Once there was a tree….and she loved a little boy…The boy loved the tree and the tree was very happy”, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein Yesterday was Grandparents Day and an opportunity to celebrate one of the great blessings in my life: the gift of becoming “Papa Bear” to my four grandchildren — Aurora, Redding, …
“𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚.” 𝑳𝒚𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚, 𝑫𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆 (𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐) Can you remember the experience of sitting at the kitchen or dining room table growing up? At first glance you might say, “What’s so memorable about that oak table?” After all, …
“𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒏-𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆.” 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒐, 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒍𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒊𝒍𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 One of the joys of living here at the Jersey Shore is heading out …
“𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.” 𝟭 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝟯:𝟭𝟬 This past weekend, I was deeply humbled and grateful to be honored by St. Catharine–St. Margaret Parish in Spring Lake, NJ, for my contributions as Trustee, Pastoral Council President, Finance Council member, and for leading our Bereavement Ministry. In reflecting on this chapter of my …
“Death ends a life, not a relationship. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on — in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.” From the book, Tuesdays with Morrie (1997) by Mitch Albom During the past several weeks, a …
“𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖… 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒘 11:28) In many ways, the grief journey is like carrying a backpack and a metaphor for the emotional weight we carry after the …
One of the most effective things you can do during a major life or career transition is an exercise to help you develop a Personal Advisory Board. Ideally, your Advisory Board is a carefully chosen group of individuals who you trust and who know you well. Each Advisor should bring something different to your Board, …
“All I can think of is what happened? I want my life, my job, my paycheck back, Lord. My daily routine is gone! Is this really Your plan for my life?” From the book, “A Spiritual Guide for the Unemployed”, Timothy Mullner, DVM (2011) The Bargaining Stage of Grieving a Job Loss Grieving job loss …
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓.” 𝑨 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎, “𝑬𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔” (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵) A few weeks ago, my wife, son, and I attended a short film festival in Manasquan, NJ called Asbury Shorts which has …
“Yes, there will be growth in the spring”, the character Chauncey Gardner in the movie, Being There (1979) That quote above by the late Peter Sellers from the movie 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 is one of my favorite movies of all time where he plays a reclusive gardener named Chance and is thrust into the world of …
