SWAN

I belong to a "giving circle". It is a group of women who get together once a month and by categories, present non-profit organizations that help people in our area. We have been in existence for over six years. My friend, Pam, founded the group. I was there. But she was the driving force. Over the years we have contributed almost $50,000 to local organizations. I have missed many meetings in the last three years - mainly due to my health issues and then my Mother moving up here. This year, I was determined to attend as much as I can.


Our meeting was tonight and once again I was struck by how much I enjoy this group of women. The attendees change each month. But once a member, always a member, unless you want to quit. So each meeting is a new experience. We share information about ourselves and organizations that we present. We also talk about making food for a homeless youth group (we provide dinner once a week), collect toiletries for a local women's shelter, etc... Every time I go, I am delighted to have been there.


Tonight I presented Yolo Hospice (http://www.yolohospice.org/), an organization very close to my heart because they helped us take care of my mother when we brought her home to die. I was so pleased that the group decided to donate to them. I hope that we all have a long time before having to deal with hospice or bereavement care for us or our families.....but what a blessing that they are there.


Recently SWAN (the giving circle) went online on Facebook...............please feel free to join at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/SWAN-Giving-Circle/101120038977?ref=mf.

Nonni

There really must be something to the circle of life. After my mother died fairly suddenly (although she was 89), Dylan's birth a couple of months later helped to heal my heart.

I love being his Nonni. Hours on end could be spent watching, playing and holding......

"And THAT's the way it is"

Rambling online - could be dangerous. Walter Cronkite dead at 92. A good long life. It is such a stark reminder of the way getting our news has changed. Hard to imagine events like Watergate, the JFK and MLK assassinations, etc... without him and to wonder how they would have been covered today. With 24 hours news and many "entertainment" shows, it seems we have been mourning the death of Michael Jackson on TV for many more hours of coverage than those events.

Just like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein inspired so many journalism students for their coverage of Watergate, I like to think that Cronkite brought a better quality of news to the networks. But I don't think it lasted. Corporate involvement became bigger. It would be interesting to hear what Cronkite thought about today's news. And perhaps we will in the following days. When we learn more about what is happening on the streets of Iran from Twitter and Facebook than from the major networks - it is a very changed world from the days of Walter Cronkite broadcasts.

Dipping My Toes in the Water

Toes in the sand............wine in hand.....or something like that.

Seriously, I've been thinking about blogging for a long time. But worried that it appeared to be too self-involved. I want this to be about EVERYONE. I have lots to say, of course, about: volunteerism in America, the need for each and everyone of us to build a support team to survive, books, politics, and on and on. However, I think that the people I know will have lots to say about many subjects.......from technology to animal rights to kids to politics to recipes (that of course will lead to diets) to anything that is interesting. So, let's go for it!!