questions to someone that we all could recognize and to end the assignment with a sentence. Following is Laguna Niguel, CA based-writer Vicki B.'s contribution:

"Seriously, do you really believe that some evil intergalactic warlord named Xenu kidnapped billions of alien life forms, chained them to Earth's volcanoes and blew them up with nuclear weapons? Why, just because you are famous, should you get special treatment and not be required to take as many classes and go through the rigors as regular people do? Why is your fame so necessary that you would turn a beautiful young girl into a bride zombie? Do you remain in the closet because the founder of your religion wrote in his best seller that homosexuality is the definition of sexual perversion? Don't you think it at all odd that your religion teaches you that you "pull in" all of your negative influences and any psychosis that you may experience are only manifested by your negative thoughts yet your founder died with high levels of a psychiatric drug found in his body? When did you choose to ignore that he was a bona fide nutcase? What makes you think you have the right to tell Brooke Shields that her postpartum depression is caused by her inability to "clear" herself from her self inflicted negativity? Where does it say in the secret tenets of your whacko religion that you have the right to publicly denounce a fellow colleague? You didn't even go to college so just when did you master this Psychology 101 garbage that you spew out?

Personally, I think you're full of shit."

MAS: Week #5 ~ Story Time

WELCOME TO Week #5 of MAS; although others may read this, it is actually an assignment for My Alphabet Stew, a 6-week online writing class based out of Phoenix, Arizona and facilitated by Jenny Fisher. In this particular session of MAS, we are using favorite quotes to jumpstart our writing assignments. This week's quote is, "God loves stories, that's why He created people." I like stories too and that's one reason I find the woman in the picture so appealing. She's definitely got something important to say and her audience is attentive and "all ears."

Your assignment, as always, is two-fold...you can choose one or the other, or try your hand at both. The first choice is to write a story about someone you miss...living or dead, young or old, close friend, special relative, near or far. The second choice is to tell us a story about a time that God or Spirit worked in your life or the life of someone you know. That's it...those are your choices.

I like to think that the woman storyteller might be saying, "A human being is nothing but a story with a skin around it," but I know better...it was actually comedian Fred Allen (1894-1956) who so aptly said it. Begin.

My First Entry

Dear Blog: This is my first try at a blog. Bear with me. This is uncharted territory but I'm game if you are.