Be Yours to Hold It High

2018 Trip to Mt. Hamilton

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Luke shared this poem to celebrate National Poetry Month. This was his email message and attachment:

"This is one of my favorite poems:

https://www.flandersfields.be/en/inspiration/poem-flanders-fields

I first read at the WWI museum in Kansas City (I swung by there after a work meeting) and highly recommend the museum.

"And speaking of WWI here’s the draft card for James J Murphy my great grandfather."

I love that Luke's poem is driving today's post! Thanks, Luke! A perfect example of connecting our family past, to now! I thought about family members that have served our country: Wayne, Terry Llewellyn, Steve Hauser, and my brother, Marty. They are our family heroes, and we thank them for their service! And during the war, Grandma Aggie worked in a factory in LA, and family members lovingly referred to her as "Rosie the Riveter".

We are in a very different war against this Coronavirus! Our current heroes are our nation's medical workers...putting themselves in harm's way to help us all!

I was struck with the line: "The torch; be yours to hold it high". I am hearing some wonderful stories about people helping each other out in these times...here are a few:

I met with my Bible group on Zoom last night, and one of the members was sharing about being of service to others during this time. She is a teacher, and was counting her blessings of having a paycheck coming in, and had called her hairdresser to offer to pay her, even though she could not receive her services at this time. She said that her hairdresser burst into tears with gratitude. 

A very good friend of mine's mother, Rosemary, is 90, and was recently moved to an assisted living home. She is from "Montana stock" and is one of  the most active and inspiring people I know! She was taking ukulele classes at her complex, along with a few other women. Since the "social distancing" began, Rosemary organized her fellow musicians to come out to their balconies and patios to join her for "a sing-along" at 12 noon (lunch-time) and 5:00 (cocktail hour) to serenade the other residents.... reminiscent of the people on their balconies in Italy! When we all met with Debbie on Zoom, and asked how her Mom was doing, she replied: "My Mom is doing great! She is a master quilter, and decided to make masks for the hospital workers and they have delivered 50 so far!"

Sean and I have a good friend, Mark, who we have known since college days. He owns a small restaurant in Ventura, and was talking with a fellow fraternity buddy, that it was a gut-wrenching decision to either let some employees go, or close altogether. His fraternity brothers "sent out the call" and set up an account for donations.... and so far, thanks to their generosity, Mark has been able to keep his restaurant open, and employees working to make food to go!

We saw on the news the other night that a woman in Washington DC started a project called "Feed the Fight" where people can donate to their favorite small restaurant and order a to-go meal that can be delivered to the hospitals to feed the doctors and nurses, as they work their long hours, and rarely have a moment to eat. A win-win for all!

My friend Flo is from New York, and posted on her Facebook page a picture of her "god-daughter"  that is a nurse in a hospital in NYC. She was holding up a boxes of protein bars that Flo had ordered from Amazon to be delivered to the hospital where her god-daughter is working round the clock through this crisis.

I'd love to share other stories of people carrying the torch!

LYM
Reenie

Rainy Days and Mondays

Good Morning,...
Normally, on a "non-subbing day", I would be checking out the tidal charts to possibly head down to my favorite beach in Laguna to go sea glass hunting. The winter and early spring months are the prime season, as the storms, and seasonal currents kick up the gifts of more sea glass onto the shore... or hidden in the increased "rocky bits"! Retirement Bonus: People are working, the kids are still in school, and the summer crowds have not yet arrived; the beach is pretty much empty! Sea glass picking is getting extremely competitive now, it is becoming harder to find!

Today, when I went to look on my iPhone, the Tidal Chart website had fallen off my most frequent searches. REALLY?  Has it been that long since the beaches have been closed? Today, there is a minus low tide at 2:45 pm... well shoot! I miss my life!

As you all know, Melda and I have a small sea glass jewelry business. It is truly a family deal! The sea is in our blood... growing up in San Diego; Mom loved the beach! She was the Mom that drove us and some of the neighborhood kids to the beach in summers: La Jolla Shores, La Jolla Cove, and Mission Beach being the favorites! For years, we vacationed every summer in San Clemente, and with the Bryants in Redondo Beach!

When I retired in 2015, Cheryl gave Melda and me a big box of sea glass that she had in her garage. She had walked the beaches in Santa Barbara for 10 years and this was her stash! WHAT A GIFT! Melda and I took a bead wire wrapping class in Laguna, and that was the start! We decided to name our business after Mom, 'MAREA BY THE SEA' after a plaque she had by her front door in Pacific Beach with a sailboat. She said at the time, she wanted to "do a play on words and make it rhyme". That became our LOGO.

Melda and I have a shop on ETSY, but are not very good at that type of marketing; we mostly sell at boutiques, (which have all been postponed). When we are at our boutiques... we have noticed that people are attracted to sea glass for many reasons...  and they tend to want to reminisce about their childhood memories, or how beautiful the beaches used to be. People often share travel tips; suggestions on where to go to find sea glass... locally and far away! We are always taking notes! But one woman came to our booth and there were tears in her eyes... as she said: "Oh sea glass... we were just talking about that at our Bible class last night." She shared this poem with us... and coincidentally April is National Poetry Month!

Elaina-Avalos.com

I want to age like sea glass. Smoothed by tides, not broken. I want the currents of life to toss me around, shake me up and leave me feeling washed clean. I want my hard edges to soften as the years pass -- made not weak, but supple. I want to ride the waves, go with the flow, feel the impact of the surging tides rolling in and out.  

When I am thrown against the shore and caught between the rocks and a hard place, I want to rest there until I find the strength to do what is next. Not stuck, just waiting, pondering, feeling what it is like to pause. And when I'm ready, I will catch a wave and let it carry me along to the next place that I am supposed to be.  

I want to be picked up on occasion by an unsuspected soul and carried along -- just for the connection, just for the sake of appreciation and wonder. Each encounter presents new possibilities of collaboration, and new ideas are born.

I want to age like sea glass so that when people see the old woman I'll become, they'll embrace all that I am. They'll marvel at my exquisite nature, hold me gently in their hands and be awed by my well earned patina. Neither flashy or dull, just the right luster. And they'll wonder, if just for a second, what it is exactly I am made of and how I got to be in this very here and now. And we'll both feel lucky to realize, once again, that we have landed in that perfectly right place and profoundly at that right moment in time. 

I want to age like sea glass. I want to enjoy the journey and let my preciousness be, not in spite of the impacts of life, but because of them.

We are our mother's daughters! LOL
www.seaglassjournal.com

Ride The Tide or Just Keep Swimming!

LYM,

Reenie

KEEP THE FAITH

Birthday Shout-Outs!🎂

Happy Birthday to:

•  Cheryl (Michelle's daughter) - no age necessary!
• London, (Melda & Tom's granddaughter, Michael and Erika's daughter) turning 6
• Claudia Grillo (Luke's fiance and Dan & Jan's soon to be daughter-in-law) Wedding has been postponed to September 26... God-willing!

For those of you who may not know the significance of the monarch butterfly... that is Cheryl's reminder that her son Dan is always there with all of us! And hearts too... you will see that at the end!

Dan added one heck of a comment yesterday... it was listed as anonymous, but he can't fool any of us! I think that the reference to OLD GUYS AND GALS was the dead give-away... since he is the youngest of the Murphy siblings! And I don't know about you, but I am going to have to read it again and again to try to absorb the knowledge he shared!  His post/comment reminded me of a time when he was in college and home for the summer. Dan was a math major and he made the comment that "ultimately, mathematics is your morals!" To which our great aunt Rene replied, "then I ain't got none, because I can't add 2 + 2!" LOL

Luke commented on Dan's Comment and there was another anonymous comment, that you are enjoying the posts... thank you! :)

Perfect segue to morality/religion/faith... Today is Palm Sunday... I would normally be so crazy-busy with choir practices... starting with Masses on Palm Sunday and practices Holy Week services:

Holy Thursday, Easter Vigil, and of course, Easter Sunday!

I miss my life, but as we all are doing, I am finding ways to walk through my faith, and am so grateful for technology that is available. As I mentioned, what I thought was a curse, is now such a blessing to find other resources. It is out there... and here are a few that are helping me:

• Hot off the press! Michelle loves her Church. Pastor Greg Laurie is another good local pastor and President Trump and Vice President Pence contacted Pastor Laurie that they were going to watching his service today. You might want to check out harvest.org
• I just went online for Bishop Barron's Palm Sunday Mass celebration. His reflection on the reading of the Passion was one of the best I have ever heard! Plus this website offers a lot of other resources! wordonfire.org
• Saddleback Church happens to be located in our city...Rick Warren is doing some incredible outreach...as always... his leadership is amazing... he has over 60,000 volunteers handling local  food banks, and his small groups have grown tremendously since this started. I truly believe that we cannot rely 100% on our government during a crisis, the groundswell will come from our family, neighbors, our faith communities. You can access Rick's messages at any time: saddleback.com/watch
• Annie Webb shared that she is going to this website for her daily Masses: stsebastianmi.org/homilies

Share your faith with us

Questioning our Catholic faith and looking to other faith communities runs in the family. Walt left the priesthood because he did not agree with some of Catholic Church positions. I remember Rene telling me that she used to sneak into other non-Catholic Churches because she was so curious; and her daughter Ann was one of the most spiritual people I've ever met! But Nancy told me one of the funniest family stories. Grandpa Jim always had an interest in other religions. He went to a revival Church in Butte. At the end of the service, the pastor asked everyone to stand, declare their faith and make a dollar donation. No one stood. So the pastor called for the Pledge Of Allegiance... and you guessed it... everyone stood and then had to pay! Grandpa Jim felt he had been swindled, and never went back!

I just got a tip from a neighbor... if you have any palm trees in your area, cut them and put them on your gate to display that this is Palm Sunday.

Please feel free to send me either in comments of emails any favorite resources that you are using that might help and inspire us all. 

 Giant's Heart, St. Michael's Mount Castle in Cornwall England
photo: 10/2016 - Maureen Renden

Heart-filled Loves,

Reenie

WE JUST CAN'T HELP OURSELVES

The scallop shell symbol of the Camino De Santiago

Hi All,

So it is back to the Camino for me today. I love the idea that we are all pilgrims; "People of the Way". And I am constantly being reminded of our interconnectedness!

My Camino experience started in 2016, when our Parish Church (Santiago De Compostela) held its first "Lake Forest Camino." That is where I met Annie O'Neill, and bought her book Everyday Camino With Annie.

I loved Annie's book, and decided to send her an email to thank her:
"I continue in "my own Camino” of surrendering with the aide of your book, Everyday Camino with Annie.The whole experience continues to be life-changing!"

I also sent Annie a sea glass necklace, and this was her reply:
One of my most frequent sayings with all things PHIL'S CAMINO is, "We can't help ourselves."  Truly our lives are as intertwined as marionettes stored carelessly in a box!  And once again, here's another  example:
Sea glass has great significance to me since my husband and I used to walk the beach and collect it when we were dating. In fact, when he proposed, it was on the beach after we had been gathering beautiful bits of sea glass. He presented me with a mussel she'll full of sea glass and my engagement ring, saying here are some pretty stones for you.
See what I mean!?!! 
We can't help ourselves!
Thank you.
Peace-
A

Here are two more personal examples of our connection to one another:

When I attended our Lake Forest Camino symposium in July 2016, there were little rocks on our tables. At one point, Father invited everyone to pick up a rock and follow him outside to drop it at the foot of the cross. As Annie writes in her book, "Tradition states that you leave a rock here, signifying something that you are leaving behind on your Camino." 

For some reason, I did not follow everyone outside to leave my rock... I decided to hold onto it and kept it in my purse. I was obviously not ready to let go!

Mark Murphy found out that Patrick Murphy (our great-grandfather) was a shoemaker in Ireland, but records from Joe Murphy showed that he was a bartender in Butte. Sadly, he passed away in an "insane asylum" at age 58..... no doubt from alcoholism.

Sean and I went to Ireland in the fall of 2016. Mark's research led us to Ardgroom, County Cork; the birthplace of Patrick. Here was their family Church and a statue of Mary in the garden.

Church of the Resurrection, Ardgroom, Ireland

If you look closely, you will see my tiny white rock to the left of the bottom of the pot. I still had it in my purse... I decided that this was the perfect place for me to leave it! That rock symbolized the fight I've battled with the family disease of alcoholism and codependency.

A common marker on the Camino

Annie writes in her book, that these Latin words "mean roughly, 'Keep going!', or 'Onwards and upwards!' and are meant to inspire and uplift all pilgrims."

So... yesterday, I received a text from my niece, Michelle, Marty's older daughter... she has been doing amazing work in healing with such inspiring messages and videos on her Facebook page.

Incredibly... she ended her text message with ONWARD!!

See... what Annie said is true! WE JUST CAN'T HELP OURSELVES!

Onward Loves,

Reenie

TELL YOUR STORY

Hi All,

My small prayer group had ordered Bishop Barron's Lenten Gospel Reflections  book to help guide our prayer time and discussions. How could we have possibly predicted any of this? And what this little book would mean to us during this time when we can no longer meet and our Church is shut down? What a God-shot!

In today's reflection, there is a reference to the Book of Kells, which is one of Ireland's most beloved tourist attractions, housed at Trinity College in Dublin. I have been blessed enough to visit there twice!
I thought that this message was so timely and a perfect way to start the blog for today:

"Charles Williams stated that the master idea of Christianity is "coinherence", mutual indwelling.
If you want to see this idea concretely displayed, look to the pages of the Book of Kells, that masterpiece of early Christian illumination. Lines interwoven, designs turning in and around on each other, plays of plants, animals, planets, human beings, angels and saints.

"Almost exclusively through the naming of relationships we are sons, brothers, daughters, mothers, fathers, members of organizations, members of a Church, etc. We might want to be alone, but no one and nothing is finally an island. Coinherence is indeed the name of the game, at all levels of reality."

This short description of the Book of Kells explains the significance of this sacred artifact:

"The manuscript’s celebrity derives largely from the impact of its lavish decoration, the extent and artistry of which is incomparable. Abstract decoration and images of plant, animal and human ornament punctuate the text with the aim of glorifying Jesus’ life and message, and keeping his attributes and symbols constantly in the eye of the reader."

Luke had an amazing FACEBOOK post yesterday! I really connected to this part of what he wrote:

"Although today the disruption to our daily lives is more extreme, and the situation more dire, the lessons from 1958 still hold true: tell your story; connect with your customers; innovate; and practice empathy...The good news is that we will emerge from this crisis more prepared, more empathic, and stronger."

The social impact of the H2N2 virus in 1957-58

With Connecting Loves,
Reenie

Odds and Ends:
Wow! We have 9 birthdays in April so far! Check each day to find out whose birthday it is! Gotcha... you have to come back!

Welcome to Terris and Stephen Murphy, Claudia Grillo (soon to be Mrs. Luke Murphy) to the family label... the group of family members that receive the updated email postings.  I am adding names to the family group as I get them, and of course, with their permission... it's growing!

Dan did some research on the poem that Mary Kelly loved... and here we thought she wrote it! LOL!! But he added some other fun facts:
Dan said...
The poem is by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, a contemporary of Mary's. Here is Ella's wikipedia site:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Wheeler_Wilcox

There are readings of the poem on YouTube. I like this reading by James Kingdon because of his accent:
https://youtu.be/9wz9mvQm2HQ

and this one because of the imagery:
https://youtu.be/Tm_FsXjCusY

The wikipedia site says Ella has a plaque in an alley in San Francisco, named after the beat writer Jack Kerouac. If you visit us in the Bay Area, let's go exploring for it!

The Greatest Generation Ever

THE GREATEST GENERATION

"The greatest generation was first formed by the Great Depression. They shared everything-- meals jobs, clothing." Tom Brokaw

"We must continue to ensure that the legacy of the greatest generation is preserved and protected so that we can all work to embody the ideals and values of those that came before them." Elise Stefonik

Our Matriarchal Clan

Mary Chatham Kelly (1860 - 1940) born in Michigan

Mary Chatham Kelly was Grandma Aggie and Rene's Mom. She was married to John "Black Jack" Kelly. He passed away in 1914. She was a widow at age 54. 

Mary always made other people feel special! Joan used to talk about how Grandma Kelly would take her to Los Angeles for a birthday outing. Since Joan's birthday was on Nov. 11th,  there would always be flags flying in honor of Veteran's Day. But Grandma Kelly told Joan that the flags were flying to celebrate HER birthday. Joan described Grandma Kelly as a tall beautiful woman with perfect posture, who inspired others to walk the same way!

Mary was an astute business woman. She owned some property in Los Angeles; (supposedly in what is now the downtown business area), but lost it in the Depression. I remember the family lamenting the loss of that valuable property!

Mary had an active mind and was always challenging herself. At age 70, she went to school to learn Spanish, and said the rosary in Spanish every night after that!  

The photo (above) was the model for the gorgeous painting of Mary. That beautiful framed picture graced Rene's home, and is now proudly displayed in Dan's home. 

Some of the characteristics of Mary, and indeed that generation, were determination, grit, fortitude, integrity, love of family, friends and mostly a deep faith. 

Nancy has this inspirational poem in Mary's handwriting that she has framed in her home.  It was Mary's philosophy of how to live!

As You Go Through Life

Don’t look for the flaws as you go through life

And even when you find them,

It is wise and kind to be somewhat blind,

And look for the virtue behind them.

For the darkest night has a hint of light,

Somewhere in the shadows hiding.

It is better by far to hunt for a star,

Than the spots on the sun abiding.

The current of life runs ever a way,

To the bosom of God’s great ocean.

Don’t set your form against the river’s course,

And think to alter it’s motion.

Don’t waste a curse on the universe,

Remember it lived before you.

Don’t butt at the storm with your puny form,

But bend and let it go o’er you.

The world will never adjust itself,

To suit your whims to the letter.

 Something must go wrong your whole life long,

And the sooner you know it, the better.

It is folly to fight with the infinite,

And go under at last in the wrestle.

The wise man shapes into God’s plans

As water shapes into the vessel.

To be continued tomorrow!

LYM,

Reenie

THE ROGUES GALLERY

 THE ROGUE'S GALLERY

In the basement of our La Mesa home, we had a wall of family pictures called 

"The Rogue's Gallery" 

On this famous wall...there were framed pictures of all us Murphy kids, Dad & Mom, our Grandparents on both sides of the family,  our Great-grandparents: the Chathams, "Black-Jack Kelly, Grandma Aggie with her brothers and sisters, "The 7 sisters" (The Kelly Girls... aunts to Joan, Melda and Dad) Uncle Dan and his wife, Jewel, Dahl, the framed collection of the Bryants family Christmas cards (which they did even before that was " a thing") and a few caricature pictures drawn by our Great Uncle Walt: his own self portrait and one of Mom and Dad. 

When Dan was in 6th grade (turned in on April 2, 1966.... isn't that weird? To the date... 54 years ago!!),  he made a family tree for a school project. He got as far as he could at the time, using the information he received from Mom and Dad, Joan, Melda and Aunt Teresa and Uncle Dan (Grandpa Jim's brother and sister).

An interest in our genealogy has continued through the years...and the Murphy/Kelly information began to grow, and continues to grow as some of us have been blessed enough to visit Ireland! 

The Bryants went to Bantry Bay in Ireland where Grandpa Jim was born. I was in high school at the time, and I will never forget Dad's tears when he opened up Melda's gift that came in the mail from Iowa: an Irish tea towel with the map of Ireland... and she had circled Bantry Bay. That was the closest Dad ever got to Ireland, and he was so touched and grateful to his sister for her special gift! 

A bit of the old sod! 

In 1975, Nancy and I took Dan's genealogy tree (our "treasure map of info") and visited Vale of Avoca where Christopher Chatham was born. But we were on an extremely tight budget at the time! When we met with the parish priest who showed us the book of records...we saw the entry of Christopher Chatham's birth and baptism, but we did not have any money to offer him to do any further research; we actually tried to sneak a peek when he stepped out of the room, but did not have enough info to know where to go in that old book of records!  And of course, there were no cell phones to take a picture back then.

Mark (Marty's son) really took up the charge when he traveled to Ireland and discovered more about the birthplace of the Murphys, and Dan kept adding to the family tree. Now there were pictures and articles to go with the information. One of the funny things was... there was an old newspaper article in the Irish archives that said that Jim Murphy's son, Jim, had become a priest! Uh no... that was our Dad... a lot of bad information going around back then... but who could verify it?

Sean created an ancestry.com account, and added things along the way on the Murphy and the Rendens. Steve Hauser had a book that belonged to Rene of old photos of relatives and friends... Dan and I have had some fun trying to figure out from names on the backs, and then posting those pictures onto ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com led us to be "discovered" by Joe Murphy. He was doing family research in Montana and contacted Sean on the ancestry.com message board, saying his research matched Sean's and we must be related! Which we are... we never knew of his existence and he never knew he had so many relatives... he only had 2 brothers... so he got to meet the female Murphys!

Dan continues to be the "family historian". In his home, there is a long piece of paper hanging in the hallway, where he continues to add family members to the family tree.

This time of isolation is bringing us together as we are cleaning out closets and come across old photos and share them. 

Dan sent 2 of the pictures above: 

• The first is of Monga (Mary Chatham Kelly). She was Grandma Aggie's and Aunt Rene's Mom 
• The next one Dan entitled: 4 generations: Grandma Aggie, Rene, Mom (holding baby Michelle, Marty's oldest daughter) and Monita. It brought back so many wonderful memories of Sunday family barbeques at Mr. and Mrs. Kerley's home (Monita's parents). 
• The 3rd picture is one that Shawn texted to us on St. Patrick's Day bringing back such a sweet memory of Aunt Melda and Aunt Joan doing an Irish jig at a St. Patrick's Day Party at Nancy's home. 

The Gaelic word for storyteller is seanchai (pronounced shaun-as-say). Joan was our family's seanchai... she always wanted to write a story of the family stories... but she never did. Nancy and I  remember many stories from Joan and Melda...and I am sure that many more of you do too... maybe now is the time for all of us to share some of the family stories.

That will maybe the topic for tomorrow... please email me or add to the comments and we can start sharing these stories through this blog to save and pass down to the next generation! We'll see where this goes!

Stay safe, and if you or anyone needs prayers, don't hesitate to ask! 

LYM,

Reenie

PS: Welcome Melda Joyce! 

Dan has a prayer request for his friend: 

My friend Steve needs prayers for his three children-in-law who got furloughed. Pray that they'll get rehired after this "hurricane" goes away.
Thanks, fam!

Dan  

Thanks Monita for your nice email... I love that you are doing your yoga class through Zoom!

Thanks, too, to Lynn and Shawn for your emails!

Melda was able to put up a comment. YAY!

And Nancy has thrown out the challenge... if she can add a comment.. you can do it!