Judy Antoine asked each of us to reflect on a happy moment in our life; to experience it again with all its sounds, sights, and sensations; to consider what made it so memorable; and to write it on an index card we had been given. Then she asked us to add three more positive events that had occurred in the past two days for which we were grateful\u2014even something as simple as hearing birds singing. Judy reminded us that Oprah has said that a daily exercise of listing three things for which we are grateful can change our lives. Each of us had also received a pretty, blank note card; Judy asked us to take it home and, during the week, write a note to someone for whom we are grateful<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tanya Atwood-Adams<\/strong>\nwas the first to share an experience that inspired feelings of gratitude. Tanya\nlives in a parsonage that is located on a busy street between two highways,\nmaking the setting very noisy and, to her, unpleasant. Two summers ago, she\nnoticed that frogs had come to live in a water trough near her house. As the\nsummer warmed, the trough became filled with pollywogs. This past summer, she\nadded two more water troughs, and the frogs brought their friends and family.\nPollywogs appeared again, and as they grew, the frogs sang a pleasant song. By\nlate summer, the singing was such a delight that Tanya and her family would\nbring blankets outside to sit on the lawn and enjoy the chorus. She is filled\nwith gratitude for the renewal that nature brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the many young people with whom Helen Hudson<\/strong> has worked were two who were battling leukemia.\nEdward and Eunique lit up a room with their smiles, said Helen, and they had no\ncomplaints about their sickness. Throughout their hospitalizations and\ntreatments, they supported each other and shared their strength. As one way of\nhelping these youngsters, Helen began her efforts to increase the number of\nAfrican-Americans registered to be bone-marrow donors. Sadly, Edward died a\nweek ago, and Eunique followed two days later. Helen was grateful to be with\nEunique as her pain subsided and peace came over her face. Helen believes that\nEdward intentionally went first and was there to welcome Eunique when it was\nher time to pass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tristan Elrod<\/strong>\nis organizing a musical event for at-risk youth in the city. Despite the\ndifficult week that she has had, she is grateful for the strong support that\nHelen Hudson has provided as she has faced negativity from those who say \u201cit\ncan\u2019t be done\u201d or who refuse to help. Tristan is grateful for all the strong\nwomen who have assisted her and is thankful for the stalwart women of WTB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Debbie Virgo<\/strong>\nworks as director of volunteers at the Center for New Americans. She considers\nher job, which is part of our local refugee resettlement program, to be the\nbest in the world, because daily she sees the goodness of people. Despite the\nhassles of donations and scheduling, Debbie is surrounded by people who want to\nhelp. Last month, Debbie traveled to Thailand to visit a refugee camp through\nwhich many Burmese pass on their way to Syracuse. Debbie appreciated this opportunity\nto witness firsthand the similarities and differences in the way people of various\ncultures live. She came home feeling reflective, grateful to be part of the\nhuman race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Mayo<\/strong>\nis a nurse practitioner with St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital\u2019s palliative care team. The\nteam\u2019s goal is to make terminally ill patients as physically and emotionally\ncomfortable as possible. People asking about her job often assume it is sad or\ndepressing, but Jen said it is more often joyful, loving, heartwarming, tender\nand, above all, gratifying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen told of a cancer patient whose wife\nwas extremely adversarial with his caregivers. Jen realized that the woman was\ntrying to cope with the imminent loss of her husband. Jen took the time to sit\nwith her, talk with her, and especially listen to her. The woman began to trust\nJen and came to realize that she could not control her husband\u2019s disease; she\nbecame willing to cooperate with his goal of dying at home. As the couple was leaving\nthe hospital, Jen gave the woman a hug goodbye; a moment later the woman, as\nshe was walking away, turned, winked, and blew Jen a kiss. This affirmation\nfilled Jen with gratitude that she had been able to help these people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another dying patient asked Jen to arrange\na meeting with his two adult sons, saying that he had been lying to them.\nDuring the meeting with his sons, he was able to explain his plans to be buried\nnext to his friend, Joe, and his desire to spend his final days at Francis\nHouse, within walking distance of his sons\u2019 homes. When Jen visited with this\nman during the days before his departure from the hospital, he cried tears of\njoy because he was now in control of the time he had left. Jen feels honored\nthat she is in a position to help patients and their families; she is grateful\nto be able to give, but even more grateful for what she receives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nancy Riffer<\/strong>\nis a board member of Ibtida, a foundation that has built six schools in rural\nPakistan since 1999. One of the schools, which WTB funded, has been in\noperation long enough that it now needs a high school, with science labs and\nspecialized teachers. A group on the US west coast made a commitment to fund\nthe high school and has already raised $1200. As relations between the\ngovernments of the United States and Pakistan have grown more strained, the\npositive feelings that American-funded schools have generated among the\nPakistani people have become very important. Three of Ibtida\u2019s schools, located\nin extremely rural areas of southeastern Pakistan, were built with USAID money;\nthat money has run out, and Ibtida is trying to find schools in the United\nStates that will pair up with these Pakistani schools. The schools\u2019 Pakistani\nteachers are not fluent in English, but they are determined to write thank-you\nletters to teachers in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Muna Alany<\/strong>\ntold the story of her arrival this spring from Iraq. She and her children were\nmet at Hancock Airport and taken to an apartment. She almost immediately\nattended a WTB meeting, where she was made welcome. After being here only two\nweeks, Muna was hospitalized and underwent surgery. Two WTB women, Liz Spence\nand Gay Montague, cared for Muna\u2019s children for the two weeks of her\nhospitalization, taking the children to visit her everyday; Tanya Atwood-Adams,\nas hospital chaplain, was also a great help. Gay found bicycles for Muna\u2019s children\nand a dentist for her son. Muna expressed her gratitude for the support she has\nreceived and for the kind nature of the American people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Judy Antoine<\/strong>\nrevealed her lifelong struggle with gratitude. Judy suffered abuse as a child,\nyet her mother, despite being aware of the situation, refused to acknowledge\nit. Judy said her mother was a Pollyanna, constantly wanting her to act happy.\nJudy always felt that her mother did not accept her for who she was, and that\nshe wanted Judy to be different. Judy became aware of Oprah\u2019s challenge to\nthink of three things every day to be grateful for\u2014but Judy could not think of\neven one element of her life for which she was grateful, let alone three every\nday! Nevertheless, Judy wanted to change. So, although she hated it, she forced\nherself to try listing three things every day. She soon found that because she\nwas trying to concentrate on the good things of life instead of wallowing in\nthe bad, she was constantly reminding herself, \u201cI must remember this tomorrow,\u201d\nwhenever she encountered a fleeting pleasure. Judy is glad that the title of\nthis meeting is \u201ccultivating an attitude of gratitude\u201d because for her it has\nbeen a task, something she had to want to do. Today Judy meditates every\nmorning and then gives thanks. She now finds it hard to stop at just three\nthings. She finds gratitude in strange circumstances, such as cancer or a fight\nwith a friend or family member. She can now look at difficult situations as\nexperiences she can learn from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sharing <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Joan Burstyn said that ten years ago,\nwhile she was teaching at Syracuse University, she had a student in her writing\nclass who was depressed and struggling with an assignment about diversity.\nAfter discussing this problem with her student, Joan suggested that the young woman\nwrite about her family, especially about her mother who seemed to be the source\nof her depression. As the young woman questioned her mother, she learned that\nas a teenager her mother had become pregnant with an interracial child and,\nunder pressure from her family, had given up the infant for adoption. Recently\nJoan received a packet from her former student, containing a letter and a copy\nof her assignment from that earlier time. Joan\u2019s student, deciding that she\nwanted to do something for her mother, had a private detective follow up on the\ninformation she had about the child. The detective was successful, locating her\nhalf-brother who is now a biologist. The young woman and her family have been so\nhappy to meet him. Joan feels gratitude that she was able to send her student\non a path that led to such a satisfying conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kathy Mezzo described a day when she was\nupset by what she perceived as ill treatment by \u201cThe System.\u201d Leaving her\noffice, filled with anger and fury, she found herself driving behind a car with\nthe license plate 4GIVE. Kathy\u2019s\nfeeling of injustice dissipated, and she was brought to tears, deciding to love\ndespite another person\u2019s bad behavior. That car happened to have belonged to\nJoan Burstyn! Kathy is grateful for being behind Joan that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Renee-Noelle Felice shared another story\nof the WTB support system. Learning that a WTB member had to travel at a time\nwhen her beloved dog was critically ill, Renee-Noelle, along with Liz Spence,\nstepped in to care for the dog who, as he recovered, rewarded their attention\nwith doggy kisses. Renee-Noelle is grateful to be included in the WTB family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lakesha Martin-Hargrett said she is grateful to be among WTB women today. She had\ngrown up believing that she had to be perfect. But her biological family and\nthe family sent to her by God have let her know that perfection is not\nrequired. She has come to realize that her life\u2019s lessons\u2014the challenges, the\ntrials, the tribulations\u2014have given her a greater understanding of the problems\nof others and have enabled her to help them as she has been helped. Her pastor\nsays, “You are blessed because you give,” and she is grateful to have\nlearned that lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Betty Lamb said that every WTB meeting is\na blessing. She has had many problems in her life, including her father\u2019s early\ndeath and her daughter\u2019s struggle with multiple sclerosis. But she recently\nvisited a cousin in Dayton, where she experienced two beautiful days of\nreconnection, a joyous event for which she feels much gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daryl Files <\/strong>talked\nabout the holidays, when her adult children have to make decisions about which\nfamily to share meals with. Daryl loves to have family around her, but\nsometimes that does not work out. She made everyone laugh when she described\nher day yesterday, doing nothing but watching two schmaltzy movies. Although\nneither movie was meant to be thought provoking, she found herself drawn in by\nthe characters: lonely street people who befriend, or are befriended by,\nequally lonely strangers and who recognize in one another the start of new\nfamily. Daryl is grateful that even in fiction, our human need for one another\nis recognized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Betsy Wiggins reminded the audience that\nWTB has sponsored three women through Women for Women International. Our second\nmatch, Helen, was a Sudanese woman who faced incredible obstacles: no job, no\nskills, no money, no education. Helen graduated from the program and reports\nthat she now has vocational skills; is active in her community and makes family\ndecisions; has self-confidence, friendships, and a support system; and has\nlearned about her civil rights. Helen is thankful to us for supporting her\nduring this time of transition. Betsy, in turn, expressed gratitude to the\nwomen of WTB for providing this support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Georgette Nicholaides, a college professor, is grateful that students feel\ncomfortable coming to her to tell about themselves. She is grateful that she is\nable to give back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tori DeAngelis is grateful to Betsy for\nplanting the seed of love that began WTB and to Danya for picking up the ball\nand cultivating that seed. Tori said she comes from \u201ca family of neurotic\nartists\u201d for whom service is not important. WTB has changed Tori\u2019s heart and\nopened new doors. The group has given her the opportunity to give more and\nshare more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tanya concluded by saying that the best\nkind of giving is thanksgiving, but that our culture does not encourage this.\nAt today\u2019s meeting, we have celebrated the mindful practice of gratitude,\ngiving thanks for events both large and small, affirming that life itself is a\ngift. Gratitude fills us with love and happiness, and this abundance overflows\ninto all creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tanya distributed a pebble to each woman.\nShe then asked us to reflect, in silence, about a woman, not a blood relative,\nwho has impacted us with her love and her generosity of spirit. Our pebbles are\nsymbolic of how our thoughts and actions create a ripple effect, carrying the\npotential to change the world. Although these pebbles seem physically small,\ntheir effects are far reaching. We were then invited to drop the pebble into a\npool of water, which had been placed in the center of the room, while saying\naloud the name of that woman and watching the ripples spread. Eight women shared experiences that inspired feelings of gratitude, stimulating more stories of gratitude that rippled out to touch more people’s lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-7515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-programs","tag-dialogue",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7515"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8909,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7515\/revisions\/8909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"