1. The fall is the time of year when every Episcopal church I've ever attended or was a member of mounts its pledge drive. Church members and others are urged to commit themselves to how much money they will contribute to the parish's operations over the upcoming year.
Adrienne is a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Nyack, NY and yesterday she gave an eloquent and insightful talk on behalf of the parish's Social Committee outlining what kind of work Grace Episcopal Church does to alleviate hardship in the local community and how such social work is a vital expression of and an acting out of one's faith.
Fortunately, this service is preserved on YouTube, so Debbie and I got to hear Adrienne's thoughtful and inspiring and, I should add, very persuasive appeal to the congregation.
I was blown away, not because I didn't know Adrienne was capable of such deep thought and eloquence, but because her message about the connectedness between faith and action is so central to living a Christian life and being of service to those in need.
2. One of the most enthusiastic and generous supporters of the work Rita Hennessy did with learning communities at Lane Community College was Jane King, a Eugene citizen energetically committed to lifelong and interdisciplinary learning, among many other things. Rita's first foray into learning communities at LCC was a project called Alternative Visions and Jane was a student in this undertaking. Jane also enrolled in the Shakespeare course I taught for several years -- it was a three term course and I don't remember how many terms Jane participated in it, but she was a stellar presence in the classroom and especially loved learning through interaction with the students in class young enough to be her great grandchildren!
Rita, Jane, and I remained friends for years after Rita and I finished our co-teaching work at LCC. Rita and I visited her when she lived at the Eugene Hotel and we went on cultural/educational outings together.
On one of my visits to Eugene after Debbie and I moved away, well, July 17th, 2017, to be exact, Nate, Margaret, Jeff, Michael, and I were sitting at a sidewalk table outside Perugino, a coffee shop, and Jane strolled up to our table. She'd just been shopping at Down to Earth and was on her way back to the Eugene Hotel. We all had a wonderful visit with her.
That was the last time I saw Jane King.
She died this past week on Oct 10th, just a few days shy of her 102nd birthday.
I've been enjoying having wonderful memories of being at Jane's home, working with her in the classroom, discussing books and movies with her, and relishing all the encouragement and gratitude she gave me every time we saw each other.
Jane King possessed the rare gift of brightening and bringing goodness to every encounter she and I had and every encounter I ever saw her be a part of.
She brought peace to the world around her and now, surely, she is resting in that very peace.
3. Carol organized a fall themed family dinner tonight. We started in the living room and Debbie provided both the appetizers and the cocktail. She brought a batch of maple syrup sweetened Old Fashions and served pumpkin hummus with naan bread and provided a chunk of cranberry goat cheese.
For dinner, Christy prepared a terrific fall salad and a vinaigrette on the side and Carol fixed a superb beef shoulder pot roast with bowl brimming with roasted root vegetables and served awesome pumpkin dinner rolls. Carol also baked a pear walnut cake for dessert.
Week after week, it seems, I write each dinner we have was one of the best! Maybe they almost always are one of the best!
And, tonight, yes, this family dinner was one of the best.
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