charitymatters, Author at Charity Matters

Charity Matters Quotes June 19, 2015

Happy Father’s Day!

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”

Mark Twain

Fathers are special. It is a unique relationship that we all have with our Dads. Somehow they don’t get all the attention, even for their one day a year, because Dads are just that way. They do what they do for their families without fuss or fanfare. Yet, when they are absent their void is great and vast.

We often forget about our Dads and all they did for us. So, this weekend it is time to acknowledge these great men in our lives, past or present.

Happy Father’s Day!

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes June 17, 2015

What to contribute this summer?

“We cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to life when each arrives.”

Gary Zukave

As summer approaches, officially next week, it seems like another opportunity to re-think how I can contribute? Summer is a break from board meetings and much of the service I do throughout the year and sometimes a much-needed one, I must admit.

However, summer brings longer days, a little more time and an opportunity to serve. For me, this summer will be about running a summer program, teaching service to teens and planting the seeds of compassion in our youth.

As we enter into this sunny season, ask yourself what do you choose to contribute to life when the season arrives?

Charity Matters.

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Health June 15, 2015

The gift of life

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

With birthdays come drivers license renewals and the question of whether or not to put that pink sticker on my license indicating that I am an organ donor. For me the answer is simple, yes I am. I am an organ donor because I have heard the helicopter on the roof of Children’s Hospital bringing the precious gift of life to a child.

I am an organ donor because I have watched to family friends suffer while waiting for a donor. The first friend, needed a heart transplant. He received a heart from someone who had died at the craps table in Vegas. He told me once he had his new heart, he unexpectedly found himself wanting to go to Vegas, but wouldn’t dare go by the tables. His new-found spirit was infectious.

Another dear friend of ours, and a young father of two, waited for a kidney for what seemed like an eternity. To see this vibrant man dwindle was devastating for all of us who adore him. When it seemed grim, a miracle occurred. Another’s passing gave the gift of life to our friend and he is thriving. When I saw this video I thought of both our friends.

I will be putting a new sticker on my license stating I am organ donor. I will tell my family, so that they know my wishes and you have this post as a back up. I think Emerson simply said it best, “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.”

Charity Matters.

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What Matters? June 10, 2015

The gift of a break

“A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.”

Earl Wilson

This past week was an amazing celebration of graduations, family, friendships, ceremony and the never-ending passage of time. So much joy, so many parties and never have I needed a little break more, to catch my breath, regroup and sit, than now.

Honestly, there is never a good time to leave work, because work never ends. For me, running a summer program, this is not the best time. The best time, is when you need it, which makes this the best time. A day or two to slow down, process everything and begin to think about the coming weeks ahead.

Tomorrow is my 49th birthday and this is my gift to myself. The gift of a moment, the most perfect gift. Slipping away to sit on the sand, a walk on a beach and feeling grateful. If the countdown to 50 brings the wisdom to know when to slow down, then I welcome it with open arms.

Until then, I am sitting in this moment with heart full of love and life full of gratitude.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration June 8, 2015

Every rose has its thorn

Today I am sitting in the front row of my alma mater’s graduation ceremony. It is an all girls school and the ceremony is filled with tradition, ceremony, white gowns and could be confused as a debutante ball to a casual observer. In all the pomp and circumstance, I find myself tuning out the speeches and looking at the beautiful roses sitting in every graduates lap.

Their roses do not have any thorns, but as I reflect back decades ago when I too sat on that stage, I was nothing more than a thorny rose. Sure, I was young and full of energy but the reality is that what was within was still thorny. The irony is that as I look at the fresh-faced beauties in their white gowns gazing blindly into their futures, it is only now that I realize their true beauty is yet to come.

What they don’t realize is that their lives are like the roses in their laps, de-thorned, closed buds that are full of fragrance and possibility. Where does the real beauty begin? How does the rose lose its thorn and open?

The answer I believe comes with each act of grace and kindness. It is the moments of a life that open the bud. Each moment a gift of growth and which slowly opens the flower. Over time the petals burst to full-bloom, the fragrance heavenly and the inner beauty abounds, unleashed for all.

As I sit here, smiling and watching, each girl takes her roses, grabs their petals and throws them up into the wind… all the petals blow away, as each bud awaits its turn to open.

Charity Matters.

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Education June 5, 2015

The beginning of an ending

“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.”

Kongzi

This weekend marks the beginning of an ending. This week our family celebrates two graduations, our youngest off to high school and our middle son off to college. It is a happy, crazy, emotional roller coaster ride of a week. This is not our first graduation and you would think that each ceremony somehow prepares you for the next, for me this is not the case.

Each one of our children has had their own journey, their trials, struggles and their triumphs. Each ceremony brings to light the steps of each ones paths. For our youngest son, he will be celebrating graduation with a class he joined only a year and a half ago. Yet, it feels as if he has been there forever by all. It will be a week of traditions and celebrations to launch him towards high school.

The graduation that I can not seem to process is my middle son. While he may look like a high school hero on the outside, his journey these past few years has not been as seamless as it appears. He has had roadblocks like anyone, but in the face of these obstacles, he has always taken the high road. He has taught us grace, made us smile, showed us incredible dedication to his friends, team and school. Everyone knows their children are special, but he has shown us through his compassion towards all, what that word really means.

My heart overflows with pride in thinking about who he has become and how proud I am to be his mom. So as I try to process all that goes on this week, I keep trying to remind myself that we have done great work as parents and how lucky the world is to be getting these remarkable young men.

Beginnings and endings they all are part of the circle we call life. As we close these chapters, we go forward with full hearts towards the next.

Charity Matters.

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What Matters? June 3, 2015

The last lunch

Every morning, five days a week, for 15 years has begun the same way…pulling out a brown paper bag. The morning ritual of coffee and lunches is as much a part of my day as breathing. It is something that on auto pilot, my brain just does…..until now.

Today, is the last time I will make two. Today, is the last lunch for my high school senior. Of all the crazy things to get sentimental about, it seems so strange and yet it really is the perfect metaphor for the journey.

That plain brown bag is just like my son. When he went off to kindergarten, his name was boldly placed on his bag with smiley faces as he began school. Everyday we filled that brown sack with love, the gift of time, patience, gallons of peanut butter and jelly and commitment. Sometimes, even something unexpected ended up in that bag.

Many a day, I found it smashed up in the bottom of the backpack crumpled and broken, just as many a day, was the young man it belonged too. Whether that brown lunch bag was crumpled, perfectly creased, empty or full it was always evolving and we were always there filling it up.

Now, this morning that brown bag is covered with huge rolling tear drops, as I fill it for the last time. My heart is breaking. Rather than being giddy about this tedious task being wiped from my routine, I find myself devastated at the loss. I would make lunches a thousand times over to have some more of those precious moments back.

Of course, we are thrilled that he is moving onto college cafeterias, where other people will feed him, but somehow knowing this is the last lunch is more than my heart can bear. So, today I will write his name big and bold with a huge heart and send him off knowing his bag is full and he is loved.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes June 1, 2015

Charity Matters Quotes: June

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”

Maud Hart Lovelace

Today is the first day of June. The countdown to summer begins. Parents and children everywhere are marking their calendars until homework ends, no more lunches made and the joy of summer descends.

June brings chaos, joy and finally summer….a happy month, that I for one am ready to embrace.

Charity Matters.

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Cancer May 29, 2015

Without words

I have to say that in almost four years of blogging, I have rarely been at a loss for words. I sat down to write the other day and there just wasn’t anything there. I mentioned this challenge at our family dinner table and my sons said, “You don’t have to write Mom, its ok if you take one day off.” A thought that truly had never occurred to me.

I had resigned myself to the fact that with two graduations next week and a very full plate at work, I would take today off. However, the universe had different plans, no sooner had I made that decision, when a friend sent me this video…which of course I needed to share with you.

Tired or not, seeing compassion in action, simply never gets old. It is moments like these that inspire me to do more, give more and use my time showing the world that it is actions not words, that really matter.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes May 27, 2015

That indescribable feeling

“Service to a just cause rewards the worker with more real happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life.”

Carrie Chapman Catt

I had lunch with a girlfriend last week and we were discussing our mutual addiction to that indescribable feeling you get when you give. I had just come from Operation Gratitude, an organization that sends care packages to our soldiers around the world. I had dropped off 1800 cards, on my way to lunch, written by student’s in my leadership organization, that would go in care packages for soldiers.

The feeling I had as I handed the boxes and boxes of heartfelt colored cards and notes was of pride, joy and as the quote says, “more happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life.” As my friend and I discussed, it is that feeling that becomes something you simply want more of. The gift of service is a gift you give to yourself, even if that isn’t the intention…..it is always the result.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 25, 2015

A Widow’s Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor those who have served and sacrificed for our country. No one understands this more than a military spouse. The other day when I saw this piece on CBS News This Morning, I knew I needed to share. It is a letter from Taya Kyle, Chris Kyle’s widow, to herself. To me this puts Memorial Day in perspective and I hope it does the same for you.

Today, think about all of those service men, service women and their families who give so much to each of us.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes May 22, 2015

Charity Matters Quotes: Just thinking

“Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.”

Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

The simple gift of thinking.

Our lives are so frenetic and full that we barely have a moment to complete the most mundane tasks. However, when we stop. Just stop, take a breath, a moment and give ourselves the gift to sit and think it is amazing what can happen.

Somehow we have become afraid of silence and perhaps our own thoughts?

This weekend, give yourself a moment.

Just one.

Imagine the possibilities.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 20, 2015

Just Think

This past weekend I was up in Northern California for a board retreat. We were in the beautiful hills of Los Altos and it was a time to reflect, slow down the pace and “just think.”

As I pondered the takeaways of the weekend, I recalled a story that Bill Gates Sr. shared at a different board retreat a few years back. He was asked the question, “Was there any early indicator that your son (Bill Gates Jr.) was destined for great success?” Bill Sr. thought for a moment and shared a story about his teenage son.

He told the crowd that their family had loaded up the station wagon with children, pets and the like to head out-of-town to ski for the weekend. No one could find Bill Junior. Bill’s mother went searching through the house hollering for Bill. When she opened the door to his room, there was Bill laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling in a quiet room. His mother said to young Bill, “What are you doing? We have all been looking for you, yelling and waiting?” Bill Jr. looked up at his mom thoughtfully and said, “I was just thinking. Do you ever just think?”

As Bill Sr. shared that story with the room, he said that his son had always taken the time to simply “just think.” That story has stayed with me over the years and as I was given the gift of time to reflect, slow down and “just think” it occurred to me that, “thinking” is a gift each of us needs to give ourselves. When was the last time you were “just thinking?”

Charity Matters.

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What Matters? May 18, 2015

A funny thing

As I mentioned, we recently put our house on the market. We have no plan but just threw it out to the universe because it simply seems like the right time with our second son leaving for college. While keeping beds made (with boys), the house picked up and clearing out for showings at a moments notice is no picnic, there has been an amazing transformation in our family in the last two weeks…..gratitude.

Every time we look at a potential nest for our clan, we hear “this room isn’t as nice as the one I have” or “our kitchen is better” and on it goes. Even my husband and I find ourselves at night, saying how much we love the old beautiful wood floors in our house and how blessed we feel to live in this very special place. While we have always loved our home, it is the twisted human condition, that you don’t appreciate what you have until its gone which has hit our household.

Perhaps, at the end of the day if we don’t find the “right” next stop and stay in our home, then maybe that’s the lesson in this journey. Afterall, I now know for a fact that my boys know how to make a bed, keep their room clean at all times and that they truly realize the blessings of home. If that is the end result of this process, with or without a moving truck, then I would have to say its a move more than worth taking.

Charity Matters.

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