The Dolphin

 

Your Monthly Magazine from Living Happy Center

December, 2013    

 

 

Carole Kane, Editor-in-Chief

 

Living Happy Center Writers Group:

 

Frank Clark, Maryann Hall, Glynis Hedley,  

Helene Herman, Bob Hogan

Dr. Brad Holway,  Dave Kane,

Rev. Victor Langhorne, Dr. Arthur Lewin, 

Debra Sanchez, Dimitra Savvidou

 

www.livinghappycenter.com  

 

 

 

in this issue
Let Every Day Be Christmas - By Norman W. Brooks
Making Spirits Bright - By Carole Kane
Decorating the White House for Christmas - Golden Memories - by Frank Lazzaro
A Stroke of Happiness - By Dave Kane
The Possbilities Are Enormous - By Dmitra Savvdou
Pondering Probabilities - by Dr. Brad Holway
 

Dear Friends,

 

carole jan 13 13

 

Welcome to the December 2013 issue of The Dolphin where we present longer articles from the Living Happy Writers Group.

 

There's a lot of Christmas spirit in this issue, and some very interesting stories.  Curl up with a nice hot chocolate and some decadent sweets, and enjoy them all!

 

Happy Holidays Everyone! 

 

If you'd like to comment on any of our stories, just click here:  comments  

We'd Love to hear from you!    

 - - Carole - -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poetry Corner 

Let Every Day Be Christmas
By Norman W. Brooks

Christmas Tree

Christmas is forever,
not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving,
are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel,
in some box upon a shelf.

The good you do for others
is good you do yourself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making Spirits Bright

carole jan 13 13

By Carole Kane 

I've been hearing a lot lately about  the " terrible commercialization of Christmas".  While I understand  the reasoning behind this idea, I choose to look at it in a different way.  I see it as a strengthening and reinforcement of Love.  Here's why:

 

Christmas is first and foremost a celebration of the birth of Jesus, whose main message was one of love.    In the Bible (Matthew 22:35-40), when Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment he replied, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart..... " and then referred to a second commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself".

 

Some of us may feel more comfortable calling God "Love".  The Bible actually tells us "God is love" (1 John 4:8).  It also says we are God's (Love's) children (1 John 3:2).

 

So, to follow Jesus's two greatest commandments (but calling God "Love"), we must love Love.  We are a child of Love, a piece of Love, so we must love ourselves, and we must love our neighbor (who is also a child of Love) as we love ourselves.  It sounds to me like we're all part of each other. 

 

As to the "commercializaton of Christmas - The way I see it, all those shoppers are out there hunting for  gifts to give to their family, friends, and neighbors.  An act of love for sure!  They are willing to withstand huge crowds, long waits, and tedious traffic jams.  They are willing to spend whatever is needed for the happiness of others.  The fact that retailers seize the opportunity to attract these shoppers is not a bad thing, it's good business.  

 

And the giving of these gifts, even to a not-so-lovable employee or boss, is still an act of love at the moment that gift is given.  An unspoken statement, "I care enough about you to share a gift so you will feel good."

 

What better way to celebrate the birth of Jesus?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Decorating the White House for Christmas 
Golden Memories

 
By Frank Lazzaro
                               

 

In the fall of 1974 the Viet Nam war was slowly coming to an end. Soldiers became Veterans looking for work, but there was very little in employment findings.  A new kind of dance music called "Disco" was born, and it became the era of white suits and looking cool for guys. The "Hippie" generation was fading out from the old Woodstock era. The President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, had resigned from the most powerful office on the planet just that past summer. Vice President Gerald Ford took over the reins in the Oval Office.

 

I was just discharged from Fort Bragg and became a very active, youthful looking twenty-four-year-old college student under the G.I. Bill,  working part time as a movie usher.   I was trying to make ends meet day by day, adjusting back to civilian life and just supporting  Betsy, my light blue, flower power, daisy "peace" decal, Volkswagen Beetle Bug.  She was all I had.  I used to say a decade of the Rosary that she would start up on cold winter mornings, and another decade if she made it back to Richmond Hill, the place that I called "Home Sweet Home". It worked all the time!

 

I came out of Fort Bragg flat broke and jobless, (my old job went belly-up! ) and nothing was worse than having both these perils at once.  Nobody wanted to know me! My Brother Richie used to say, "Mr. Fortune has a lady friend that will visit you more often, called Misfortune!" Thank God, be it ever so humble, there was "no place like home" to go to after my Army discharge.  My parents were my landlords and my rent was dirt cheap.   My Mother had a policy:   on rent day, she just put her open hand out to me, kept silent, and I would place in her hand whatever funds I could afford that month.

 

When The White House called my home on that beautiful September Fall morning back in 1974, my Mother answered the phone.  She had no idea that I had submitted a letter to the First Lady stating my opinion of how I think the White House should be decorated at Christmastime.

 

When I was still in the Army at Fort Bragg, I had been in charge of getting a Christmas tree in the barracks and decorating it - so the guys named me the "Official" Christmas tree decorator of Fort Bragg Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion."   Of course I had help from my bunk-mates decorating that tree with our army green socks and beer cans.  It was the perfect touch coming from a group of military air-borne troopers.  They even nominated me to ask the General of Fort Bragg if I could decorate his tree. That was the only experience I had, and I put that in the letter to the First Lady.

 

Well, getting back to the phone call, when Mom picked up the phone that autumn morning, and the voice said "I'm calling from The White House", she though it was the "white house" down the block with the dog barking in the front yard. What do you expect from an old-fashioned, home-loving Italian mom who never traveled past Jersey City in her whole life?

 

The voice said "No, not that house," in a slow southern tone! Mom immediately said, "Oh, then the white house on the corner, the McCourt and Trudden Funeral Home?"  The voice on the telephone replied back, "No, not that house, either".

She was about to hang up, but took the man's number and said, "My son will call you back.  They are the only two white houses we have around here."  She thought it was a hoax with one of my friends. They always played jokes on me and my family when I was a teen-ager.

 

After I was informed by my mother about this telephone call, and what she said on the telephone to the White House representative, I almost went into shock! A few minutes later, I regained my balance, told her about the letter I had mailed to the First Lady, and made the call back immediately!

 

It was Mr. Rusty "Elmer" Young, the Chief White House Floral Decorator, a very well-liked man who was known nationwide;  a professional gentleman that I owe so much to!  He had been the landscaper for the grounds when Harry Truman was President, and eventually became the very first White House Chief Floral Designer during the Kennedy Administration. The Chief Florist informed me on the telephone that the First Lady had received my letter and was very pleased she did. She wanted me to be part of the decorating for the White House Christmas Tree that year - and the rest is history.

Frank Lazzaro decorating his
 "First" Christmas Tree in the Blue Room at The White House, Dec. 5th, 1974
I became the youngest American Italian floral designer ever to hold a major position -  White House Holiday and State Dinner Floral Decorator  - and remained in this elegant lifestyle career for twelve years, during The Ford, Carter and Reagan Administrations.
In addition to the White House Christmas decorations, my floral arrangements were featured at a formal White House dinner for the fifty Governors of the United States during the Ford Administration; at a "White House Rose Garden Tent Reception" for The Queen of England; at the State Dinner for The Emperor of Japan given by President and Mrs. Ford, and at the formal White House Black Tie Annual Governor's Dinner held every year in February.
I prayed many nights for great success to arrive... never did I expect this blessing from God, so quickly!" -Frank in an interview statement with Walter Kaner, The Long Island Press. The First Christmas Decorating in 1974 - Ford Administration.
That was my golden era - an era that is now just a golden memory.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   


A Stroke of Happiness 

 

 

By Dave Kane  

 
He was having another fantastic day.  It was warm and sunny, and his kids were playing in the distance while he sat contently with his wife.  Everything was just perfect.  Life was great.

Then it happened again.  This time, he couldn't get the words out.  He kept talking, but to everyone else, it seemed to be a foreign language.  As usual, it was freezing.  It was like being in the Arctic with no coat.  It didn't last long, but it seemed like days.

 

When he woke up, he was so happy to see his wife next to him and feel the warmth of the cozy blankets.  He jumped right out of bed, eager to start his day.  He loved life and didn't ever want to fall asleep again and have those horrible dreams.  Today was going to be great.  He felt masculine and strong.  He checked out the kids, asleep in their rooms, and then ran out to the backyard.  He felt the sun on his face and took a long deep breath of that perfect air.  He walked over to the garden and dropped to his knees and began pruning his plants.  It was one of his favorite things to do.

 

There he was again.  It was freezing.  He couldn't concentrate on anything, no matter how hard he tried.  He had trouble just walking.  He looked at his hands but could not feel them.  He knew he was dreaming and wanted desperately to wake up.  His kids were somehow grown and old.  His wife was there but he could not understand her language, and she could not understand his.  He kept trying to tell her that he hated it there and just wanted to go home.

 

The dreams were getting shorter and shorter every day, but they kept coming.  He wanted so badly to stay awake forever.  He told his wife about these horrible dreams, and as usual, she held him in her arms and made him feel better.  The days were always perfect.  He was always happy and full of energy.  It was hard for him not to smile all of the time.  He loved being home.

 

It had been quite some time since he had one of those dreams.  It was finally over.  He would never have to experience such a horrible feeling again.  He was living in paradise.  His life was perfect and now, so were his dreams.

 

He was laying still on his bed.  His old sunken face looked calm.  He had been miserable since his first stroke.  This was his last.  We knew he was in a better place now and that he was happy.  His bad dreams were actually his reality.  He had been sleeping more and more towards the end.  That is where he was happy and now he will be happy forever.

 

Soon you'll wake up Dad.  I love you

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

The Possibilities Are Enormous

By Dimitra Savvdou 

 

The photo below is of a lily that grew in my garden. A friend gave me a few plants and accidentally she gave some plain greens. Despite the fact that the greens were flowerless I felt sorry for them so I planted them around the most central tree in my garden. One morning that first lily appeared...who could have imagined that those greens were not just greens! Beautiful and so colourful as our dreams and desires!

 

What follows is an extract from a new book I am writing entitled "Experiences with God". It is a personal account/witness of how we can open the door to possibilities, possibilities that we have not even dreamt, to possibilities that are enormous. I have realized that we try to focus more on the impossibilities of life than the possibilities. It seems that it is emotionally safer to do so, plus then we have a good reason to keep complaining, playing the victim role, a way to hide our imperfections, to ignore life's imperfections.

 

"When I woke up this morning I was already late. I usually wake up at 5am and by 15 minutes later I start watering the trees and the plants, removing weeds, pruning, collecting the vegetables and the fruits for the day's table. I work hard for about three hours; and by 5 o'clock in the evening I am back watering, removing weeds and planting new seeds or plants till it gets dark. Today, I gave myself off for few hours, to relax and allow my muscles to recover. I just went to collect some vegetables for my lunch and dinner, some fruits for breakfast. "What a blessing" I thought and my eyes went wet - something that often happens at times like this.

When I was a girl about four years old, adults used to ask me questions such as: "how would you like your house to be when you grow up?" and my response was: "I love a little house with two main rooms - one for my books and one for my music records, located in a big property full of vegetables and trees, including a cow, a goat, chickens,100 cats..."

 

When I became 31 years old, I arrived in Zambia and I decided to make this land my home. I got so impressed from its soil and fertility, the green, the half tropical environment. Probably to become a farmer who would enjoy a good book accompanied by beautiful music in the living room after a hard working day in the field.

 

When I became 51 years old, the above became true - exclude the farming thing. Two and a half months before my birthday I moved into my little home, enjoying the produce of this soil. I have to admit that I cannot as yet commit myself to a cow, a goat and 100 cats. However, as I am a cat lover the good Lord provides me with my neighbours' cats that come and eat my rats, snakes, lizards and whatever they like to hunt! Still, I believe that at some point I will manage to have a few chickens, when I know that I can take care of them.

 

My stories and adventures, starting from that sensitive young age, are some simple ones, others complicated, many miraculous. They say that we need to be constant in what we do, what we believe, what we dream. I agree!

 

Sometimes when I finish gardening I am too tired, my muscles hurt, my joints are in pain; but it is a sweet tiredness, a mindless pain. As I relax in bed, and before I close my eyes to a deep sleep, I look forward to tomorrow's break of the light; and so I go and take care of those plants, observe their new leaves, discover new fruits and shapes, fight against the ants and termites, try to save what is weak and dry. My love for them and my dedication to this land surpasses any pain or inconvenience.

 

Dimitra's Unexpected Lily 
Photo:  Dimitra Savvidou.

I am certain that each of you dear readers has a great love in life, a passion, a dream, a desire. Keep working constantly on it, it will come through sooner or later. 

 

It is what we put in that we take out, although sometimes it might be in a different shape than we had imagined."   

   

 

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pondering Probabilities
 

By Dr. Brad Holway  

 

    I think of alternate possibilities 

   Of worlds that might have been
  Of those infinite alternate realities
 Branching off at each micro-instant

If the Spaniards had conquered Britain
If Ghenghiz Khan had never lived

If Booth's shot had missed Lincoln
Or those smaller turns of fate

Like the random chance meeting
Of my parents at Roseland
One night during the Second World War
That created this unique timeline
In which I write my musings

Are we mere products of cosmic crap-shoots
Or is there a purpose to it all?
The branching realities multiply
With each step we take
With each fleeting thought

Myriad timelines spring into being
With each infinitesimal moment
We become co-creators
Of infinite universes.
    

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Join Our Mailing List

See You Next Month!

 

We hope you've enjoyed our stories.

If you'd like to send us comments, just click here:

comments 

 

 Stay happy,  Walk in the sunshine!  

Love your pets, and talk to your plants 

Revel in your family!  Treasure your friends!

  Help your neighbors!  Share your bounty!

Splash in puddles!!

And always, always give thanks !

 

 

 

The Living Happy Writers Group