Random Thoughts

When I was a kid, I wanted to be Nancy Duncan when I grew up. I didn’t want to be LIKE HER, I wanted to BE her. She was my hero. And it is because of her that I know to call her a hero (and not a heroine). You see, Nancy Duncan was the first feminist I ever met. Of course, I didn’t know it at the time.   It was around 1976, which would make me 10 years old, and I was smack dab in the middle of the Midwest in Omaha, Nebraska.   Nancy Duncan was my theatre teacher, my director, and (like I mentioned), my hero . Everything about her was perfect in my eyes.   Her wavy, messy hair.   Her loud laugh.   Her funky, multi-layered clothing.   Her smile.   Her genuine way of caring for those around her.   Her wit.   And her kindness.   I was just one of hundreds (thousands?) of kids she taught and directed.   I am sure nothing stood out about me that made me special in her eyes.   But in my eyes, oh in my eyes...

I had the sweetest thing happen to me today.   It reminded me of the importance of COMMUNITY.   I share it here in case you, too, need a reminder of how surrounding yourself with caring humans can make your world a better place. Someone knocked on our front door this morning.   This is not unusual, our home has become a “community center” of sorts and we get a lot of doorbell rings and knocks. This time when I went to answer the door, I was greeted by a Pantry guest that I know as “Mr. Corned Beef”.   I call him this (not to his face, it is my nickname for him) because his favorite thing to get at the pantry is….   You guessed it - corned beef!   Now, Mr. Corned Beef doesn’t usually come to the door.   He stops by the pantry periodically and gets what he needs, then moves on.   If I see him out there I often pop out to say hello (and ask if he needs corned beef, which he usually does).   We’ve had some nice conversations.   He is a...

Do you ever get into a “holding pattern” of deep thought?   Like, just pondering things in your head, “big” things, things you will not find an answer to (because, frankly, there are no answers) but you still can’t shake the thought of them? I do. You probably could’ve guessed that, eh?   I mean, if I DIDN’T, then why would I have raised the question here, right? Maybe I have been in the over-thinking cycle (and, let’s be honest, the sadness cycle) because of everything going on in the world.   I mean – WARS.   People dying.   An upcoming election that I honestly can see no good outcome in.   Poverty.   People with no housing, not enough food…   If I think about it too long, I can find myself in a vortex of darkness. A few years ago, I met a man that I now admire from afar.   He is living with brain cancer, and I crossed paths with him at a brain cancer event shortly after my sister died of glioblastoma.   His name is Ada...