PERSONAL NEWS #73
Thursday, September 15th, the NYC Chapter DoP conducted a conference call to discuss and reflect on the recent Peace Conference held in Washington DC. Those in attendance on this call were ... Liz, Marni, Maria, Kevin, Charlene, Janet, Eileen, Dawn, Joe, Carol, Hector and Ellen. It was a terrific call and everyone had lots of positive, inspring stories to relate. I really enjoyed listening to accounts by our group who stayed in DC to lobby their congress people. Talk of the "peace cloth", DC historical sites & Kucinich dropping the "bill" on the 14th. Carol noted that NYC Chapter Dept of Peace celebrated its one-year anniversary on September 15th. WooHoo! Bravo! Keep the faith ... we can make a difference.

On Sunday, September 18th, I attended the annual Lincoln Center Art & Craft Show in Manhattan. Its always an inspiring treat to visit this free event. Engaged in conversation with some of the artisans and picked up a CD of Renaissance style music by Peter Blanchette. He plays this lovely, sweet sounding instrument called an archguitar. The weather was a warm, sunny day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY ... Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism it's just the opposite. John Kenneth Galbraith

Wednesday, September 21st, I joined other NYC Chapter Dept of Peace members/volunteers in attending the "United Nations International Day of Peace" ceremonies at St Peters Catholic Church down near WTC. The 2 1/2 hour event was called "Courage to Forgive". Can you believe it, I actually got abit lost in trying to find this church?!? I ended up getting directions from the front desk at Millennium Hotel. Which is across the street from "ground zero". I've lived in NYC for 22 years and its abit embarressing when one gets lost. Sigh! Anyhow, those from our growing NYC Chapter who attended ... Joe, Ellen, Marie, Carol, Karen, Liz, Maria, Eileen, Janet and Marni. [These are all wonderfully caring folk & I'm honored to be part of this group.] Arriving at the church, I was greeted by Dot Maver at the door and it was lovely seeing her again. I would of enjoyed the evening more so, if I was feeling abit better. Darn cyst on my ovary! The program for the evening is as follows:

Welcome Address by Father Madigan
Master of Ceremonies is Reverend Lyndon Harris
Poem by Salahuden Shabazz
Justine Mordica talked about Youth Bear Hug Project
Reverend Lyndon Harris talk - "Forgiveness at Ground Zero"
Dr Fred Luskin talk - "Obstacles & Opportunities"
Music by Larry Meyer and his daughter Govinda
Marianne Williamson talk - "The Gift of Change"
Monica Willard talked about "UN International Day of Peace"
Deborah Moldow lead everyone through the UN Flag Ceremony
Reverend Charles Gibbes closed the evening with Prayers for Peace

Thursday, September 22nd, was such a busy productive day at the office. Mostly handling a few projects for a partner I support. Had to work through lunch to get most of it done. Mon dieu! Briefly, in the afternoon, attended a baby shower for one of my bosses [Debra] at E&Ys 23rd floor conference center. Her hubby John was invited to the event and it was nice to finally meet him. She did really well in receiving many nice baby gifts. At 4:30pm I left the office with my suitcase and briskly walked the one block to Port Authority to catch a bus to Atlantic City. [Before leaving work, I called Cape May taxi to reserve service at 10pm.] Got there just in time to catch the 4:45pm bus. Earlier in the week, one of my co-workers [Maureen] gave me a key to utilize her condo down in Cape May for the weekend. We had talked about this on several occasions. Normally I stay at a B&B, but due to shortage of funds, I couldn't afford that this year. I'm very thankful for Maureen's generousity and kindness.

The ride down to Atlantic City went smoothly and we arrived 10 minutes early at the depot. My first thought was "are we in the correct bus depot", cause the whole place looked soooo different from my 2003 visit. I learned from the Cape May bus driver 30 minutes later, after purchasing my roundtrip bus ticket, that the depot went through alot of changes in those two years. Many of those changes, he said, were not for the better. The ride down to Cape May, via Wildwood, was very crowded and since I was in the front seat, I engaged in chatty conversation with the driver. We arrived on time and the taxi service was waiting for me. Amen! The chap was so nice and helpful. Even took me to Wawa's Convenience Store, so that I could purchase some items for the kitchen. Arrived at the condo just before 10:30pm and not knowing what to expect. Maureen did say that some work was being done on her kitchen and I was thankful for the warning. After finding the light switches, I was greeted with seeing the stove unhooked and out in the middle of the room. Oh dear ... no time to pout ... even tho I was tired I got to work. Couldn't hook up the stove, but I pushed it back into place. Tidy up the kitchen and livingroom, which were kinda like one room. Checked out the bathroom and no mirror on the wall, but there were two mirrors in the large bedroom with big closets. Unpacked my things, put groceries in frig, located bath towels, adjusted the central air in the place, vacuumed abit and plugged in the telly. Finally got to bed around midnight ... welcome to Cape May.