Sour Cherries and Hope

Returning from a two plus week vacation on the '2006 Ohio Grandma Tour', my husband and I were shocked and delighted to see that we still had a tree full of extremely ripe sour cherries. It was more than we hoped for! We set to work picking and pitting yesterday morning and evening, giving some away to our neighbors and loaning her our new pitting tool purchased from my friend who sells Pampered Chef products. This new little tool has cut our pitting time down considerably. Even with the new equipment we are still no match for 'the two armed, bare-handed pitter', Sylvia Culler, my husband's mother. Sylvia can pit a gallon of cherries in about 15 minutes! As the full moon was rising over the treeline around 9pm last night we put our pitting equipment down and enjoyed a slice of cherry pie with our neighbors. One of the many special joys of a summer Sunday evening is fresh fruit pie. It was a treat for my husband whose favorite dessert is a warm slice of cherry pie.

At church yesterday morning we were urged to stay present in our lives by Jeanine, a minister member of our congregation who was filling in for Liberal Pastor. (Liberal Pastor is now with his family on their '2006 Grandparent Tour' of Pennsylvania enjoying time with family and friends.) Jeanine is going through many difficult transitions in her life now. Her children are also challenged/challenging as they deal with these transitions. She took a pause from all this pain to encourage those of us gathered with her at church yesterday, to 'be present' for the special moments in our lives regardless of whether they are good or bad. Be open to the moment and do not try to force them--be ready when they arrive and savor them. Do not force them to happen but learn from them if you can. Be open to experience fully the joys and sorrows that come to us on our life journey. Let these moments be sources of hope.

Last week Jeanine's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and will be undergoing a double mastectomy this week. Please keep both Jeanine and her mom in your prayers along with the family of Jenna. Jenna was at church yesterday sporting her new scarf headgear. Well into her chemo treatment now, Jenna is struggling with the side effects. She has 5 bad days and 2 good days a week.

In the next days I will share ways we can each provide hope and support to family and friends who live with cancer by supporting the efforts of The American Cancer Society and its 2015 initiative. This past weekend I attended training for my role as an Ambassador for the Celebration on Capitol Hill 2006 and the grassroots lobbying effort on behalf of the American Cancer Society (ACS CAN). We have pledged to do all we can to help end cancer in our lifetime by funding research, better detection, better treatments, prevention, and education--not to mention finding the cause and cure!