Stories & Blogs
Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 18,2024
** Beth provided wonderful Valentines by creating individual cards for the elders (she often says… she is one also) art group she teaches each Wednesday, staff and volunteers at Project 4031, friends in our meditation group and mailings to friends both near and far. Each Valentine made with caring hands using materials collected over 35…
Roy’s Sunday Letter fot February 11, 2024
** In a recent Fiction read, a man in his 60’s is asked. “Are you happy?” He did not directly answer but talked of a life of purpose, of achievements and fulfillment. The man was asked a second time, “Yes, all that is good, but are you happy?” I remembered Robert Green Ingersoll’s better answer….
Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 4, 2024
** Brain research confirms handwriting with pen and paper engages the brain in positive ways a keyboard does not match the criteria. So, handwriting journals, notes, and letters are exercising your brain. Hallelujah, Write on! ** From CNN’s Good Stuff: “Resist the lie that violence and destruction are inevitable, that this way is the way…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 28, 2024
** Beth made creative and beautiful Valentine cards with a friend yesterday. My marvelous and beautiful Beth has been making Valentines with friends for 35 years. Her passion is a Blessing for me. Today, I want to reflect on BEING. On Being Fearful: Yes, there is danger in the shouting, yelling, blaming, and shaming of…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 21, 2023
** Robin Sharma, a Facebook post, in her book “5 AM Club” describes how to do a 20 minute exercise…20 minutes reflection and 20 minutes of learning all complete by 6:00 a.m. What would be the 20…20…20 in your club? Consistency and routine can produce the results important to us all. ** Due to weather,…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 14, 2024
Sometimes in the Sunday Letter, I attempt something new and different. I will be adding some questions to my ponderings. My questions will be about paying attention, encouraging moments of reflection in the midst of your days and week. ** Based upon 2023 and as you now enter 2024, do you feel more engaged in…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 7, 2024
** 80 years ago, a white racist mob destroyed the Ft. Worth family home of Opel Lee. Her parents worked hard and long to purchase their first home on Annie Street. The angry “neighbors” threw out their furnishings, burning their home to the ground, with police nearby. Opel Lee, now 97, is the “Grandmother of…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 31, 2023
A troubled but determined 2023 has moved aside for the fresh eyes, heart, and blank pages of 2024. What projects, tasks, and responsibilities of 2023 have you decided to continue into 2024? Are there projects, tasks, and responsibilities you have decided, for whatever reasons, you will leave behind, not continue? At a time today, or…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 24, 2023
** This is a Christmas Eve morning, Sunday Letter. Perhaps you, your family and friends have attended a concert, an earlier worship service, or an evening of food and catch-up with those who flew or drove to be with you, or you with them. The weeks of Christmas ask us to pay attention, be kind…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 17, 2023
This mid-month Sunday Letter is intended to Encourage and provide Support for all readers as we turn the pages of 2023 to the fresh challenges and possibilities of 2024. ** It is my hope you will begin 2024 with renewed energy and belief in all that is possible for you. We do this best when…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 2, 2025
BEING A SENIOR IN 2025 AMERICA I recently completed a story of seniors having lunch at separate tables at Mary’s Grill. Tables were needed to serve waiting families, friends, and office workers. The seniors order lunch Specials and leave small, if any tips. Since Mary’s is a friendly place, for several seniors it is not…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 26, 2025
Friends and friendship join Joy, Kindness, and Peaceful Living on life’s wheel. As I talk with and meet people or on a social platform, I listen to the challenges of making new friends, going deeper with a current friendship, or losing friends through aging, health, or relocation. There is a touch of spirits unique to…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 19, 2025
I began, we began, seeing video of the Pacific Palisades hillside fire and the push of Santa Ana winds on January 7. Today, 12,000 homes have burned with thousands displaced and at-risk for dreams, hopes, and memories to be lost somewhere in the sudden need to flee. Some with a “Go Bag,” others only a…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 12, 2025
INSIGHT ON WRITING PRAYERS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY Prayers and Other Notes: There are two mentors I consider personal heroes. The first, my grandfather, who left his east Texas tractor each Friday afternoon then entering a small hut on the side of the barn. He would use two stiff fingers from repairing too many…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 5, 2025
Thoughts on Mentors and Mentoring Most of us, whatever age, gender, and background, have become who we are through family, education, and life experiences. In addition, many of us have received guidance and support from one or more mentors. And now, perhaps from our own experiences and elderhood, we can provide the “pay it forward”…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 29, 2024
Reflections – Calendars & Seasons of the Year Most of us look at our calendars often, whether iPad, laptop, watch, or one of the traditional paper calendars. Calendars add details to our comings and goings of dates, times, events, and people. My paper calendar helps my elder memory with notes of birthdays, phone numbers, anniversaries…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 22, 2024
REFLECTIONS – CHRISTMAS 2024 Most of us live days somewhere between the inspiring restoration of the Norte Dame Cathedral and the heritage story of the birth of a child, a humble manger in a faraway village, pilgrim parents, and travel weary shepherds. In the midst of the annual seasonal blur, we each have an opportunity…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 15, 2024
** The numbers and the reasons for the decline in church attendance are well documented. Although the percentage of Americans who have de-churched has grown, the desire of the American public to find and experience a church like community has also grown. These new assemblies and communities tend to be cause centered, with a focus…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 8, 2024
** In Paris, Norte Dame has been fully restored from a destructive fire five years ago. Artists and craft persons used historic and new materials throughout the restoration. The language changed from artist/craft persons to Companions, expressing the ownership felt by all committed to returning Norte Dame to France and the world with awe and…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 1, 2024
The arrival of Thanksgiving and the coming Christmas season brings the mix of memories, some warm and life-giving, others more difficult. A seasonal truth, for me, would be that both seasons are best experienced and enjoyed in the company of family and friends. Receptions, open houses and dinners are opportunities to tell and listen to…