DAY WITHOUT HATE

Today a Day Without Hate is being observed by all local schools. The idea originated last year at Standley Lake High School, when a group of students there, after hearing about the tragedy at Virginia Tech, decided they had to do SOMETHING to help bring awareness to school violence. They hoped that the awareness would bring about new ideas on how to stop it.

This year, two members of Columbine High School Senate organized the event for their school, and called in the support of all the elementary and middle schools in the area. White t-shirts with a message have been sold with the proceeds going to the Never Forgotten fund, scholarships that have been set up in the memory of the thirteen victims of Columbine. The front of the shirts shows a hand print with A Day Without Hate on the palm, and on the back it reads: Hope "learn from yesterday, unite for today, live for tomorrow." Anyone without a purchased t-shirt is asked to wear a white shirt.

White shirts are to symbolize not only peace, but solidarity. All of the schools have events set up to add impact to what they are doing- but other than the posters I have seen, I will have to wait until the girls get home to report on what they did today.

Many local businesses and community members will also be wearing the shirts- this whole community is dedicated to safe schools and neighborhoods. It makes me proud to be a part of such a great community.

I am blogging this for one reason- this Day Without Hate should be EVERYWHERE, EVERY DAY. Unfortunately, that is still impossible but we have to start somewhere; maybe today, you could join us in sharing a bit more of yourself today through smiling at others, performing little random acts of kindness, remembering that we are all here with the same mission- to have a good and peaceful life. If you haven't left the house yet, why not put on a white shirt and tell others why. THANK YOU!!!

If you want to see a few more photos, I have them posted on my facebook page. If you want to read a couple of articles on this, here are a couple of links:

http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Stories/News/General-News/Story~609500.aspx
http://peacejam.org/blog/?p=335

My hardworking girls

This morning I had the pleasure of attending the awards ceremony at the high school. All awards were handed out with the exception of Instrumental Music, which will be done at the banquet on the 18th.

Heidi was recognized for her excellence in both Math and French. Many of her friends were recognized as well- those band kids are really high achievers! You can see how pleased she is to shake Mr. D's hand in congratulations. I am so proud of Heidi, she has worked very hard this year and has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout the year.

Before the ceremony started, Mr. D'Angelis, the principal, had a few words for us all. He thanked the teachers and parents for their support of the students and then thanked the kids for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence.

One thing he said struck home with me, and as I LOVE good quotes (ask anyone who knows me! lol), I wrote this one down.

He said we all basically have three choices in life: Give Up, Give In, or Give it Your ALL. Don't you just LOVE that??? I believe it with all of my heart. He pointed out that the students being recognized are those who definitely give it their all. No kidding!

While I am bragging about my kids, I have to mention Holly too. She just finished her second year at Carleton in the Psychology program and got four "A" and one "B". She too has worked her behind off this past year, both going to school full-time and holding down a part-time job during the school year. WAY TO GO, HOLLY!!!

I am so very proud to be the mom of these hardworking girls who deserve every bit of back-patting they get!

Riding at Waterton Canyon

One of my very favourite places to go bike riding is Waterton Canyon. There are just so many reasons to love riding there!

First of all, it is a private road. It is wide and the only traffic on it is walkers, runners, fisherman, and bicycles- except for the odd truck driven by someone who works there (maintaining water stuff). So there is plenty of room for Rich and I to ride beside each other and chat a bit if we want.

Second, the road is pretty good. A little rocky or soft in a couple of places, but relatively decent riding the whole way.

Third, it is just over six miles to reach the dam. At that point you have to turn around and go back unless you have mountain bikes (which we don't, our bikes are hybrids) to continue up the Colorado Trail. The road up to the dam is at a slight incline which means a good workout. And the way back is at a slight decline which means a bit of an easier ride when you are tired. And all in all, we get in a guaranteed 12+ miles which is a fine workout for the two of us.

Lastly, and best of all, it is a BEAUTIFUL place to ride. The road follows a portion of the South Platte River and there is often wildlife along the trail. We have seen bighorn sheep, deer, and last week we saw a Great Blue Heron come in for a landing on a rock quite close to us. Didn't have the camera though, darn it!

I guess when we are in better shape, we could ride our bikes TO the canyon, do the trail and then bike home- but we are far from there yet...that would add an additional 16 miles to the trip! For now, I am happy to strap the bikes to Rich's car and go from there!

Remembrance and Hope

This has been an important week for remembering tragedy and those lost to it. But the biggest message that came from both services we attended was that of hope. Hope. As long as we keep that, all is not lost. Rich and I and our kids certainly know that firsthand.

Monday night Heidi played in the band that was asked to perform at the Columbine 10th Anniversary Memorial Service. The band played "The American Elegy" by Frank Ticheli. This quote is on the composer's web site: An American Elegy is, above all, an expression of hope. It was composed in memory of those who lost their lives at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and to honor the survivors. It is offered as a tribute to their great strength and courage in the face of a terrible tragedy. I hope the work can also serve as one reminder of how fragile and precious life is and how intimately connected we all are as human beings.

The service was lovely and moving. You can see clips of it online almost anywhere if you like; it was very widely covered. I am really glad we went. Columbine is a very close-knit community and I love it here.

If you would like to see more about the Columbine Memorial, here is a link: http://www.columbinememorial.org/

Last night, Chloe and I attended the Governor's Holocaust Annual Remembrance program in Denver. Chloe is a part of an advanced reading group at her school and they have been reading first-hand accounts of survival stories from the Holocaust. The speaker at the program last night is the last surviving member of a group of people that lived in the sewers of Lvov, Poland, for more than a year to escape being sent to the extermination camps. Having read many books of this nature myself, nothing I heard Ms. Keren say was something I was unaware of, but hearing it out loud, first-hand, certainly made it more real than anything I have read. I think reading books about the survivor experiences is vital to our generation and all who follow us. But I realize how lucky we are to still have these live opportunities to be affected by those who have suffered and survived. We need to hear these things, our kids need to hear these things, in order to be impacted enough to bring about change for the better.

If you want to read more about this personal account, here is a link that gives a great overview of the book:
http://www.ijn.com/columns/view-from-denver/510-the-girl-in-the-green-sweater-lived-in-lvovs-sewers-for-14-months

Speakers at both events pointed out to the audience that we still have so far to go; in gun control, in tolerance of others' differences, in keeping awareness alive, in countless other ways. But they also reassured us that no matter how horrid the circumstances, the human spirit is a wonderful and miraculous thing! That we can overcome any obstacle with love, faith, and HOPE.

So what should we take from these reminders and memorials of past tragedy? Be kinder to one another whenever you can. Don't take your loved ones for granted- always tell them that you love them and how much they mean to you, and do it today. Act with moral courage whenever you can, standing up against what is wrong and helping those who can't help themselves at the time. Be willing to take a stand for what you believe in. Most of all, never lose hope. No matter how hard life gets, no matter what you have to deal with, you can get through it, learn important lessons, and become a better person because of it.

The Greatest is LOVE

This wall hanging quilt was a stretch for me in so many ways!

Before I moved to Colorado, I lived in a little town in Ontario, Canada, where I was employed at a lovely quilt shop. The owners were and are dear friends of mine, and always volunteering their time and other things to the community.

One of the events held in the quilt shop each fall is the "The Quilt: 30 Hour Quilt Marathon" which raises funds to provide emotional, informational and physical support for people living with cancer, their family and friends. This is sponsored by Northcott's Quest for a Cure. Here is Northcott's Link: http://www.northcott.net (then click on Quest for the Cure, bottom right)
Here is the link to the site if you would like to learn how you can help your local quilt shop participate in this fabulous event: http://www.thequilt.com/

Anyway, since I moved before the event was to take place, I decided to send something they could put in their Silent Auction, which was running concurrently with the marathon.

For inspiration, I started with what I had learned from "Simply Stunning Woven Quilts" by Anna Faustino. I loved the look the quilts she made! Then I chose an array of batiks (which I LOVE) and a lot of pink... with a fat quarter of "love" fabric for the middle. When it was all finished, I attached the pink ribbon and a heart.

I say this quilt was a stretch for me because I had never really taken a pattern and just used it as a starting point. Once I got the fabrics chosen, cut, woven, and fused, using Word on my computer, I printed (backwards) the words I thought most inspiring to surround the most important theme- Love. I traced them onto fusible web, cut the letters out of black, attached them and sewed them on.

For the quilting, I used a zigzag stitch to reinforce the wavy connector lines, and around the border I did free motion- with the word "love" on every side. We can never get enough love!

I don't think there are any of us who haven't been touched by cancer in some way, but these inspiring words can remind us all of what to hold onto when adversity strikes- no matter what face it is wearing.

The wall hanging has not yet been auctioned off, but hopefully it will bring in a good amount to help with the total that the store is able to raise.

So that was my first taste of stepping out of the box in quilting, and I had so much fun. Now almost every project I tackle has more of my personal stamp on it, and that is fun!