Easter @ 142...remembered in haikus

On this Easter Day

I remember one forty 

two Murray with joy.

Sunrise service at

Manor Park; chocolate bunnies

and Easter baskets.

Eggs hidden and found;

carefully counted, hoping

all were discovered.

A meal prepared by

Mom, JC, Bunny, Butch, with

an assist from Deb.

But mostly I see

a family celebration

of love. Always love.

(Not Murray, probably not Easter but it's spring!)   

When scent brings you a little bit closer to the ones you miss...

About 40 years ago or so my older siblings decided it was time to send my parents on a real vacation. We all contributed what we could and Bunny and Wally went off to Aruba. They had a fabulous time and continued to go for a number of years after (on their own dime). One of the items my mother brought back every year was Aruba Lotion: it smelled like a day at the beach and she always had enough to give some away.  

Bunny died 23 years ago today. It is hard to believe on so many levels but I have little doubt she would be proud of who we have become as individuals and as a family. We are far from perfect but we love as best we can.

The last couple of weeks have been rough - a flood at school has disrupted my work life a bit and I have been contemplating bigger, more existential questions about compassion and leadership. A little lost, I pulled out a bottle of Aruba Lotion (thanks to the Internet we too, always have some) and for a few minutes I was with Bunny on the beach. 

And everything was a little bit lighter.

LIFE IS RANDOM LOVE IS NOTTM

The beauty of doing something ordinary...

There’s a book we have in the Learning Commons at school, one I have often given as a gift, titled Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson. It is the story of Mary, a young girl whose one kind deed travels around the world in a matter of days, ultimately returning to her (Wally would have loved it because it’s also a math problem)...

Briefly, Mary left some blueberries for the neighborhood baker; the baker, unsure of who left her the berries, thinks of five people who may have done it and gifts them with blueberry muffins; those five people were so grateful they in turn did something kind for five people and so on and so one….you get the idea: 

1

5

25

125

625

3125

15,625

78,125

390,625

1,953,125

9,953,625

48,828,125

244,140,625

1,220,703,125

6,103,515,625

A few weeks ago I sat down at my computer, opened up Facebook and there in Messenger was a note from Tiffany,

“Hi Ms. Coupe.  I'm not sure if you remember me after teaching so many students and so many lapsed years but I was in your 3rd grade class at Our Lady of Mercy in Port Chester.  You crossed my mind while doing an assignment so I decided to search good old Facebook to locate you…..”

She included the class photo, pointed out who she was and was incredibly gracious in speaking of her third grade memories. I remember Tiffany’s smile and her joy. I responded to the message and as luck would have it, Tiffany was online and we had a thoroughly delightful conversation. She caught me up on some of her classmates, what she’s doing now and offered some post pandemic travel advice. It was perfection.

 

My heart was so full at the end of the conversation and it got me thinking about the teachers in my life that deserve a note of thanks, understanding that learning takes place in many different environments, especially as we age. What did I do?  I sat down and wrote some notes because my life has been changed, especially as an adult, by the folks who hired me, who welcomed me into their classrooms and who helped me clarify my vision of what a school community should look like. I am forever grateful.

So thanks, Tiffany, for taking the time to reach out. Perhaps this simple kindness will somehow work its way around the world, too.

LIFE IS RANDOM LOVE IS NOTTM

A simple lesson from Kadir Nelson

Last week I read a book by Kadir Nelson to the kids called Baby Bear. To be honest, I chose the book because of the incredible illustrations. Kadir is a painter, has two Caldecott honor books, won the Caldecott Medal last year and his work is often seen on the cover of the New Yorker. It's Black History month and I wanted the students to know about this incredible African American illustrator.

Baby Bear is about a cub who has lost his way and spends a whole night wandering the forest looking for home. He encounters a bunch of animals who give him advice on finding his way (spoiler alert: he was always home he just didn't realize it).

It is a beautiful book but there is one page, one bit of advice that has stuck with me and that is from the moose who says,

"When I am lost, I sit very still and try to listen to my heart, It speaks as softly and as sweetly as a gentle breeze. And it is never wrong. It will lead you home."

LIFE IS RANDOM LOVE IS NOTTM

Be the sky, not the weather....

Just found this in my Notes app...a blog post I wrote but never published from last year. As I read it today, three days after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in (Kamala Harris!), the weather, while cold outside is beautiful in my heart.

I was listening to a podcast recently and the hosts quoted Pema Chödrön an American Tibetan Buddhist. As I tend to do, I derived my own meaning and simplified it for for my everyday walking around the world self.

“Be the sky, not the weather.”

Again…

“Be the sky, not the weather.”

That’s a tall order but a very important one these days. There have been times when “weather” controlled much of my life. For the last several years, though, I have tried, without having a word for it, to be one with the sky. Like most things, some days are easier than others but part of my process, if you will, is appreciating the energy joy brings, welcoming the power of love and remaining in awe of the magic a simple kind word and a smile can do. 

Be the sky, not the weather.

LIFE IS RANDOM LOVE IS NOTTM

Happy New Year

The last couple of years my new year's resolutions

have included writing 25 blog posts.
25!

Oops.
I think I averaged 1? Maybe 2...
Part of the reason is I'm not sure if what I have to say is all that
earth shattering. 
But I read enough blogs to know, 
earth shattering doesn't happen as
frequently as we might think.

Then last year,
LIFE HAPPENED.
Covid
Breonna Taylor
George Floyd
Rayshard Brooks
Politics
And when I thought about that stuff
I couldn't help but wonder -
what happens when life isn't random?
And that's been my struggle
How do you make sense of a world where
evil 
seems to be more and more prevalent? 
I don't know.
What I do know: 
life is full of choices
and I choose to greet each day with
love and joy;
share that 
love and joy 
with the people around me
and hope, especially with the kids 
I work with, some of it 
sticks.

You can call me a
Pollyana
You can tell me I'm 
dreaming
but for me both of those are better
than the alternative.

Forget earth shattering, maybe it's just enough

to sit and write.

1 down; 24 to go.

 LIFE IS RANDOM LOVE IS NOTTM