Changing Seasons (Denise & Eleanor)

The weather's getting warmer and more people are going outside. So I thought I'd post some reading material for the people who like to read outside. Two different stories about two different changes in seasons:

Denise W

10.01.2020

Seasonal Tree

I have an artificial Christmas tree in my house that I decorate for every season.
But when A.C. Moore closed before the pandemic I got stuck, because after Christmas in July, we had the tree up. Now it's so close to Christmas we'll keep it up. For Valentine's Day, it's elaborate with the red hearts, and St. Patrick's Day we even have a leprechaun this big, and we have elves for Christmas, so we decorate for everything we can.
I used to put it all away in the attic because it's so big, and now we decided to make it a seasonal tree so it can be whatever we want.
But now it's almost close to, well actually we're going to see if, I’m going to look and see if I have enough stuff for the fall. If I do, I'll make it a fall tree obviously.
But other than that, we're close to Christmas almost, so we're going to keep it up.

Eleanor Kazdan

10.15.2020

Feeling Faint

At age 19 I was traipsing around Europe for 3 months with my best friend Kathy on a Eurail pass. After adventures in England, the Netherlands, Spain, and France, we arrived in Italy. Florence was our first stop. I had just started to learn about great art and was proud of myself for that. Kathy and I had visited quite a few art museums before Italy: The National Gallery in London, The Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The big thing about Florence was the statue of David by Michelangelo in the Galleria dell’Accademia.
So after a day or so wandering the streets lined with cafes and eating full course meals, which in those days, unbelievably, cost $1.00 including wine and tip, we set out to see the most famous statue in the world. After entering the museum it was a short walk to a rotunda like room where David lived.
I had seen pictures many times but was totally unprepared for the absolute grandiosity of the real thing. I felt like an ant looking up at this spectacular nude Adonis on a pedestal. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by lightheadedness and felt like I was going to faint. My heart was pounding it took a great will to gain control and continue on to see the rest of the museum.
Over the years I saw the statute a few more times but didn't have the same reaction. Many years after that first encounter I happened by chance to read an article about the very emotions and physical reactions I had experienced. There is apparently a psychosomatic illness called the Florence Syndrome It was documented by the 19th Century French Writer Stendahl and is also called Stendahl syndrome. The symptoms are rapid heart beat, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations in people who are exposed to extraordinary works of art. “Wow,” I thought, “That's what happened to me those many years ago.”
Since then I have seen countless great works of art all over the world, but that was my only experience of being overcome by Florence syndrome.

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds you know have stories about the changing seasons, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

 

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

 

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

WebTrans (Ann & Denise)

For my day job, I work as a transcriber for the Linguistic Data Consortium, which supports language-related education, research and technology development by creating and sharing linguistic resources, such as data, tools and standards. One of the tools they share is WebTrans, an online transcription service that's free, easy and safe for transcribers to use remotely; anywhere in the world. And now, Best Day is transcribing our older buds' stories on these brand new tools, and it's not a bad way to transcribe. Check the stories below and see how stories transcribed with the latest technology look:

Ann von Dehsen,

01.14.2021

6 P.M. News

When I was in high school my friends and I loved taking the bus to go clothes shopping in New York City. I funded this somewhat expensive habit by becoming the neighborhood babysitter. This wasn't hard to do since lots of young families with small children were moving into the neighborhood, And once I babysat for one family, the word just spread. I really liked kids, and the families treated me well, supplying me with snacks and paying me generously. But my favorite family was the Siegenthallers.
I love their children ages 4 and 2 and their Victorian house and furniture, and the way Mr. and Mrs. Siegenthaller, also known as Anita and Bob, often sat down with me upon their return just to chat about high school, boyfriends, possible future colleges.
Anita was pregnant with her third child, which meant an ongoing Friday afternoon babysitting job while she went into the city for A weekly doctor's appointment, and then met her husband at work to go out for dinner in the city.
Well, Bob's job happened to be the producer of the 6pm, New York City area local news.
And the anchor at that time happened to be the very young Peter Jennings, several years before he became the anchor of ABC's 6:30 nightly news. I had once mentioned to the Siegenthallers that I thought Peter Jennings's good looks resulted in more high school girls making a point to watch the news. Shortly after, Bob Siegenthaller invited me and two of my friends to come into the city to introduce us to Peter Jennings and watch the news cast in the shadows of the studio. Suffice to say, Peter Jennings was better looking in real life and could not have been nicer to three nervous, tongue-tied high school girls. He walked us around the studio and let us sit in his chair as he pointed out the different cameras and weather maps. I can't remember any news stories from that night because we just stood there mesmerized as we watched. There was also a sportscaster and a weatherman of which I have no memory. At the end of the broadcast, he walked over to us and gave us each a quick hug. Bob Siegenthaller drove us all home, and I think we repeatedly thanked him for the entire trip.
Of course, years later, when Peter Jennings did anchor the ABC Nightly News, it was the only news channel allowed in my house. 

 

Denise W

09.17.2020

The Obituary of My Mother

I would like to talk about, today if I could, and read the obituary of my mother because I was very actively involved in the planning of her service. My heart is still broken as I'm going through the process of grieving. But basically my mother had cancer of the lungs and she began to lose a lot of weight she wouldn't eat anymore, she continued to smoke. But I wanted to be very supportive of her. In fact, I wanted to leave my job retire early and just be there for her, take her to the doctors etc. But, she didn't want that. My mother maintained a certain amount of independence. And so I had to honor that , which was sometimes very hard.
So, as it became inevitable that she was not going to be here long I happened to go in Lord and Taylor’s one day and I saw this beautiful blue dress, in a size 4 and I bought it. My mother's favorite color is blue. She loves powder blue so I bought the dress, I went to her house and gave it to her, and she took it. She didn't say anything about it, but that was the dress, inevitably, that the undertaker put on her.
The singing to my mother's funeral was very important. She liked the old singers of old gospel, from like Mahalia Jackson and James Cleveland. So I actually found a woman that had a very beautiful voice that could sing those songs. And that was the beginning of it. And now I will read the obituary for her too.
Its called Celebrating a Legacy of Love for Marita Carter, and my cousin actually read it at the sermon.
Sunrise December 13, 1933
Sunset October 14, 2014.
Today we bow in humble submission to praise God for Marita Carter who was born on December 13, 1933 to the late Frank Carter and late Lucille Henderson Carter. Marita accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior at an early age. As a member as of the 48th Street Baptist Church with an she sang second soprano in the McDaniel's Specials, a choir there. She recently joined Sharon Baptist Church under the pastorship of Bishop Keith W. Reed, Sr. She was a loving and devoted mother and grandmother who evangelized and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and exemplified unconditional love for her family.
Marita's favorite scripture was found in the King James version of the Bible John Chapter 14, Verse 2. “In my father's house are many mansions If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
Marita knew that Heaven was a place for prepared people and her top priority was to share the path of eternal salvation with her children and grandchildren. She exemplified unconditional love for her family. She was proud of her children and grandchildren.
Marita was charitable as she lived by the scripture of 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now by the faith, hope charity these 3, but the greatest of these is charity.”
Marita cheerfully gave her time talent and treasure to those in need.
Contributing to the hungry children around the world was a joy for her. Marita matriculated through the Philadelphia public school system.
One of Marita's spiritual gifts was that she had an empathetic attitude for a hospice aide.
She possessed a caring, committed and compassionate and competent work ethic as she worked tirelessly to ensure the comfort level of the sick and dying.
Marita insisted on maintaining a meticulous, decluttered home, her organizational skills were unmatched and unprecedented as she was employed for years as a housekeeper and factory worker also.
Marita savored so much in life such as traveling to New York, the islands etc., watching the Phillies' games, attending Broadway plays dancing to the beat and listening to the gospel music of James Cleveland and Mahalia Jackson.
Marita excelled a cooking, preparing the highest quality meals. She used only the finest ingredients and practiced professional techniques to ensure delectable meals for her family. Marita dressed eloquently according to the current fashion trends, like she just walked off the pages of a magazine.
Marita embraced the philosophy of Saint Francis of Assisi; “Remember that when you leave this earth and can take nothing of which you have received but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service love, sacrifice and courage.” She nurtured and cared for several animals with kindness.
Marita had an affinity for animals. One of her fondest memories was of the beautiful turquoise Pacific Ocean in Oahu, Hawaii. She was in awe of the infinity and peace of God's oceans.
Marita lived a life on her own terms. She was determined to live her last days as the lyrics of the song stated, “I did it my way.”
Marita can be quoted as saying, "All is well with my soul.”
Marita ascended to be with the Lord on Tuesday, October 14th, 2014.
And then the rest just lists, Marita leaves to cherish precious memories a daughter, etc.
So, that's what I wrote for her, and once in awhile I enjoy reading it because I just thank God for the ability to write that and the abilities to also lead in the prayer, because part of the service, it’s a Baptist service, is a prayer of comfort. So I was able to do that very well.
So, that's why it means so much to me.
But I'm still grieving, I will grieve until I see her again.

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds you know have stories about mastering new technology, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

 

 

 

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

A Career in Common (Ann and Rochelle)

One of my favorite things about Best Day is when the older buds' stories and conversations build on each other. In this case, older buds Ann and Rochelle both taught special education when they were younger:

Ann von Dehsen

06.04.2020

Special Ed Privileges

You know I was a teacher for a while too, Special Ed teacher, and we used to have conferences with the parents over the services the kids were entitled to and the white families would come in with all their information and often they would hire an advocate to fight for the rights they thought their kid needed; they thought they needed more speech, they wanted a longer summer program, they wanted the district to pay for activities in the summer like horseback riding and things and they would usually get those privileges. And then our Black families, this was in Delaware County, were mainly from Chester, living in poverty and they would come to these meetings obviously very, very nervous and frightened of us and sit there very quietly saying, “Okay. Okay,” and never voicing that maybe they needed more than what they were getting. And a speech therapist and I often spoke up to our supervisor and saying, “This child needs more therapies.” And after a while with the dialogue, they began to get more therapies, but once our supervisor called us in after a meeting and said, “You have to stop suggesting these extra therapies. It’s very expensive. It’s not in our budget and these people should educate themselves on what’s out there.” So how do you educate yourself on what’s out there when you don’t know and you’re living in Chester, you know? So that was huge to me too. I’ve just been trying to think of those types of stories.

 

Rochelle R. Tynes

06.18.2020

Special

It was interesting but you know, it was working with special needs kids. They tell you, even though people don’t do it, after a certain amount of time you should switch to so-called normal kids and then go back, transition back and forth. And I’m telling you, there ain’t much difference between the special kids and the so-called normal kids. They all have something, if its good or bad, they got something.
We special. Gosh, just the fact that we are writing these stories and telling stuff that we remember. The fact that we remember it is special. I’m telling you. 

 

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds you know have careers in common, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

 

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

 

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Day Tripping (Eleanor and Denise W)

Yesterday, my mother and I went to York to get our second vaccine. The vaccination process has been very confusing, between the wait lists, the flawed Rite Aid system, and rush of people who trying to get vaccinated so that things can go "back to normal." Every site in my hometown was reserved, and Rite Aid didn't really have a "hang around at the end of the day and see if you get lucky" policy. We had to go two hours out of the way to get our vaccines, we couldn't really walk around or linger in cafes like we used to, we had to be careful with which bathrooms we used, and we could only eat take-out. But it got us out of the house and into someplace we don't usually go. It felt like a vacation. In honor of my own day trip, here's some stories about older buds on vacations of their own:

Eleanor Kazdan

06.18.2020

A Trip to Toronto

I probably won’t be at Best Day next week. I’ll be on a driving trip to Toronto to see my daughter. We’re driving on next Thursday to go. I don’t think I’ll be able to log in- I’ll be somewhere upstate New York. So, I’ll miss you all next week but I hope to be- I’ll be in Toronto for three weeks. We have to quarantine for fourteen days. We can’t go anywhere so, anyway I’ll try and join the group from my daughter’s place. Oh well, if I can get across the border without a problem I’ll be delighted. We are supposed to as a Canadian citizen.

Denise W

02.25.2021

The Best Surprise Ever

My story is called “The Best Surprise Ever”. My daughter and I were seeking tickets to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. This museum was a part of the Smithsonian institutions. It was established in 2003 and opened its doors September 2016 with a ceremony led by the President Barack Obama. This museum was free but obtaining access to this historical monument was challenging and frustrating. So I called the museum hoping to be on a long waiting list but that was to no avail. I wrote a letter requesting tickets far in advance; it didn't happen. I researched group trips to go into the museum only to find that several were full and there were no guarantees for waiting lists. Entry into the museum required a time entry pass. Time entry tickets were available for three months in advance, same day passes were available online starting at 6:30 am. We were in Washington visiting by brother Don, and we were unsuccessful in securing tickets online, so I asked my brother to please pull some strings and allow my daughter and I to go to this museum. And his attitude was a little nonchalant, he basically told me that he was able to go the first night, but I had a feeling he wasn't on a quest to finding our tickets. So of course I didn't give up, on a subsequent visit to visit Donny in Washington we decided to go to the museum and ask “How can we get a ticket to get in? We have tried for two years with no luck.” The Usher outside of the museum giggled and said “Oh do you want to go in today?” We anxiously said “yes.” He told us that all we needed to do was go to the back of the building, wait for maybe about 30 minutes and we would have access to the museum because they have a policy that the first 400 people standing in line will be able to just walk in. We couldn't believe it.
So we waited for 20 minutes, to our surprise we were in and did the same thing the next day. I think it takes about two or three days to really visit the museum. And special points of interest were, Harriet Tubman's shawl, Oprah Winfrey's studio couch, South Carolina a slave cabinet, Chuck Berry’s Cadillac from 1973, and the Emancipation Proclamation was there. There were 37,000 rare artifacts on three floors. We saw Muhammad Ali’s head gear, a Jim Crow railroad, Emit Till’s casket, Nat Turner’s bible, and the Green Barrel lunch counter that was a part of the protests, Michel Jackson’s fedora were just a few of the fascinating things that we saw. And of course there was another floor with the achievements of African Americans in every field, sports, history, scientists, etc, etc. It was just amazing, amazing and I am so happy, and one thing I did see was a hat shop that was in here in Philadelphia in the Philadelphia area and it had hat shop and that lady was featured in an exhibit, it's because hats were very important and still are important to many people, particularly the Black churches so. I was just so glad that we walked up and got in immediately after so many tries and that's the end of my story.

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds you know have heirlooms and stories of your own, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

 

Curated by Caitlin Cieri