Sunday, April 1, 2012
Facing the biggest "wrecking ball" of his life, my brother believes faith will be rewarded. Bruce Springsteen told him so.
“For the ones who had a notion, A notion deep inside, That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive.” I remember a time, when I was a little girl, that my brother Mark was very sick. Mark was my first brother, and at the time the youngest in the family. We were born one-two-three, the tag team of myself and Gina born a year apart, and Mark coming a few years later. So at the time I’m remembering, he was about three or four, and I was in first or second grade. I don’t remember the details, or maybe I never knew them. I just remember getting off the bus from St. Patrick’s and rushing into the house to share my day. My mom, in a sharp voice, told me to hush. My brother was in her bedroom, sick, and Gina and I would have to be quiet that day. I…
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Green-Fields student Matthew Mason taps his way to titles.
As she watched her son take the stage at Cathy Roe’s Ultimate Dance Competition in February, Cyndi Taylor fought back tears. “I was a nervous wreck,” Taylor admitted. “He was dance number twelve, and I cried all through dance number eleven. I was so scared for him.” She needn’t be. Taylor's son, 9-year-old Matthew Mason, took the stage with confidence and did a rousing tap number to a mash-up of two versions of “Runaround Sue.” As the audience applauded, Matthew came off stage and told his mother, “Mommy, I nailed it!” Apparently the judges agreed. Matthew, a fourth-grader at Green-Fields Elementary School, won the title of “Junior Mr. Ultimate Dance” that afternoon, a moment he calls the highlight of his dance career. That “career” …
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Sunday, March 18, 2012
Remembering musicals past while gearing up for the opening of West Deptford High School's 'Me and My Girl' this week
“Can we go see it? Can we?” my daughter accosted me as I came through the door Friday evening. She was waving a flier, and her words came tumbling out, one after another. “It’s a play at the high school. They came to Greenfields today to show us part of it, and Stefanie was in it! Do you think we can go? Can we?” Ah, I thought. It’s high school musical time again. Apparently Libby and her classmates were treated to a preview. The high school kids had taken the show on the road, as it were, to drum up interest in the younger kids. And, if Libby was any indication, they really hit their mark. My daughter was already talking about cracking open her piggy bank to snag some tickets, determined to catch this year’s production of Me and My Girl. …
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Scouts across America celebrate a century of scouting—learn how it all started and how Girl Scouts help today's youth grow.
Carefullly they piled the boxes, one on top of the other, precariously working the tower high into the sky. Then crash. The cardboard pillar imploded, falling to the ground as the onlookers collapsed into giggles. This was the scene Friday night, as approximately 150 Daisies, Brownies, Juniors and Cadettes from various West Deptford troops gathered in the middle school cafeteria to celebrate the 100th birthday of Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts of America were officially formed on March 12, 1912, when 18 girls from Savannah, GA, met with leader Juliette Low in her home. Low—who was better known as “Daisy”—believed that all girls should have the chance to develop mentally, spiritually and physically. She thought community service and open air …
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Dreams deferred don't have to die. They just might need a new coat of paint—just ask any third-grader .... or Abraham Lincoln.
On Presidents Day, we took my daughter Libby and her best friend Katie to do a whirlwind Lincoln tour of Washington, D.C. The girls are both third-graders at Green-Fields, and Libby has recently become enamored of our 16th president. Apparently she and her classmates in Mrs. Elliot’s class have been studying Honest Abe, who has now been deemed as “the greatest president who ever lived” by my daughter. “Were you alive when Lincoln was president?” she asked me, excited about the possibility. She seemed a bit disappointed when I pointed out Lincoln was president in the 1800s and I didn’t show up until a century later. But her question depressed me just as much as my answer did her. My birthday was fast approaching, and I was feeling pretty …
Monday, February 27, 2012
Just when you thought it was safe to return to business as usual, February throws another holiday at you.
I know the holiday season officially ended sometime back in January. By now it should be business as usual. So, if that’s the case, why does it seem like this month has brought one offbeat holiday after another? Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever get the confetti out of my hair. We started off this February with Groundhog Day, the only holiday dedicated to a rodent. (You would think lab mice would be protesting, but I guess with all the experimental testing of mascara and such, they have more important things on their mind.) Punxsutawney Phil apparently saw his shadow this year, meaning we'll have six more months of winter. Which, in 2012, looks an awful lot like spring. The following weekend brought Super Bowl Sunday, with the cheering of …
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Valentine's flowers may speak volumes. What did yours say to you?
OK, you can call me crazy. But I have never been a big fan of roses. Go ahead, I’ve heard it before. Oh, I love roses growing in my garden. Their tiny closed buds and their rich red blossoms paint our front lawn with beauty, and their fragrance is as sweet and as fresh and as welcomed as the first robin in spring. (Which, going by today’s weather forecast, should arrive around Wednesday.) But when it comes to receiving flowers, I never was a rose girl. I’m not sure why that was, exactly. Maybe it was the decadence—I mean, let’s face it, roses are expensive. And there’s really no figuring out why one rose costs more than the other. Like why, for example, Acme was selling a dozen red roses last week for $9.99, while the floral shops in …
Sunday, February 12, 2012
She bleeds green—a West Deptford mom, the first-ever woman to marshal a local St. Patrick's Day parade, uses her position to help Northern Ireland's children escape violence.
Though she describes herself as shy by nature, Marie Hempsey will do just about anything if it will benefit her favorite cause, Project Children. She’s called local businesses to ask for donations. She’s knocked on doors and used social media to reach out to potential hosts for the kids that come over to the U.S. from violent Northern Ireland each year. She’s opened her home and her story to the press, in order to raise awareness for Project Children. She’s even rubbed elbows with Gov. Chris Christie, filling him in on her work at a dinner held last year for New Jersey’s 50 most influential Irish people. And this year, she’s going even further out of her comfort zone. She’s been selected as the grand marshal of the annual Burlington County…
Sunday, February 5, 2012
He has my blue eyes ... and my Beatles gene. How did that happen?
“Let’s all get up and dance to a song That was a hit before your mother was born Though she was born a long long time ago, Your mother should know.” --- John Lennon and Paul McCartney Having children is a tricky deal. After all, you never know how things will come out. You contribute your genetic material with great hope, but let’s face it—it’s a crap shoot. I may hope my kids get my blue eyes and creative streak, while picking up a good metabolism and nice teeth from their father. But, just like Forrest Gump’s mama warned us, “You never know what you’re going to get.” And the nurturing part is just as tricky as the nature part. I mean, we do our best to raise them in our footsteps, feeding them our values and exposing them to all we …
Sunday, January 29, 2012
The search for Springsteen tickets is a family affair.
“For what are we, without hope in our hearts?” ---Bruce Springsteen, "Across the Border" This Saturday morning, I sat frozen at my monitor, fingers poised above the keys. Around the corner, my brother Mark was in the same position. And, somewhere in the Florida panhandle, Tim, our youngest brother, was sitting the very same way. Of course, there was no point in pressing anything on the keyboard. The open browsers on our monitors indicated we were all “in queue.” Still, we waited, ready to pounce at the first sign of change to that status. Welcome to ticket-buying, circa 2012. Of course, we don’t do this three-way for just any tickets. No, if you want seats to Casting Crowns, the Flyers-Bruins game or Disney on Ice, you’re pretty much on …
Michael Kaestner
8:04 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Mark, When I heard the news about your battle with cancer last night from my sister, a flood of memories of you immediately stormed my mind. I began thinking about times we spent together, stories you shared with me, and the way you showed me how to be a fierce competitor on two separate playing fields and in the game of life. After all of these years I saw your picture and I realized that one … more ›