“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully,
everyone is blessed” Maya Angelou
Yarada Village Beach, Vizag |
This month there were hard realities
in life too, death of my 3rd brother Vincent Dass who died attending
the Sunday service in a church, leaving his wife and a young daughter. The news
came as a shock to me and our family, no words can be comforting for a family
that has lost a member; it opened my eyes to see death part of life and not
opposite of life…. On the same day there was a suicide by a 23 year old student
who was a topper; and first generation learner, there was lot of confusion and
turmoil in the campus, and being in the service area we had to keep our centre
open despite all the chaos around the university campus.
The media was looking for a story and wanted to know whether
he was depressed; whether he visited our centre etc... the new students were
shocked to see their class mate hanging from the ceiling in the hostel toilet.
A few of them who saw could not deal with their own emotions, were disturbed
and came to the centre with fear and
anxiety. I had to be watchful and sensitive to be available for the ones who
came in, there were bandhs, laticharge, strike and police and media all around
the campus. It is very disturbing to work in this environment and as counselors
we are available to ensure that the students take help when they are depressed
and feel lonely in a huge campus.
with Mahesh on his birthday |
I visited my brother’s house to meet my niece and my sister
in law who were grieving; I felt that the best time to condole is when everyone
leaves after all the formalities, and two of them are left alone to deal with
the loss. I could spend little time getting into the details of their
experiences and just be there for a while doing nothing, just providing
assurance and a little support.
This month is also my
son Emmanuel’s birthday, and it’s a usual routine that we visit his graveyard. Its
7 years that he no more with us and we do miss him a lot as he was so very
vibrant, energetic and charming. We
offered mass at the church, picked up some snacks and some gifts for the kids. A
day before is the birthday of Mahesh- I have written about him in my earlier
post, here’s the link:
Last year I was down
with dengue and could not really go out much, so I missed Mahesh’s birthday.
This year I am in good health and happy to move around, so I along with David
visited Mahesh to wish him for his birthday as Dorothy my daughter had exams.
This month is also my
birthday and I complete 56 years of my life here on this earth J and wow what a wonderful feeling,
looking back and counting all the years, the experiences of my life both lovely
ones and negative ones together strengthened and empowered
me. My experiences have taught me to look at my life with close quarters and
let go of what is not important, bid goodbye to some relationships that was
hindering my progress, sapping my energy levels leaving me depleted.
with my classmates at College |
I have journeyed with faith, hope and gratitude, opening myself
to newer experiences of life, new relationships along the way, reconnecting with my old classmates & friends,
finding newer ways to stay motivated, and constantly enabling myself to chose
what I want to do and aligning myself to activities that bring in meaning and
fulfillment.
“Being grateful does not mean that everything is
necessarily good. It just means that you can accept.” Roy T Bennett.
We did have some celebrations, a first birthday of Loraine, a
cute little child from our church community, an engagement of David’s relative, and then of
course gifts for my birthday in advance- a travel suitcase from my sister in law which is very handy,
useful and much needed as I travel has
increased in the last few years . This was special and I chose the colour that
I wanted. There were 2 lovely Salwar sets from a close friend, and a pretty saree
from David along with a few more casual wears for my office.
Appreciate the thought, time and Genorosity |
Gifts for my birthday:) |
David was busy with organizing prayer service for Christmas
celebrations, and also managing the clinic, while my daughter was busy in the
choir singing. This time she was happy to sing the carols in the college with
her classmates, and also visit an orphanage to share whatever was collected
from her college.
Merry Christmas at St Cecilia's Church |
Merry Christmas at Home with friends:) |
This month too I have posted trees to show love, spreading
green virtually. Here’s my link:
http://livealifeofgratitude.blogspot.in/2017/12/tree-love-25-beauty-of-tree.html
This
month my post is delayed due to a short break I took for myself; but I was
particular that at least I post this today, being the last day of 2017 and few
more hours as I welcome 2018 with a smile and a heart full of gratitude J
Thanks
to Vidya https://vidyasury.com/2017/12/ grateful-by-default-gratitude. html for this gratitude circle.
I had an
amazing journey- I appreciate Vidya for her energetic and motivating posts that
kept me going too J
Hope you had a great December,
Wishing you and your family members a very happy Christmas and
a bright New Year 2018!!
Be Happy & Be a Blessing !!
Beautiful photos, lovely reflections Genevieve. I remember you having the dengue fever and so pleased that you recovered well from that. All good health in 2018 and I look forward to continuing posts which I so enjoy xx
ReplyDeleteThanks susan, so happy to have you here and yes last year was very challenging, with dengue:) glad to have recovered and since then have been making healthy choices and I hope for complete recovery, vibrant health and happy blogging:) wishing you good health, peace, harmony and fulfillment in 2018.
DeleteHello Angela, I am glad you have recovered from the fever. It is nice to know you took enough time for yourself and then posted this one. What lovely memories are the college and school days. You must have had a lovely time with your college pals revisiting all those times. Have a wonderful 2018 Angela.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks a lot for stopping by my blog
Love, Jayanthy.
Hi Jayanthy, thank you for your concern... being healthy has been my top priority for 2017, so I did everything to ensure that I stay fit and active. 2017 has been a lovely year for me and I am grateful for all the support I got from family, friends and colleagues to enable me to get back in action. Thanks for your comments, I appreciate you:)
DeleteLovely pictures and I so admire you Angela for all that you do for the community. I have read about your work before and this month too, I am so honored to know someone like you who is compassionate, kind and gentle. May you always stay blessed. Wishing you a happy 2018!
ReplyDeleteThanks Parul, feels so good to see your comments, encourages and motivates me. Glad to have found you here in this space and feel humbled by your compliments - wishing you the very best in 2018, and may you continue to be an inspiration to those around you. Love and hugs
Deleteits heart warming . despite the setbacks you bounce back with vibrant energy. Here s to a wonderful 2018 Angela!
ReplyDeleteThanks Akshata, appreciate you for your kind words, it means a lot, hope you a have a great year ahead, wishing you Gods blessings !
DeleteYou are a wonderful person, Janet. You deserve all the good things!
ReplyDeleteReally sorry to hear about your brother.
Cant believe you're 56 :-) Happy birthday!
Thank you for the kind words, and thank you for being part of the Gratitude Circle. Hugs!
Love you vidya for the compliments, you made my day today... just completing my work at the counseling centre... its was a long session of couple counseling, was feeling heavy, reading your comment brought a smile to my face and made me feel so much lighter... yes I am 56 :):) my pleasure to be part of the Gratitude circle, enjoy writing gratitude post and always enjoyed your power packed energised gratitude post, wishing you wellness and happiness to you vidya.
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