Unconditional Love

It's been a while since I have posted. Life has been busy, with the end of the school year, and all that is happening with Gas Lamp . We are producing our first full scale summer musical for grades 3 - 8. It is "The Wizard of Oz," and we have 52 children enrolled. We have had auditions for the principal roles, callbacks, ecstatic children and disappointed ones. Egos to stroke, and hugs and excitement to receive. At the same time, I have been meeting with the architect and interior designer for The Costume Shop, negotiating the lease, and trying to inspire volunteers. (Plus teaching yoga, doing my illustration work, and taking care of my family!)

I am so excited about all that is happening with Gas Lamp. Most of all, I am so happy and grateful for my partners, Jennifer and Stephanie. I look forward to our weekly meetings, and am so honored by their trust in me and belief in all that we are doing. I have visions of creating a Gas Lamp Glee Club which will sing at senior centers; and creating a collection of prom dresses that we can rent for a nominal price to low income teenagers; and sponsoring a Dress for Success chapter. I believe that the kids who participate in our programs will learn to support and honor each other. I see different groups in our community coming together in The Costume Shop -- seniors, and high school students, and maybe even Richard from Walpan. I do believe!

I've had several remarkable visits with Nikky. Last Friday, Samy and I went to see her and brought the game "Apples to Apples." In the game, each player has 5 nouns, and the person who is being the judge (in this case, Samy) picks an adjective. Each player has to put out the noun he or she thinks most closely matches the adjective. Sometimes, of course, it is a real stretch. Like when the adjective is "stinky" and the closest thing in your cards is "meadow," because, when dogs poop in the meadow and people don't pick up the poop, the meadow becomes "stinky."

Nikky and Richard really couldn't keep the thread of the game at all, although they both enjoyed reading the cards over and over. Richard kept handing Samy cards which were quite random, but somehow Samy was able to make silly connections. Peggy played with us too, and she sure is sharp as tack. She soon got into the humor of the game, and gradually softened and smiled more and more as we played. Samy felt this, and kept pronouncing her the winner of each round, which tickled Peggy to no end. When it was time to go, Samy asked me if she could give Peggy a card to keep. She picked out the adjective "wonderful," and pronounced Peggy "Miss Wonderful." Peggy was clearly touched, and said she would keep the card until the day she died.

On another visit, I finished reading "The Phantom Tollbooth," to Nikky. The next time I came, I brought the children's book, "Miss Rumphius." This is a story about an independent New England woman who feels she must accomplish three things in life, the last being "to make the world a more beautiful place." She can't figure out how to do this, and only by accident finds that she has done this already by sowing lupine seeds throughout her community. It is a really sweet story, that has stayed with me, and inspired me to try to make my world a more beautiful place.

As I read the book to Nikky, she kept patting my hand and saying, "you're such a good girl." "I love you, I love you." At the end of the story, she told me that I make her world more beautiful. Little does she know what a beautiful light she shines on mind.