2011 Calendar
Date Host Presenter
July 10 Carol W Julie M.
Sep 18 Carleen Rona Renner Nov 6 Dee Ruth O'Hara |
2011 Programs
July 10 Author and grandmother Julie Matsushima will share the inspiring story of her granddaughter who was born with cerebral palsy. In her book, For the Love of Aimee, Julie writes about the disappointments, challenges, and amazing achievements Aimee and Julie experience as they embark on a journey to find a breakthrough for Aimee.
September 18 Rona Renner, RN, a nationally recognized parent educator and radio talk show host of Childhood Matters, will lead a discussion about learning differences, temperament, and family communication. "Nurse Rona" has four children and two grandchildren.
November 6 Dr. Ruth O'Hara, research professor at Stanford School of Medicine, will discuss some of her work on sleep issues and give us some suggestions for improving our sleep.
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Greetings!
May has been an a-may-zing month for me. It began with our May 1 Member Mixer and ended with a family vacation in Puerto Vallarta. In between I celebrated Mother's Day with my 88-year old mother and two days later I celebrated my birthday by taking a 24-hour retreat at Stillheart. I am so grateful for all of the gifts in my life and you, dear GaGas, are among them. To those who came to our wonderful meeting, thank you for opening your hearts and souls to each other. The results were magical. Many of you wrote to say how special the meeting was and that you'd like to do it again but for an hour longer. The meeting confirmed my belief that everyone has an interesting story to tell. There were 25 of us storytellers gathered in Michele's home and the energy was electric. We broke into groups of four and rotated around her living room, kitchen, and den sharing stories prompted by some questions [see below] I posed to the group. After two rotations, we returned to our large circle and each GaGa shared an impression from the experience. We all agreed that a bond had formed through our common backgrounds, challenges, and experiences. We also wished that we could have heard every single one of the stories that day. I've shared a few of them below. |
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Getting to Know Each Other
Questions to Ponder
The sole purpose of our Member Mixer was to get to know each other and we most definitely did. After we divided up into groups of four, I gave each GaGa the following questions:
- What are your greatest attributes? Greatest skills?
- What are your greatest accomplishments?
- What energizes you?
- Describe a high point or peak experience in your life.
- What do you most value about yourself? (personally, professionally, socially)
- If it were possible, what 1 or 2 things would you want more of or to be different than they are?
- What is your biggest challenge as a grandma?
I invite you to ponder these questions. If you'd like to share any of your answers, email them to: donnedavis@gagasisterhood.com.
GaGa Stories
Energetic GaGa
Our host Michele runs Michele's Home Daycare and takes care of 6 children under the age of 4 years everyday from 8 - 5 all by herself. She started offering day care 26 years ago when her own children were little. I could tell she puts her heart into it. I also marvel that she has the stamina to keep up with them. She takes them on field trips and for a professional holiday photo every year.
Just before I left she gave me a tour of her chicken coop in the backyard and handed me a container of 6 freshly laid eggs from her 3 chickens, Bernice, Hazel, and Mavis.
Pay It Forward
 Frances celebrated her 65th birthday last December and inspired so many GaGas with her story I wanted to share it.
Since she's not a big party person, she decided to reach out to her friends and family to share her gratitude for arriving at this milestone. She wrote a letter offering each person $65 to give to a person or organization that deserved a little surprise at the end of the year.
In her letter she asked them to send her the name of the person or organization and one sentence about why they chose the recipient. Then she sent checks back to her family and friends made out to the deserving person or organization so her family and friends could deliver Frances' check to the recipients.
She asked them to explain that the gift was from an awesome friend/family member who wanted to share her 65th birthday with deserving people around the Bay Area! Frances requested that they deliver it by December 31 and then send her a note about the experience.
The requests ranged from unemployed, depressed friends and dedicated first grade teachers to Nicaraguan libraries, food banks, camps for kids with cancer, PFLAG, and The Art of Yoga Project.
At the end of the project Frances wrote to all her family and friends:
Thanks to all of you, I had the most wonderful birthday of my life! I spent the entire month of December writing checks and receiving the most amazing thank you letters from the recipients of my $65 checks that you had the fun and privilege of distributing. Many of you delivered your check personally and some of you even sent pictures of the presentation. It truly has been the gift that keeps on giving.
Grandson Raises $1500 for World Autism Awareness Day
 Proud GaGa Susan C. has 6 grandsons and 3 live in New Zealand--9-year old twins Reid and Quinn and their 11-year old brother, Kip. The twins are autistic but through early intervention they're doing great. In February Kip decided to shave his head for his brothers and all the other kids with autism on World Autism Awareness Day. He set up a fundraising page with a short video of him getting his head shaved. He raised $1,538 for Autism New Zealand's early intervention training programs.
Daughter Inspires Mother
Donna P. inspired us with her daughter, Kristin's story. Two years ago Kristin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but that has not kept her from "seizing the day," as her brother likes to remind her. Kristin is the mother of two little girls, Zoe, 8 and Sofia, 5; she is a high school music teacher who conducts orchestra and chorus; she learned to surf after her diagnosis; and last September completed the MS Ride, cycling 125 miles from San Francisco to Healdsburg in two days.
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A Birthday Retreat at Stillheart
In April I visited Stillheart Institute for the first time and after just an hour's visit, I knew I wanted to spend my birthday there. I booked a personal retreat and had one of the most unusual and memorable birthdays of my life.
My husband and I arrived on my birthday afternoon and spent 24 hours enjoying the beautiful lodge and surrounding forest. We left the following afternoon relaxed and refreshed, as if we'd been away for days.
 | | Waterfall on Stillheart hiking trail |
Stillheart is the vision of founder and president, Joan Porter, who conceived this 16-acre "sanctuary for humanity" ten years ago. She created it as a place to "energetically support people who are working hard to meet the challenges of the day."
There is beauty every where you look, both inside the lodge and outside in the Redwoods. We stayed in a "Tree House" room and felt as if we were in one. There are no shades on the floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the forest and the rooms have radiant heat, encouraging bare feet. There's a carved wood sign on the window ledge: RELAX. And we did!
We sat in the library and perused the large eclectic collection of books, mesmerized by the wall-size blue stained glass window. I danced around the Great Room while my husband improvised a melody on the grand piano. We cooked my birthday dinner in the large professional kitchen, imagining we were Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. We soaked in the hot tub, dried off in the sauna, and slept peacefully in the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in.
The next morning we awoke to a mist shrouding the trees. I did yoga with Ann Dannelly, Stillheart's program and events manager, in the creative expressions room. Just outside is a waterfall and a little further is an enormous tree stump with a sign reading: Woody's Diner posted on the top. It's the favorite hangout for all the acorn woodpeckers.I enjoyed myself so much that I want to return every season and see what changes nature brings. In the mean time, I want to remind you that there are still openings for our Mother-Daughter Retreat at Stillheart Institute.
My daughter, Deborah, and I are co-leading the mother-daughter communication component of the retreat with yoga teacher Jackie Long, MFT, on Saturday, June 11 from 9 am - 8 pm. The daylong retreat will consist of gentle yoga, communication seminars, and interpersonal exercises to explore and nurture the mother-daughter relationship. There will also be time to soak in the hot tub, take a dip in the pool, hike in the Redwoods, curl up on the couch, and/or read a book in the library.
You can register for the retreat by emailing Jackie at: jackie@yogawithlove.com
This retreat is open to all women interested in exploring their mother-daughter or mother-in-law daughter-in-law relationship. You can attend alone or with your mother or adult daughter.
While developing the content for the workshop, I wrote a post on my blog: 10 Tips for Improving Mother-Daughter Communication
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Congratulations Ms. New York Senior America
 We had a celebrity in our midst at our May meeting--Kathleen Keating, recently crowned Ms. New York Senior America 2011. Kathi attended the meeting with her sister, Judy, who is a member.
Kathi competed for the Crown along with nine other contestants on April 3, 2011. She believes that today's young women are consumed with the fear of aging and many have poor self-image. Unrealistic attitudes regarding aging cause many young women to go to extreme measures to try to halt this natural progression. She believes this Pageant demonstrates that aging is nothing to be feared, but rather to be embraced. Her message to younger women is:
Don't fear aging. Look forward to the adventures of life and the fun yet to be had. Today's women are more physically fit, well informed and more self-assured than any prior generation. As vibrant members of society, we look upon ourselves as women with a voice who can inspire and motivate younger generations to be confident and to embrace all that life has to offer.
Kathi's main focus in life is her family. She has three sons who have presented her with three granddaughters and three grandsons. The next grandchild, due in June, will be the "tie breaker" and a surprise whether it's a boy or girl.
Kathi will represent New York State at the national pageant, Ms. Senior America, this October in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I wish Kathi the best of luck. I know she's going to do very well. She is a gracious and genuine woman who makes a wonderful ambassador for women over 60 and of course, grandmothers, too.
You can read my full post and watch Kathi's crowning moment on YouTube.
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The GaGa Zone
Please continue sending me pictures and stories of you with your grandchildren for the GaGa Zone.
 | | Sue J and her grandson, Teddy |
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