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| Story Sparks
"Stories are the sparks that light our ancestor's lives, the embers we blow on to illuminate our own"
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Greetings!
The January day started out well. I picked up the prescription at the doctor's office as scheduled then headed to the pharmacy. The prescription was for a narcotic for my husband so couldn't be called in. The script was in an envelope with his name on it. The doctor's office closed early and wouldn't open until Tuesday. My husband had enough to hold him until Monday. We were trying something new to manage the pain of seven fractures, four visits to the emergency room and one back surgery since October. My stomach was upset (ulcers acting up? Can't imagine why!) so I stopped at the bathroom first; took my time; checked when I left that I still had the envelope stashed into the
outside pocket of my purse.
I picked up two cartons of yogurt, eggs, milk and a protective spray for boots then arrived at the pharmacy window.
NO ENVELOPE!
Panic. I retraced every step. Looked to see if I could have dropped the envelope in the dairy case; pushed it out somehow near the eggs. I checked the floors, walked down new aisles thinking maybe I'd forgotten which aisles I'd cruised. Returned to the bathroom, checked the stall. Nothing. Dug into the wastebasket in case it had fallen in there. Nada. Went to the car, checked to see if I might have been mistaken that I'd had it when I went in to the store. The dogs perked up but no sign of the script. I scoped the icy parking lot walking back to the store. Stopped the manager and explained what happened. He called pharmacy. No one had turned it in nor had anything been turned in at customer service.
The self-berating by always-ready harpies began.
How could you lose a prescription? How will you explain to the doctor? Why didn't you put it inside your purse? You're so irresponsible! Just finish up and see if you can get the groceries you need without messing up further. I walked all the way to the vegetable section before realizing I was at the wrong end of the store to pick up bread. I've been in that store a hundred times but it looked as foreign as the surface of Mars. Told myself to calm down. Checked out; put the groceries into the car. Dogs panted happily. I scanned the parking lot, again.
 I made one last trip to the store, walking down the aisles, looking in cases. At the pharmacy I waited in line until the woman asked how she could help. My voice shook. "In the last half hour I dropped a prescription that was in an envelope with my husband's name on it and I --"
"What's his name?"
I told her.
"Here it is."
She pulled the envelope like a rabbit from a magician's hat from the side of her register. "Someone turned it in."
I put my head down on the counter and cried. "It'll be all right," she said. "Not to worry." She patted my hand.
The Coos Indian people have a word: Wit-litz. It translates as the "going-over place." They mean it to describe a strip of land on the southern Oregon Coast that is higher than the surrounding sections of timber and sloughs. It was reached after much walking and rowing and one portaged over it, resting a bit before entering that next phase, that new place of unknown and challenge.
A stranger's kindness in turning in an envelope on a day in January was so disarming that even as I write this, tears press against my cheeks. It was a wit-litz, my going-over place, where a rush of gratitude picked me up after weeks of worry over Jerry's many fractures, pain and uncertainty and an hour of anxiety. Weeks of wondering what journey it is that we are on, exactly, and a silencing of the harpies charging me with neglect. It was also a reminder of the many acts of kindnesses we've enjoyed during these months of trying to understand what's happening inside my husband's body.
That stranger will never know the gift they gave. So small, turning in an envelope and yet I cling to such an act as a reminder that the little things I might do can mark a going-over place for others. We all need to acknowledge such wit-litz places in our lives and honor them as we choose. A deep breath. A prayer. Even tears will do. |
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Promises of Hope |  Promises of Hope for Difficult Times is releasing in early February. While it's focus is on caregivers, I hoped to bring encouragement for a variety of life's challenges. Here's a tidbit to entice you... Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? Job 12:12 Jerry and I drove back to the ranch, a place we'd lived for twenty-six years. It's a remote acreage along a wild and scenic river, down a serpentine road with dips and curves that become essentially a one-lane dirt road. We lived seven miles from the mailbox and eleven miles from pavement. Because with age came wisdom, we recently left for health reasons and because another winter loomed daunting in our minds. Going back after six months away, we cried a bit for what had been. Not a sadness really but a remembering. Building a life on Starvation Lane was a grand adventure that shaped us and many others. Neither of us wishes we had not made that trek to dream and build and make a way beside that river. But neither do we regret the move we made to leave it behind. This is a good place to be in one's life: happy for past choices; happy for present ones. It was those years on that ranch where I learned to trust that if I needed to leave, the road would be passable. Somehow, bills would get paid. We'd recover from accidents we didn't prevent. I learned there to take deep breaths and not to wonder what the future held but to instead cherish what there was...." |
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Jane's Schedule | |
Take a look and see where our paths might cross during upcoming events.
Be sure to check the website for cancellations. Decisions are made one day at a time based on Jerry's health.
WHEN: Saturday, February 23, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: Salem First Presbyterian Church, 770 Chemeketa St. NE, Salem, Oregon
WHAT: CASCADES PRESBYTERY LEADERSHIP FAIR. Presbyterians from throughout the Cascades will gather for their annual leadership conference and Jane will speak about the power of story to nourish and transform. The event is open to the public; visit www.cascadespresbytery.org. for more information.
MARCH
WHEN: Friday, Saturday, Sunday - March 1-3
WHERE: Yachats, Oregon
WHAT: Jane again joins award winning author, columnist (and humorist!) Bob Welch for a weekend of inspiration, fabulous food, amazing ambiance and nurture. 'Beachside' is for all people at whatever stage of the writing life you may be in, even if you're not sure you're a writer! Visit Bob's website www.bobwelch.net for more information. Registration is limited to 50 people. A great gift to give yourself or that writer in your life.
For all event information and updates, please visit Jane's website and click on News and Events. Thanks!
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Word Whisperings |
 Simplifying the Soul, Lenten Practice to Renew Your Spirit by Paula Huston (Ave Maria Press)
When I was a child living outside a small Midwestern town, Lenten Season was a time for "giving things up." For those who aren't familiar, this season acknowledges the forty day and nights that Jesus spent dealing with temptation and all the other down sides of being who he was. For we mortals, young and hoping to live a good life, giving up cherry cokes (that was one of my practices one year) or giving up chocolate or giving up teasing my little brother for six weeks could be quite trying. It was also very informative.
This year I've read and will be reading through Lent Paula Huston's book Simplifying the Soul. And I'll be attempting some of the simple things she suggests to help get my spirit into a refreshed place. I happen to serve on the Lenten study team at our church and we read several books but chose this one in the end, unanimously I might add, to be a part of the many Lenten study groups that gather weekly to share in community. We met amazing people through our small group last year and I'm hoping the same group will sign up but even more...we'll add a few new folks.
Paula's book is small and simple in itself. Her suggested practices are simple too -- on the surface. "Simplifying space" is the first practice and Paula recommends one "Clean out a junk drawer." Oh my, which one? I'm hoping the practice might bring us to a better place about how to clean out the shop on the ranch still full of Jerry's years of goodies. The author quotes an Abbot who reminds us that clothes can rot inside when left for years...so can the thoughts in our hearts, "If we do not carry them out by physical action, after awhile they will spoil and turn bad." So I'll see how cleaning out that drawer might remind me to consider other spaces in my life that are cluttered and in need of action.
The author offers practices for simplifying care of the body, our mind, schedules, relationships and prayers. What better way to spend a few minutes each day during this season of contemplation than by reading and acting upon suggestions in this book. And if you're fortunate enough to have a few friends to read along and discuss once a week, then this Lenten season might just be what Eugene Peterson said in endorsing the book: "... the simplest and liveliest Lent you have ever kept." |
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April Release: One Glorious Ambition | |
One Glorious Ambition went to press this month. It will be out in April.
Here's a generous endorsement that lifted my spirits when I read it.
"Read this book and have Dorothea Dix transform your life. Be uplifted not simply by the grand trajectory of Dix's singular journey but by the irresistible voice that Jane Kirkpatrick compels you to hear. A deeply sensitive and intelligent young woman overcomes trenchant pain and social barriers to fight tirelessly for those who have neither a voice nor an advocate. Her impossible life is unraveled and liberated in this novel. And read with a sense of urgency, for the battles fought by Dorothea Dix more than a century ago are very much in need of being waged again."
Charles Kiselyak, director and producer of award-winning films including Completely Cuckoo, Fearful Symmetry, and A Constant Forge. |
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 This month, we listed our ranch property on Starvation Lane for sale. We'd been negotiating for a time with a non-profit conservancy but times are hard and budgets tight so we decided that perhaps the property could appeal to a private party who might enjoy the seclusion, fishing and hunting, and of course the scenic John Day River. We'll see what happens knowing that change is the only constant.
I hope your year is filled with changes that inspire and entertain and that you remember the courage you have to face the other kinds.
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