The bright holiday lights of the Christmas season did not shine for 27 minutes in Oak Lawn, Illinois starting at seven o’clock on December 27, 2012. All over the city, residents unplugged their Christmas tree lights and other lawn decorations. Block after block of darkness wrapped the city with a sober tone. Couples, families and […]
Category Archives: Cleo Thoughts
29
Aug
Aug
“I know every engineer on every train, All of their children and all of their names, And every handout in every town…..” -Ralph Miller, King of the Road Maralyn Dettmann No one wanted to be a hobo. But choices lessened as the Great Depression of the 1930’s deepened into a decade of drought and despair. […]
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” -Maya Angelo Veteran’s Day. A time of remembering. A bitter sweet day because I do remember. I cannot stop remembering Dave. Some of the details about Dave Nelson’s physical attributes are sketchy. Like his height, the exact color of his hair parted […]
29
Aug
Aug
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stoop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” -Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Life in the dust bowl on isolated homesteads presented challenges to the lonely farmers and […]
29
Aug
Aug
“When an individual’s mind takes off in uncontrollable flights of anxiety or depression or grief, making a quilt redirects and soothes the mind in a safe, predictable way. Quilting is meditation for people who can’t sit still to meditate.” 1 -Dr. Madeline Fernbach, Clinical Psychologist This type of therapy can be inexpensive. Best of all, it […]
“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” -William Wiberforce Every year, April 12 is a day of remembrance. This date is set aside as the International Day for Street Children. For the two million youngsters who live in the shadows, every […]
29
Aug
Aug
“Remember…those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:3 Fact is always stranger than fiction. Some things cannot be imagined. Lorry Lutz’s two historical novels, inspired by the biography of Katharine Bushnell (Kate), read as fast paced plots. But Lutz is not a typical writer. She has carefully researched the material in […]
“If we were put there for our protection, why were the guns at the guard towers pointed inward, instead of outward?’ -Internee at Japanese Camp in the USA during WWII The jostling ride in the van with four grandchildren and a daughter who veers through urban traffic like a combat soldier left me breathless. […]
29
Aug
Aug
“God calls us to gratitude. Not necessarily gratitude for our struggles, but gratitude in spite of them and in the very midst of them.” -Jena Morrow, Hope for the Hollow Quilt-First Star/See Tonight by Susan Schrott Quilting and healing have long been a combination that makes each stitch a way to bind up wounds and secure […]
29
Aug
Aug
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” – Albert Einstein The theories developed by the great minds of education paraded before our class in Educational History and Philosophy. The imagination of Mary McLeod Bethune as she made desks out of orange crates and saved butcher paper […]