THE CORNER 4 WOMEN

Tuesday 4 June 2024

THE BOY ON THE SWING by Joanne Boyle

"THE BOY ON THE SWING"
by Joanne Boyle

Every day I watched from my window

at the boy sitting on the swing.

He just sat staring at the ground.

He never moved or done a thing.

I wasn't sure what I should do,

but he wouldn't leave my mind

and whenever he was around

there was no one else to find.

I thought about approaching him

but I was worried he would get scared.

But he looked so lost and alone

as if nobody had ever cared.

I felt he needed a friend.

I could sense that he was sad.

I felt a need to help

this lost and lonely lad.

I carefully approached him.

He looked up with the saddest eyes.

He asked if I could push him

to reach the highest skies.

He told me that no one ever came,

or had shown him what to do.

I saw his shoulders slump, and

I said "should I push you?"

He smiled a little bit,

and I saw a twinkle in his eye.

He said "my Mum had always said

I should reach for the sky."

As I gently pushed him

and to and fro he went.

I showed him how to move his legs,

and told him not to keep them bent.

I asked about his parents.

"Did they know that you were here?"

But he kept on swinging higher.

Moving without fear.

I now stood in the background,

with the biggest smile on my face.

This boy had brought me happiness

that I'd lost without a trace.

Eventually he slowed down,

and I felt something very strange.

The boy that I had pushed

had now began to change.

In front of me stood a man.

and he began to cry.

He said "Mum, I knew I'd find you

If I reached up to the sky."

********

Author Joanne Boyle Heartfelt

art by Steffi Krenzek

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IN THE LAST QUARTER OF OUR LIVE

"IN THE LAST QUARTER OF OUR LIVE"
(author unknown)

A lot of us are in the last quarter of life and I share without politics, religion, race cards. Just gentle thoughts:

You know, time has a way of catching you off-guard about how quickly it travels.

It feels like just yesterday that I was young and ready to start adult-life. And in a way it feels like eons ago, and I wonder where the years have gone.

I know I lived them all.

I remember all my hopes and dreams. I remember the plans I made.

And suddenly, here I am in the last quarter.

How did I get here so fast?

Where have the years gone and where did my youth go?

I can recall looking at older people, thinking how long it will take for me to get where they are. That I am still in my youth, that I have many years ahead. At that time I could not even think of being where I am now.

And yet, here I am.

My friends are retired, they all have grey hair, they move much slower than they did and when I look at them, I see older people. Some are in a better and some a worse condition than me. But I see the big difference. They are no longer the youthful, carefree, full-of-life friends.

Just like me, age shows. And we are now the older people we used to look at and thought it was still a long way off.

I find that these days, taking a shower takes its toll on my breath and energy levels. And an afternoon nap is not just a treat, it’s become a necessity. And if I don’t, I find myself sleeping in the same chair I started reading or watching television in.

Now I have entered this new season of my life, totally unprepared for the discomfort, aches and pains, loss of energy and strength and ability to do what I could, yet sometimes didn’t. At least I know that, even though I am in the last quarter and I have no idea how long this quarter will be, when my time on earth is over, a new adventure awaits too.

Yes, I do have things I wish I I had never done. Yet so thankful for those I did. It is all in a lifetime.

And if you are not in the last quarter yet, I want to remind you that it comes faster than you could anticipate. Do the things you still want to do as soon as possible. Do not procrastinate. Life runs on fast legs.

Do today what you can.

There is no promise that we will all see the seasons of life. Live for today. For now.

Say the words to the ones you love. Often.

Hopefully some will appreciate the things you did for them. And if they don’t, it is also okay.

Life is truly a gift. Just be happy. It is after all your choice.

And remember that health is a treasure, not wealth, gold and silver, property or your bank balance.

You may think that going out is the best, but believe me – coming home is better.

You may forget names and that is okay, because some have already forgotten that they knew you.

The things you cared about previously, you may lose interest in.

If you fall asleep in your favourite chair, stay there.

Growing older is wonderful. It is comfortable. It is loaded with memories that you never grow tired of. It is an absolute treasure.

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

HEARTSTRINGS by Becky Hemsley

"HEARTSTRINGS"
by Becky Hemsley

There are so many things I have discovered since I had to go.

And I want to share this one with you - I want to let you in on the secret.

You see, I know you feel a sudden pull of emotions sometimes. Those moments when you lose composure and losing me hits you afresh all over again. And it might be at seemingly trivial, inconsequential times like when you’re brushing your teeth or getting into the car for work. Or at 2.30pm on any given Wednesday.

And you won’t really know why but you will suddenly remember me. Not that you’ll have forgotten me, but that I am - in that moment - all you can think about.

Overwhelmingly so.

Well, here’s the secret; that’s because of our heartstrings.

We are connected to everyone we love by invisible, unbreakable threads. And when one of us misses the other person, we only need to pull on those heartstrings to bring them a little closer to us.

Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes we grab desperately at the thread like a life buoy in a storm and our string is pulled so abruptly that it burns.

But it never breaks.

And I just wanted you to know this. So that you can be comforted by knowing that, in the moments when you suddenly miss me the most…

It’s because I am missing you too.

********

Becky Hemsley 2023

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Artwork by Shawna Erback #shawnaerbackart

‘Heartstrings’ is from When I am Gone

https://a.co/d/7kMndDJ

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

Sunday 2 June 2024

LITTLE CUP OF HAPPINESS by Joanne Boyle

"LITTLE CUP OF HAPPINESS"
by Joanne Boyle

I fill my cup with happiness,

and sip it throughout the day.

Each time I start to doubt myself,

I drink it and I say.

"This morning I awoke

with blankets on my bed.

I have clean running water,

and a roof above my head.

I have a family who love me.

Friends who really care.

I have a giving heart

that enables me to share.

I have food in my cupboards.

I am good concerning health.

I have more than so many

and for me, that is wealth.

I have my peace of mind.

A conscience that is clear.

I have a caring husband.

A daughter who is dear.

I have ears to hear laughter,

when the Grandkids play.

I have hope in my heart

that gets me through each day.

I have a coat to keep me warm.

I have shoes on my feet.

I have a home to live in,

that keeps me from the street.

So this little cup of happiness,

is more than meets the eye.

It is a cup of mindfulness,

that says, how lucky am I?"

*********

Author Joanne Boyle Heartfelt

art by Steffi Krenzek

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

I RAN WITH THE BREEZE by Joanne Boyle

"I RAN WITH THE BREEZE"
by Joanne Boyle

I got so lost in the darkness.

I became part of the trap.

Obsessed with the unworthy.

I couldn't bridge the gap.

Time spent on nothing,

as hours passed me by.

Sitting with myself

an effortless cry.

Then I looked outside.

and the sun shone down on me.

I breathed in the daylight

and found I could see.

Flowers grew around me.

They waved as I past.

Some came and hugged me.

I now ran so fast.

I ran into the moment.

The sun was getting brighter.

The weight on my shoulders,

was now getting lighter.

I ran with the breeze

as the flowers said "hello."

I never looked back,

and the darkness didn't follow.

********

Author Joanne Boyle Heartfelt

art by Steffi Krenzek

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

17 INCHES

"17 INCHES"
(author unknown)

You will not regret reading this an excellent article to read from beginning to end. Twenty years ago, in Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA's convention.

While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the line up of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — “John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare.”

Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter; I was just happy to be there.

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy? After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage. Then, finally …

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?”

After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches?”, more of a question than answer.

“That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long pause.

“Seventeen inches?” a guess from another reluctant coach.

“That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”............“Seventeen inches!”

“RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues? “Seventeen inches!”

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause. “They send him to Pocatello !” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. “What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'”

Pause. “Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate? "

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows. “This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline.

We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate!”

Pause. Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. “This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?”

Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow it.”

“And the same is true with our government. Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch.”

I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable.

From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.

“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …”

With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, “…We have dark days ahead!.”

Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach. His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches."

And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, and now go out there and fix it!

"Don't widen the plate"

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html