Joan (Past Memories)

In all the years that I have known Joan, she has always been a positive person – it’s just who she is at her very core – but lately she is just glowing with an I-want-what-she-has radiance. She walks in and the room shines. She is making friends left and right not just in our group but everywhere she goes, and is constantly inviting friends to join us. She even took up line dancing earlier this year, so yeah now we have a good showing of line dancers in our writing group (pretty awesome, right?) She was a foster child, which I would imagine is not an easy start to life, and in earlier blog posts, she shared that she struggled with stuttering – but she rose above all of that and chooses to be radiant. Don’t you want what she has too? The ability to rise above anything life throws at you and be radiant?

Well lucky us, she’s bottled up a little of that for us – through her stories ;) Here are a few bottles that I thought would be fun to share!

Joan Bunting
1.30.2014
Past Memories

Today I met a lady named Mabel. I didn’t ask her last name, and after I had left from the lunch room I had to hurry back before she left to ask her last name. While we were eating, someone started playing music from the fifties. Well that’s all I needed. While eating, I began to sing along even though I was taught as a child never to sing at the table. I love music and can’t seem to help myself. The music that was being played was from my teenage years.  

Mabel and I started discussing how the songs from back then were songs of love and the current songs are so different. And how what some people consider love in reality is “How can I say it?” Oh I know, lust. We also discussed the dances around that time for instance. She mentioned “Walking the Floor,” a dance I never learned how to do and talked about “The Slop” (one of my favorites).

I lived on a small street called Opal. I can’t remember whose radio would be playing but we teenagers from around that area would be dancing and having a good time.

When a boy would ask me to do the slop with him I would, but then he would start doing “The Split,” and maybe stand on the stoop and jump over my head, I would calmly let him know that I wasn’t dancing to show him up or anything, but dancing because that’s what I enjoyed doing. The truth of the matter was that I didn’t, or couldn’t, do all that fancy dancing anyway.

I hope that I will meet up with Mabel again. I invited her to our storytelling and writing group, also to our poetry group. Hopefully she’ll come to one or both groups.

Joan Bunting
1.9.2014
Taking a Stand

In the year 1954, I was fourteen years.  In December of that same year, I turned fifteen years old.

My foster sister, Ethel Lee, was about five or six years old.  Her mother, Nancy, came to visit her daughter every week.  My siblings and I only got to see our mother daily when we would sneak and go see her.

One day we had a snow day; we didn’t have school.  So when I asked could I go play in the snow with my friends, I was told I couldn’t because Ethel’s mother didn’t want Ethel to catch a cold.

Well I thought that was so unfair, so I took it upon myself to go out anyway—I had a ball.  I stayed for a long time.

After I had my fun I went inside, my fingers were so cold and achy.  My foster mother told me to stick my fingers in a bottle of alcohol. 

I couldn’t, they were swollen. Sure I had a ball, but I also had to pay the consequences.

I still believe that I was right for standing up for fairness.

Joan Bunting
2.20.2014
My Sister Doris

My sister Doris is older than me but she taught me much. By the time I started first grade, I actually knew how to write my name, I knew my alphabet, and I could read a little. I still can recite lots of nursery rhymes she read to me. I was skipped from 2B to 3A. That’s how well I could read, and I was not at all bad at arithmetic.

Most of the time she was the one that had to comb my hair. She always did a good job, but she would plait my hair so tight that I would get sores on my scalp.

Doris and I were always together in the three foster homes. We’re still very close. There’s never a birthday or Christmas that passes without our sending one another a card.

We have another sister, Bernice, and two brothers, Eugene and Paul, but I believe Doris and I are the closest.

One day after we had been united with Bernice, Eugene and Paul, and Doris left for school (junior high), my sister Bernice said to my brother Eugene, “Let’s get Joan.” They didn’t like the idea of always being protective of me. They teased me because they saw me as being “proper” – not only in my manners, but also (and especially) in my speech. The only thing they did to me was to say mean things, because they knew if they hit me, Doris would get them.

There were eight of us but only the five youngest are still here. I am the youngest girl and next to the baby. To Doris I’ll always be her baby sister.

Joan Bunting
6.20.2013
My Motto

The one motto I’ve always tried to live by is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  Have you ever been called out of your name?  Or teased because of your size?  Or looked down on because you were a foster child? Or bullied in any way?  Well, I have and it hurt.  But, because of that I treat everyone the way we as human beings should be treated.  In doing so, you won’t embarrass or hurt anyone’s feelings.

We all know how it feels to be embarrassed and how it feels to have your feelings hurt.

I’ve taught my children the same way.  I’m not sure whether they all live by that motto, but I sure hope and pray they do. 

Life is so much happier when we treat one another with love and kindness.

God bless you everyone!

Joan (What is Your Hidden Talent?)

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I find myself rereading all of Joan’s recent stories to get myself into the mood! Even on ordinary days and bad days, she finds something to celebrate. Every day, she finds a reason to be thankful. Even in sad memories, she finds closure and an eventual joy. I see her thinking about it, looking for it, and always finding it. Joan asks us in her story, “What is Your Hidden Talent?” I feel like hers is not just drawing pictures. Her talent is finding and spreading joy.

Joan Bunting
10.16.2014
What Is Your Hidden Talent?

As a little girl – age four or five – my sister Doris taught me how to color without going outside the lines, how to write my name and how to read. When I was in the second grade I was reading at third grade level. Doris also would draw pictures for me. She showed me how to draw stick figures. Doris had and still has artistic talents.

When I started working at the age of forty-three, I worked at a day car center as a teacher aide. One of my jobs was to draw pictures for the class. My lead teacher must have seen something that I didn’t know I had so she started asking me to draw bigger things.

The first large picture she asked me to draw was a Santa Clause part-way in a chimney. I told her I would do my best. I didn’t know whether I could do it or not. When I finished I was amazed. After that, I drew a large tiger that was hung on the wall.

When drawing on tee-shirts became popular, my co-workers asked me to draw on tee-shirts for them. All I could say was, “I’ll do my best.”

I was even doubly-amazed when I actually drew a hand holding five cards, a bingo card and other fascinating pictures. I even made a piñata for the children and filled it with candy.

One day I will bring some of the work I’ve done. I took pictures; I would have never guessed that I had such a beautiful hidden talent. What is your hidden talent?

Joan Bunting
9.25.2014
Rain Rain Don’t Go Away?

Why do people let rainy days and Mondays get them down? Do you remember that song?

Today is a rainy day but I feel great. Rainy days have never stopped me from wanting to enjoy my day. When I was younger rainy days were for enjoying being with my husband and having fun with my children indoors. I love watching the rain drops fall, especially when it was coming down in sheets just like it did a few time this summer.

Mondays seem to give some people the blues. I believe that happens to people that have to start a new working week. But for me Mondays are the new beginning of new experiences, meeting new people and having new fun.

Whatever day it may be remember this: “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” There are those who don’t wake up the next day.

Joan Bunting
10.30.2014
Was It Puppy Love? I Don’t Think So

I met Gerald Blake in 1949. My sister Doris and I had been living at a new location. From Mrs. Chamberlin Smith to Ms. Eunice Jackson. We were also reunited with three of our siblings: Bernice, Eugene and Paul.

We had been living there about a year when I met Gerald. We were both only nine years old but knew right away that we liked each other.

Gerald was gifted with a beautiful singing voice. He had the prettiest white teeth and was very shy (we both were). We never even kissed.

When Gerald was seventeen years old he joined the army. We would write letters to each other and sometimes write poems.

In one of his letters he asked me to marry him. I had not graduated from high school yet and told him that I was not ready to marry. His mother found out and stopped speaking to me.

When Gerald came home he married someone else. When his cousin Brenda married my brother Eugene, Gerald attended the wedding with his wife. Of course I felt jealous but I got over it.

Joan (Tar Chewing)

 

The mood in the group was brighter than the sun today. It was a Best Day kinda day. 23-year-old Caitlin, one of our dedicated facilitators, brought in chocolate covered licorice from her trip to Iceland. Gogo misheard and continued to joke that Caitlin must have put liquor in there, because we were so rowdy and having so much fun. 18-year-old Madi (who comes visit our group every summer and spring break since she joined in 2010) was there, and we joked that it felt like we were in a college dorm room.

Joan said we have spring fever. I thought it qualifies as summer fever because it’s hot outside. Joan said it’s not technically summer yet. Greta resolved the debate by saying we have the Best Day of My Life So Far fever year round. Greta is so right. Coming back from the group, and thinking about what to post here on the blog for you, I thought it would be fun to enjoy these “feverish” recent stories from Joan.

Joan Bunting
4.24.2014
Tar Chewing

You know when I came to join the group today, I told Frances that I had no idea what to write about, and that's been happening quite often.

There was a strange scent in the room. When it was mentioned that Caitlin went to investigate where it was coming from, I in turn said that it was tar from the outside.

There were men paving a part of the street.

So I began telling how, as children in the neighborhood, when the work men came around to put tar on the roofs, we would take some fresh tar that had fallen on the ground and chew it.

I don't know where the story that chewing tar would whiten our teeth came from, but we believed it, that's why we chewed it.

Caitlin wanted to know how it tasted. The only answer I could give is that it wasn't the best taste nor was it the worst, it just tasted like tar.

The End!

Joan Bunting
2.27.2014
The Best Day of Life So Far

The best day of my life so far is today. Why? Because I’m still here, still having the use of my limbs, my eyesight, my hearing, still in my right mind.

My children, (all six) are still alive, including my grandchildren and greatgrands.

Well all might not be in perfect health but we’re still here.

Isn’t it wonderful how God takes care of us and keeps us, provides for us, and protects us and loves us?

Snow in some ways may inconvenience us and we complain but just remember troubles and inconveniences don’t last always.

Be grateful that we are here to meet together as a group, writing and expressing our thoughts and feelings.

International Women's Month (Joan)

Back in January, I mentioned that Joan told a story about surviving her husband’s abuse. She didn’t finish writing it for another week, and it took a little time to get it fully typed. But with International Women’s Month in full swing, and International Women’s Day just a few hours away, it feels right to post Joan’s story now, and to show how strong a woman can be. Just a forewarning, this story is about domestic abuse and violence.

Joan Bunting 

01.10.2019 

A Living Miracle

Do you believe in miracles? I do. You are in the presence of a real live miracle.
Most people go through hard, hard, terrifying times in their lives, but once that part of their life is over, they never give a thought that it was God that delivered them.The hardest time in my life started at age twenty-two years old when I met my future husband, Billy.
I didn't know enough to leave him once the abuse started. I didn't know what there were signs to have the sense enough to run.
The abuse started with, out of nowhere. I would get sucker-punched. Then the cuttings began. One night, he threw lighting fluid on me, then threw a lit match at me. Just image what could have happened if he hadn't missed. Through the years, I was pushed down the cellar steps, just so he could sue our landlord. One night I was knocked to the floor, he straddled me, then hit me in the head with a handle bar from a bicycle very hard to the point that all the nerves in my body singled. I was scared because I had heard that if you were hit hard enough and got the same reaction that I got (the tingling) that meant you were about to blackout, which I didn't eat to happen for fear he would surely kill me. So I pleaded with him that I felt strange as he raised his arm to hit me a second time.
A lot of other cruel things happened such as calling me out of my name an attempt to belittle me by telling me that if any other man would only want me for sex and last, but not least, if any other man saw my body, the knife scars would let them know that I belonged to him.
The main point in my story is how God delivered me. I have spent many nights and sometimes during the day realizing how I could or would have died. And it also showed me how God protected me.
You know when I was lying on the floor the night Billy straddled me and brought the bicycle handle bar down on my heard, I noticed his hand raised again to hit me a second time, when I looked back on that, I've come to the conclusion that God had sent an angel to hold back his arm after I had pleaded to him (Billy) that I was afraid and that I felt funny.
After all of the violence, I'm not crippled, scared to the point where there's evidence of what I’ve been through.

When you talk to an older bud, and when you really listen to them, you’re offering them an incredible gift. You’re giving them company, understanding, time, and importance. You’re giving them someone new to open up to, to trust, to really talk to. It’s one thing to listen to the fun stories about their youth, but quite another to be there for the tougher moments. Joan didn’t have to tell this story, but she did because she knew we would listen.
This is why we started our ten city tour and “Joy Starts Here” initiative. Our goal is to end senior isolation, and the best way to do that is by listening.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Many Happy Returns (Joan and Michael)

Like I've said many times before, we often have older buds disappearing from the group for one reason or another. Some leave due to scheduling conflicts, like Mike when he started taking the papier-mâché class. Some leave due to medical problems, like Joan. Even Kara, a volunteer who wrote one of our stories, had to take a break from Best Day due to meetings and appointments she couldn't reschedule.

But last week, they all came back! Joan's recovered and is planning on writing for us more regularly. Mike's class was cancelled this week, so our workshop was the first place we thought to go. And Kara came in to yet another class brimming with older buds. Every time she comes in, the class fills up. She's like a good luck charm!

So without further ado, here's some new stories from our old buds.

Joan Bunting 

6.1.1993 

What Do Others Say of Me? 

What do others say of me? 

How do I ack, what do they see? 

Do they see my shining light aglow? 

Or do they see fashion (or) show? 

Do they hear me spend in tones of love? 

Can they tell I know Jesus from above? 

How do I walk, what strides do I take? 

Are my legs strong, unholting walking the road that’s called straight? 

How do they see me? Soft spoken and humble? 

Or do I project to others as a mumbler? 

What do others say of me? 

"She’s just as hypocritical as can be."

Or do they say, "She’s a faithful soul, to Jesus her Savior, who has made her whole."

How do they feel when I enter a room? 

Am I greeted with smiles or faces of gloom? 

With noses turned up or with snobbish tones, 

What is being whispered about Sister Joan?

Michael Tsuei
5.25.2017
After All

My best friend, her parents, recently passed away, both descended at twenty minutes from each other. They are both in the late eighties, both healthy and happy couple, always together, never far at parts to each other, dearly in love, every time. We had a family get together for the holidays with good friends. 

They were always holding hands, taking care of each other dearly. When the wife was feeling ill, stayed in the hospital, the husband stayed with her day and night. Then suddenly the wife’s condition get worsen, pass away while in their sleep. The husband’s heart broken, everyone felt his pain. At that night, he came home from the hospital, before that, he said goodbye to his children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, the next morning at his bed, the daughter found out he also passed away, never woke up.

I still remember these two so in love, around themselves or in the public. So the even grandchildren, sometimes get embraced said (OMG, old peopled do that, gross us out).

But the daughters grow up with their parents once made it common, have a different explanation (don’t forget everyone one's young once and crazy in love with someone or two…) 

In our Eastern tradition, most of us never very open to expressing the personal feelings in public or around friends. We’ve been told “You needs acting according to your age.  

So lots relatives talk about their behavior, may made bad example and erupt the young people.  

Now they are all gone, children start to miss their company so much, so deeply.

Just not too long ago the famous movie star Debbie Reynolds and her younger daughter (Princess Leia) both passed away in two days, then are no questions in my mind, when someone so in love with each other, may be that just want to go with it and never wanting to waken up!

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Remote Meetings (Liz and Joan)

The coronavirus pandemic is a difficult time for seniors and older buds, but not just because they're more at risk. With more and more places on lockdown or in quarantine or under stay-at-home orders, our daily routines are replaced with phone calls, remote work and video conferencing. Several older buds are familiar with using the internet, social media, and conferencing, but many of them aren't. Some of them don't know how to use these and others prefer in-person interaction. Nonetheless, it's the older buds who can't move everything online who are left behind.

Yesterday, I called older bud Joan on the phone. Both her daughters have been providing her with groceries and regularly calling her, and she's been able to exercise on her apartment's fire escape. Both her daughters also bought her four jigsaw puzzles for her to finish during the lockdown, and she has crosswords and word search puzzles to keep her mind sharp. The one thing she hasn't been able to do was go to church.

Joan's a devout Christian, and the Church was the only one who helped her when her husband abused her. Mass and Bible-study are an essential part of her life. Luckily, her church is holding its masses and Bible study sessions through Zoom. Joan doesn't use Zoom, but her church gave her a phone number so she could call into the meeting. She told me that she'd much prefer to go to church in person than call in, but she's willing to give it a try.

I've heard this from older buds inside and outside Best Day. The public sphere is important to them, and chatrooms or video streams just aren't the same, so what do they do? Do they plunge into teleconferencing, often for the very first time? Do they throw caution to the wind and meet in person? Or do they wait it out for who knows how long. As a blogger, I encourage all older buds to move online, but I also know that takes a lot of time and hard work.

In the meantime, we're still moving forward and transcribing the older buds' stories. We hope you enjoy this piece from older buds Liz and Joan:

Liz Abrams

03.12.2020

What Do You Know About Where You Live

Relocating to South Philly central, I felt out of place. The apartment building I live was occupied by older Americans who lived, educated, married, raised their children & grandchildren, They were Longtime neighbors with their own memories, schools, families, speech patterns, familiar with all things that matter, entertainment, all the events that usually keep people in their comfort zone. It would be the same for me but unfortunately in my home neighborhood of North Philly has been devastated by Temple University Corporation. My home where I was born, was razed and demolished, once a 3 story apt building is now a vacant lot for abandoned cars. No homes are for sale, since they were purchased in the 80’s in the city & developers agreement sold to Temple University, for Temple student housing & apts, rentals stadiums and the like.

My new home in South Philly, getting used to my new neighbors, changed overnight, all I see today, miraculously is the same people I left in the suburbs white people, career, & students, condos dogs & bikes, - no children, no folks sitting on steps conversing. Just new people for this new city called Phila/ The Land of the Gentry

Which I guess includes me

Joan Bunting

02.20.2020

Heaven

                  Heaven is where I want to be, when I leave

this troubled world.

                  Where peace, joy, and happiness lies

with gates made of pearls. 

                  There are thousands and thousands of angels there

singing praises to the Lord.

                  And I’ll eagerly join The choir where we’ll all

be on one accord.

                  There’ll be no more crying, dying heartbreak or

pain.

                  There will only be peace in heaven where my

Jesus reign.

                  Just to see His face, kneel at his feet to give

praise and thanks for All He’s done for me,

                  For saving my soul, for making me whole, for

dying on Calvary.

As always, keep in touch with the important people in your life, especially the older buds. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. 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.
You can share your older buds' stories through our portal right here, and you can volunteer as a transcriber (completely remotely) by emailing us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. If you're an older bud yourself, you can share your story through this portal right here. And if you're just plain passionate about supporting older buds and ending senior isolation, then like us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and share links to your favorite stories. And check us out on 6ABC news, too! Thanks for reading.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Joan (Stuttering)

Not all of us have speech impediments but all of us have struggles of some sort, things we can't quite do, at least not yet. No matter what our particular struggle is, I feel like Joan's story applies to all of us. No matter how impossible it may seem when we are going through it, if we keep trying, we can really overcome anything we put our mind to. I really believe that.

This story is amazing as is, in its tidy typed up form here on this blog. But you know what is even more amazing? If you can all travel with me back to moment when the story was first told. Imagine sitting at the table at our storytelling class, and hearing Joan read it out loud. Watch her eyes travel down to her freshly handwritten page and up to meet the eyes of her peers, and our volunteers and visitors around the table. Imagine her voice, strong and stutter-free, filling the entire room. And now imagine that very voice echoing between the lines of the typed text below.

Joan Bunting
1.17.2013
Stuttering

When I was a child, I stuttered very bad.  I heard later when I was older that it could have been caused by my sisters and my older brother scaring me a lot.  I don’t know how true that is, but could there be some truth in it?

When I was older and attending elementary school, the teacher would call individuals to read.  What I would do is when someone else was reading, I would hold my breath so that if I was next, I would be able to start reading without stuttering.

There was a girl in my class named Barbara.  I used to feel so sorry for her because she stuttered much worse than me.  In Junior High School there was a boy in my class that stuttered terribly and the children would laugh at him.  I’d feel sorry for him too.  By the time I became a teenager, most of the stuttering had stopped.  The only time I stuttered was when I got very excited or angry.

The people that never experienced stuttering don’t realize what a struggle it is.

Well, I don’t stutter anymore, but I’ll tell you a person that used to stutter, you can hardly shut them up, I know.  People think I’m quiet, but don’t start me talking.

Joan (The Most Beautiful Sights I've Ever Seen)

Last week, after “the announcement”, after the screaming and crying for joy, after Hattie said (direct quote) “Help me up on to the table... I need to dance!!” after we took our sweet time to go crazy, we calmed down and our senior buds resumed their usual routine of writing quietly and reading their stories out loud, one by one.  This probably doesn’t come as a surprise – there were quite a few pregnancy and childbirth memories shared around the table ;)

After reading, after the “calming down”, we needless to say went a little crazy again, telling even more baby stories off the top of our heads. After reading the truly beautiful story below, Joan started telling a whole other story altogether. Back in the day there was no way to google pregnancy symptoms, so Joan had no idea what she was experiencing… thought she had a hangover until her mom told her!

As I write this, I see our seniors helping each other up on to the table, dancing between super silly and super sentimental. Can’t you see it too? Don’t you love it too?

Joan Bunting
02.28.2013
The most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen

I have six children, two boys and four girls.  Henry 55 years old, Harold 53, Rose 49, Joanne 48 Joyce 46 and Teresa 45.

The most beautiful sight is when each of my little bundles of joy were first placed in my arms.  The next beautiful sight was when they smiled at me for the very first time.  The next time is when they called me Mommy, their first steps, and their very first attempt to put a sentence together.

Now they’re all grown up and have their own families.

I love my children very much and am very proud of each and every one of them.

They look after me now.  I’m not saying I see them every day, but they do call to check up on me to see if everything is all right. My daughters make sure I’m not in need of anything.

I still reminisce about how it felt the first time they were placed in my arms.

At another time, I’ll tell you about my grandchildren and my ever growing great grands.

God has blessed me in abundance.

Joan (A Song of Love)

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with people you love! And now, a story to remind us how truly beautiful family can be. And a call to listen to "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" by Joan :) Ready? HERE's a link I found for your listening pleasure! (Yes, it's playing on my laptop as I write you this blog post now, and yes my one-and-a-half-year-old son is nodding his head to it, deep in thought!)

Joan Bunting
10.27.2016
A Song of Love

This past Friday (10-21-16) I had the most beautiful experience ever. My youngest daughter, Teresa, came to visit me.

We talked, laughed, and ate French fries and hamburgers. She paid for the meal and she even through in a slice of cheesecake for me.

Out of the clear blue sky, she said, “Mom, I dedicate this song to you and I mean every word of it.”

She had sung a song on her phone which was always one of my favorites, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.”

I’ve always liked that song very much, but that was the very first time I truly listened to every word.

You see, when my children were growing up (I have six, two boys and four girls) they witnessed me being abused by their father whenever he got drunk.

When I listened to the words of that song and really understood what she was saying to me through this song, it touched my heart.

I never learned all of the words to this song but as I listened to all of the words, each word I felt the love of my daughter that she feels for me.

Teresa is the youngest of my six children and she was also the one which felt it in her heart two years ago this December the 6th to honor me.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying my other children don’t have the same love for me, because I know what they love me, but being individuals, they show their love in may other ways.

Since last Friday when I go to bed at night and when I woke up in the morning and all through the day, I find myself singing the few words that I know.

Have you ever had a song that just wouldn’t leave? I did many times and hated it, but this particular song, I don’t want it to leave me.  It brings tears to my eyes to know how much someone loves me.

If ever you have the chance to listen to “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” do it.

Joan (Foolish Superstitions)

Halloween is just around the corner, and yes, we have a fun little black cat (among other fun things) story to get you in the mood! Oh, and don’t forget to answer Joan’s question! Tell us what superstitions you remember or believe in at: http://bestdayofmylifesofar.org/tell/ Can’t wait to hear from you!

Joan Bunting
6.18.2015
Foolish Superstitions

Yesterday the Skip-Bo players were playing Skip-Bo (a card game) and while we were talking, the subject of superstitions that people believed in came up.
Do you remember some of these, and do you still believe in them?
 

1. If you spill salt you throw some over your left shoulder.
2. If you step on a crack in the pavement, you’ll break your mother’s back.
3. A female is not allowed to whistle in the house.
4. If someone is sweeping and the broom accidentally touches you, you will end up in jail. (When I would accidentally touch my husband with the broom, he would spit on it. That was what you were supposed to do. So one day the broom touched him and he spit on my broom. Of course I was furious. When I fussed with him he said he didn’t want to go to jail, so I told him that if he were to go to jail he would have been locked up long ago because that was about the fourth or fifth time I had touched him with the broom. I had no more trouble with him spitting on my broom.)
5. Do not let a black cat go past you from your left side or you will have bad luck. (Well, one day when I was a pre-teen this black cat tried to pass by me and I chased that cat for about a whole five or six minutes. I can’t remember exactly what happened but I think that cat got tired of me chasing and ran another way.)
6. If two people are waiting together do not walk between them, especially if they are married or dating because it will break up their relationship.

After I chased that cat is when I realized how foolish superstitions are. If you need to believe in something, believe what the Bible tells you. In other words, believe in God and you can’t go wrong.

Power (Joan)

If you don’t live in the Delaware County, Greater Philadelphia, or anywhere near those places, then you might not know about the storm that hit us on Friday. The weather was blustery, the snowfall was fierce, and several trees were uprooted. I only just got my power back yesterday, but many of us are still without power. If you have power and but your friends and family don’t, please check up on them and make sure they have someplace warm to stay; maybe even offer your place. It’s been a rough weekend.

But if you have internet and a warm place to stay, here’s a little something to warm your soul. Last week, Joan was singing in a Black History Month Concert, with a selection of Gospel Music. They were so good that they got a standing ovation in the middle of their song! And another one at the end of course, with loads of affirmations and applause throughout the rest of the concert too. The pianist was Christopher Gambrell, (you can find him on iTunes here) and he was talking about how proud he was that Black Panther was doing so well because he grew up with Chadwick Boseman. Wakanda forever!

He also said that the financial success of Black Panther was due to the brothers and sisters all over America, and that it “showed the world that we have money.” I was surprised by that statement until he talked about how Black people are stereotyped as being poor. Unfortunately, it’s all to easy to associate Black people with the ghetto, when their lives and lifestyles are just as varied as anyone else’s. This is another prejudice we need to look out for.

But on a more positive note, you know how when Gospel choirs sing, the listeners get the spirit in them? There was one woman in the front row who had enough spirit for the whole auditorium. Every time a new song started, she'd say "Go on! Start singing that song!" At the end of one of the songs, she said, "Yeah! That choir's all right," and the host turned to her and asked "How you like that?" She liked it a lot, and I'll bet the choir liked her a lot too.

Joan Bunting 

3.30.2017 

How Do You Treat Others? 

Why do people teat others so mean and disrespectful? There are a number of reasons why that could be.

1. 1. People were raised up in a disrupted household.  
   2. Some people feel that they have to prove to others or everyone that they’re tough.  
   3. Some may have been treated badly by those they thought were their friends.  
   4. Others may have never heard of or were taught the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

I truly believe that if lots of people were aware of the rule, there wouldn’t be so much meanness, disrespectfulness, or inconsideration of others.

The there are those that just don’t care how they treat or speak to others. 

Is it really hard to speak kindly, smile, or say hello to another human being?

The most important reason to me as to why people act hostile to others is that they do not have the love of God in them. God is love. He loves everyone regardless of who we are, even how we are, or whatever we’ve done throughout our lives.

Why can’t we just all get along?

 

Curated by Caitlin Cieri