Sunday, March 6, 2022

Words Arising, Reaching Out

 
Words
arise
from within,
seeking release,
reaching out,
touching
you.
poem 3/2022. art 4/2021. 

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Remembering Aunt Addie


Remembering my aunt who passed on six years ago today. This was my eulogy for her.

Eulogy

I can't believe she's gone. My Aunt Addie was the most vibrant, alive​​ woman.​ She was always there.​ ​The best of aunts. ​She was ​​family.. MY family..  we were so close... She would tell me stories of my childhood that I had no memory of. But I always remembered the feeling of closeness.​ She was always there.​

And I do have many memories of our times together... One in particular stands out. When I was in my 30s, she was in her 40s and my mom was in her 50s, we took a trip together. The 3 of us.​ ​We roamed through Northern California to Nevada..  Away from Albany and their husbands, my mom and Addie let their hair down and revealed their wild side.


What a wonderful time we had. Addie definitely knew how to have a good time.​


People ​have ​often commented that I look like Addie. We both loved that! Sometimes she felt like an older sister to me. 


O​ther ​memories​ are of Addie at her 80th birthday party, and at my mom's 90th. And being with Addie at Uncle Bill's funeral. . And ​al​so​,​ tragically, at Mason's. I'm so very sorry to not be here today, to stand by my ​Myers ​cousins as they lay their mother to rest.​ Dean, EJay, Michael... thanks for sharing your mom with all of us.​


Addie was to ​come to Florida, ​this month, ​for my mom's ​​94th birthday.​ ​We were all looking forward to that. I can't believe she's gone.


I always had great admiration for my Aunt Addie, for the way she lived her life​,​ ​both as a married woman and, in these last years, on her own.


​Her legacy, the values she leaves behind, include strength - the willingness to do what needs doing...   and curiosity​ - a lifelong interest in learning, educating herself, expanding her knowledge and awareness. Addie knew how to grasp the pleasure in life, even when it's not so obvious. 


What I'd really like to say about Addie, is what I saw on a t-shirt offered for sale online: "My Aunt was freakin cool."  

She will be greatly missed.​

~ Diana

(Read for me by my brother, at Addie’s memorial service.)

Monday, February 8, 2021

2021 - so far

 Well. It's February now. Winter snow blankets much of our country. Here in Florida, the weather has been fabulous. I began taking daily walks a few weeks ago. I discovered that TREES have unique energies and seem to reach out to me in positive ways. So I began to draw them...






Wednesday, November 4, 2020

1968 - Memories?

In 1968, while a senior at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, I travelled to New Hampshire to campaign for Eugene McCarthy in that state's Democratic Primary. McCarthy was an anti-Vietnam War candidate and had captured the attention of those of us in "the movement." 


To my great surprise, I have just come across a mention of my being there. (My name was Diane Weinberg back then. I took Daffner when I married Richard, and changed to Diana at that time!) 


I don't remember this specific incident, although it has started to tickle the edge of my memories. What I DO remember is going door-to-door in very cold New Hampshire weather. (In this recent election, 2020, I campaigned by phone from home. More comfortable but fewer interactions.)


The article, written by J. Hayden Lynford, was about the Democratic Convention, and was published in 1968. In this excerpt, the author is writing about Theodore White and recalling his being at the New Hampshire primary earlier that year.




The recent release on Netflix of Alan Sorkin's film, the Trial of the Chicago 7, has gotten me thinking about those times. I plan to also watch (haven't yet) an earlier film about that trial, probably less slick but even more accurate, the docudrama Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 by Jeremy Kagan.

I also recently enjoyed watching The Boys Who Said NO!, a film about the Vietnam war and the draft resistance. I knew several of them. 


For info about the Democratic Party Primaries in 1968, see Wikipedia

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Three More!!

 BIG BIG News. Richard & I are taking a break from leading workshops. There will be only THREE MORE Intimacy Retreats (on Zoom). We're also preparing a video program so couples can create their own private retreat, with our program, in their home or a resort location. Exciting times! See www.IntimacyRetreats.com/3more


Monday, April 27, 2020

Virtual Retreats!!!

What an exciting development to occur during this crazy pandemic time..  Richard and I are leading our Intimacy Retreats via an online platform (currently Zoom). It's been awesome. Couples can attend who wouldn't have been able to travel to whatever destination we usually teach in. I'm loving it! and so are they. www.IntimacyRetreats.com/virtual.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Snippets

I've been writing poetry lately. Little snippets. Here goes...

Days
So quickly moving,
marching.
Faltering at times.
Still, piling up and
Slipping by.
Your love
a thread throughout. 
 
1/7/2020
Dawn.
A gentle lightening, emerges
from the darkness.
A new day being birthed.
All is possible.
Everything starts over.
Once again.
Today.

1/8/2020
Snippets.
Brief glimpses into my soul.
Short riffs. Interludes.
Each, only a moment.
All we ever have is one moment.
And then the next.
My life.

1/9/2020
Tide waters rushing
in to our little canal.
Twice daily, in and out again.
A metaphor for breath?
The Universal 2-beat?
A watery dance of Yin and Yang. Ever changing.
No resistance.

1/11/2020
Some days
Like this one
move slowly, little wind
except outside among the trees.
Here, within me, is stillness. 
No need to rush or do.
Time to go to the gym!

1/12/2020
Seriously.
Must we?
Be serious. 
A metaphor, another word for 
"What is."
Not so serious, just what is.
Embracing this moment in its full
seriousness. 
Can be joyful!
And yet present to the current reality.
Calmly, with heart-centered awareness.
Seriously. 
With joy. 

1/14/2020
The water in the canal is still, 
appears to not be moving..
Yet it must be. 
And there is life within it too.
When I am still, I am also alive!

1/17/2020
Water slow moving this morning, allowing its natural flow..
Can I move slowly today?
Being mindful and aware of all who will surround me?
Turning easily toward one,
then another,
Appropriately embracing
with loving attention..

1/22/20
She waits, hopefully.
Imagining his return 
To their bed of love. 

1/27/2020
So many things to do..
Could be doing..
Remembering to pause!
Forgetting to do.

1/28/2020
Slow day. Pleasant.
Almost comfortable.
Contemplative.
No matter, not even any real substance.
Empty space, awaiting inspiration.
Then, this.