Rethink Church - lent day 1

***Programming note: hello readers! I have much to catch up on, but the beginning of the year was disrupted by illness/a need to settle life down after Fall 2012, which was one for the personal travel record books.  Will update with Christmas/Rose Bowl/Mardi Gras soon!***

Despite my lack of membership/participation in a local church here in Alabama, I've managed to stay quite connected to my church network via social media.  One huge benefit of participating in UMC Camps over the years is leaving with a wonderful, diverse group of people to stay connected to. Many of my friends were fellow youth group members/leaders who have gone on to become ordained ministers or other leaders in our church.  Many of the youth I worked with in summer 2011 are spiritual leaders in their congregations and are now preparing for college.  Anyway, it's one of the things I love about social media - maintaining those connections throughout the year, from far away.

So when I saw ReThink Church's Lenten Photo-a-day Challenge (here's an article about it), I couldn't help but be excited (No, Lent isn't just for Catholics! And it isn't just about giving something up either.). It integrates all social media platforms and encourages participants to share pictures that correspond to a theme for each day of lent.  I loved this idea, because frankly, I am tired of the "giving something up" practice, and  just didn't feel spiritually prepared to do it.  I'm not sure whether I'll manage all 40 days, but I'm excited to participate.  I'll mostly use twitter (follow me @steeenie)- follow the entire project by searching for @umrethinkchurch,  #rethinkchurch and #40days . But I'll try to post some on here as well. 

Here's day 1 - "Who am I"

This picture speaks to me because it was taken from a very difficult time in my life.  After my grandpa's and aunt's death in October and November, I knew I needed a change to give me a fresh start.  So, I took several inches off of my hair, and have felt lighter ever since.

Updates to Family Blog

I finally took some time today to blog about our fall on the Christine & Curtis Blog.  Going into Christmastime, it was a nice exercise in looking back at the fun things we did, aside from our multiple trips around the country for work/sad family reasons. 

It's hard to look at September-November 2012 without some sadness and, frankly, trauma.  I even made the decision to include a reference to it in some of our Christmas card messages - it was just too big a deal to ignore.  But I did not want to forget to document what else happened during the same period.  Among other things, we had a friendly face come to visit at the end of September, Christine's Stanford Class of '07 reunion in October, a meet up with a good friend in New Orleans later that month, and a nice visit for Thanksgiving which was capped off with the Stanford-UCLA game in the Rose Bowl last Saturday.  And of course, plenty of Kenny in-between.  

So please enjoy those posts (as late as they are) as much as I have enjoyed posting them. 

"Thank you for your Service"

I had what is, sadly, a unique experience a few months ago.

I was flying from Houston to Orange County to see my aunt in September, and I sat next to a service member who was on a 2-week leave from Afghanistan.  As much as I often hate the airlines, one thing I love his how they go out of their way to bring uniformed soldiers whatever they need, and this flight was no exception.   The one caveat I have for that is that the movie was "Battleship," which was actually pretty good, but I'm not sure if that was something the soldier was interested in watching, given his circumstances.

I asked him where he was coming from and when he told me and I said, "thank you for your service," to which he replied, "thank you for your support."  This was the first time I've had a conversation with a service member stationed in Afghanistan about what it is like.

He was about my age, from Orange County, and served his county by working in "civilian relations," which meant that he would walk the communities in Afghanistan (while heavily protected and armed) and interact with the locals.  He said that it was quite a reality check the first week he was there when people started shooting at him. But for the most part his unit has been relatively unharmed, although he lives in constant fear.  If I remember correctly he still had several months of deployment left.  It took 3-4 days to make the trip from Afghanistan back to California, but as soon as he was out of Afghanistan, he breathed a sigh of relief.  When we landed in Santa Ana, we both remarked on how odd it was to be back (It was my first time back in SoCal in 9 months).

I asked him about what his days are like over there, whether they get to watch much football (yes if they have a signal, that is an issue), what the food is like (he's happy to be home) and what he misses (a decent bed). His unit has a fantasy football team.  He got a "Dear John" letter two months into his deployment and is still pretty mad about it; he said he might see her during his leave, but more than anything was looking forward to blowing off some steam in Vegas.  He said that although they are not supposed to drink/party while on leave, there is an unspoken understanding that it's going to happen anyway, and that as long as they don't get themselves into trouble it's okay (although he has a number to call in case something does happen).

I also asked what he thinks about public support of the troops.  He's frustrated; he feels like the county has forgotten about the troops who are still in harm's way, especially during the Presidential election and especially during difficult economic times.  I told him that from my perspective, the candidates are not talking enough about Afghanistan, which is a shame, and so the focus is not on the troops, despite the fact that they are still dying over there.

[I hope now that the election is over that will change, but'm not optimistic, given all the name-calling that has been going on in the wake of the election.  That's for another blog post that I will probably never write, but suffice it to say being called a brainwashed immoral minority woman that only wants to "take" from the government, does not represent "real America," and is lazy - is not fun.  Anyhow ... ]

I asked if he intends to stay in the service after his deployment.  He said he would like to go to college and work towards joining special forces.  He wished that he had someone push him to go to college first instead of going right into full-time military duties.  I think he felt like his life was put on hold.

Our conversation left a strong impression in me and was a "teachable moment."  Part of me regrets not getting his information so I could stay in contact with him; but part of me thinks that our conversation was more powerful this way.  He looks like me, is my age, and knows the same Orange County landmarks and high schools, and yet my daily life is so different than his.  His family has to deal with the fact that he's over there and in harm's way 24/7, and carry on with their jobs and lives.  Regardless of our country's policies over there, it takes a lot of courage on his part to do that job.

So, to him, and to his fellow soldiers and their families, I thank you.

Aunt Julie

I'm sorry to say we lost Aunt Julie to cancer this morning.  She was 44.

 Aunt Julie and her three kids (my cousins) made some wonderful memories this year - the link is an article about one of those experiences:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside/oceanside-mom-with-cancer-gets-wish-a-trip-to-disneyland/article_1656c18e-ba5a-59fa-8b22-8e755a11b300.html

Yo-Yo Ma in Mobile

Curtis and I had the unique opportunity to see Yo-Yo Ma perform with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra ("MSO") last Wednesday.  The MSO is not very old, but was fantastic.  It performed the first half without Ma, first playing a Verdi overture which was impressive, followed by the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra.  I wasn't crazy about how it sounded, but it certainly sounded technically difficult and the MSO did a great job of it.

Then after the intermission Yo-Yo Ma came out, looked so pleased to be performing, and first did the Schumann Cello Concerto in a minor, opus 129 with the MSO, and to be honest, he clearly had it memorized and while he was enjoying himself, it sounded like something he's performed often (not unlike the Bach that he plays in The West Wing, which he did not play for us that night but had performed the night before in Mobile).

Then, I think we had the real treat, because, in honor of John Williams birthday, he performed an Elegy that Williams wrote for Cello and Orchestra, which was BEAUTIFUL.  Seriously, I was blown away.  It also has a unique history:

ABOUT THE PIECE

Elegy for Cello and Orchestra

John Williams

DETAILS:

Composed: 1997-2001

Orchestration: 2 flutes, oboe, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet , 2 bassoons, 2 horns, harp, strings, and solo cello

A few years ago, an acquaintance of mine, a brilliant young violinist, lost her two young children in tragic circumstances. For the memorial service for little Alexandra and Daniel, a group of composer colleagues and I each contributed a small piece to mark this occasion, which was not only heart-rending, but also one that was suffused with a great deal of love.

A short time before this event, Yo-Yo Ma appeared as soloist on my soundtrack recording of Seven Years in Tibet. The score included a short melodic fragment which I thought might be expanded, so I shaped it into the form of the present Elegy, always with the cello in mind. The original version of the piece was for piano and cello and was beautifully performed at the memorial service by John Walz, an outstanding Los Angeles cellist. When the opportunity to record a CD with Yo-Yo Ma emerged, I decided to orchestrate the Elegy and Yo-Yo kindly agreed to record it.

— John Williams

After that, it was the end of the MSO program, and Ma then proceeded to delight the audience with 3 encores of solo music.  Even Curtis, who has very little musical background, enjoyed his performance and was impressed with his ability.

I was concerned going into the concert that I would be overly emotional - I had a hard time getting through the beautiful music at my Grandpa's service since he loved music so much.  But I was prepared and did well, and had a wonderful time listening to the beautiful music.

Lately

It has been a little crazy lately.  If you're still checking the blogs and wondering where I've been, here's the scoop:

First, let me note that most of this has nothing to do with me, that my health is fine and my little family in LA ("Lower Alabama") is fine. Plus, there's the (admittedly trivial) fact that all of this is happening during the fall and football season, which already involves travel, and thus I'm busier than normal.

So what is bringing me to California for 3 of out of the last 5 weekends (this weekend included)?  Well, mostly sad events.  I was in CA Sept. 20-23 to see my Aunt, who, at 44 years young, is dying of cancer.  In so many ways, this trip was a blessing - we got so much quality time together talking and laughing, and although the outlook is devastating and cruel, and although we spent most of our time together in the hospital, it was a good visit and well-worth the trip and time.  I will say that, it's hard to look at cancer the same way after going through it with her. It takes too many people and destroys too many families and the road to a cure seems far away.

It also turned out to be the last time I would see my Grandpa, who suddenly passed away about 2 weeks ago after a car accident. It's still hard to talk about because I really miss him - he was one of my favorite people in my life.  But knowing that he is with my grandma, and that he will be with my Aunt in spirit as she makes her transition, has given me and my family great comfort.  I am SO SO lucky that he and I were able to have a great time together just 2 weeks before.  We had such a fun dinner together where he ate more sashimi than I thought was possible, and he was in good form and we just talked and talked and enjoyed each other's company.  I'm thankful for the relationship we had and for how good he was to me.   I will be in California for his service this weekend.

On a happier note, in between all of this I flew out to San Francisco to go to my 5-year Stanford Homecoming Reunion.  I had such a nice time visiting with close friends and with people I hadn't seen in a long time.  I flew out just a few days after Grandpa's death and it was a nice distraction and something I had been looking forward to.

During these last 5 weeks I've also traveled to Tuscaloosa for a football game and to New Orleans to see a friend.  I hope to recap all of this at a later time, but if you've noticed that I've been a little ... absent shall we say? at least from the substantive, "this is what is going on with my life" stuff (since I still am active on Facebook with little things), the above is why - it's just a lot of travel and a lot of emotional stuff all at once.   When I'm home, I'm focused on spending time with Curtis and Kenny since my absence has had an effect. And I'm trying to stay ahead on my sleep and on my stress.  When I'm at work, I'm try to stay busy. But I wanted to take some time out today to update the blog and say hello.

Have a good week :-)

Paint by Numbers - Progress

I love doing these - so soothing.








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