Posted: 4 years ago

Please tell me

1. The things for which you're giving thanks this year - both the specific (a trip, a grandchild, a recovery) and the general (your health, your country, whatever).
2. The ways in which you give back all year - I want to hear a little about the programs and projects that you support, whether the local homeowners board, the Red Cross, your church, a neighbor in need. 

we all have them and I want to broadcast them to the world.

Karen -

Posted: 4 years ago

Each day there are so many things to be thankful for in our lives. Of course family and friends, and the country in which we live.

My support and passion go to helping people figting cancer, specifically through Chemo Angels. Making someones days brighter, when they are low gives me so much.

Children, their learning and their acceptance of themselves is another passion. To see a child smile when they accomplish a task is a wonderful sight.  Working with Talking Talons, a bird of prey rescue, and also an educational program linking injured animals and kids at risk is a very rewarding venture. 

I am thankful I have the opportunity, the skill and the health to continue in these ventures.

Carol Anderson

Posted: 4 years ago

1. There is more for which to be grateful than I normally remember, I believe - part of that constant battle not to let daily annoyances obscure a larger perspective.  I am thankful:

* that an increased workload hasn't kept me from being actively involved in Rotary, for one!  That is to say, I'm very happy that the eClub creates an avenue for my interest in serving, and learning from the service of, others.

* for the opportunity to work in two different settings (high school teacher and educational nonprofit director), both of which involve the power and wonder of learning.

* that I have family and friends that provide love and encouragement, and I hope that I will do a better job of thanking them for that in the coming year.

2. Giving back is not dissimilar to counting blessings, as I believe the chance to serve is a chance to learn something valuable about ourselves.  This year, I have:

* served as chairperson of the International Exchange Commission in my community (Santa Clara, California).  We've had the chance to explore new possibilites for helping our citizens learn of and connect with other parts of the world, and while the mechanics of making it happen are sometimes somewhat similar to making sausage, it is more often than not quite a joy.

* helped with my previous Rotary club's major fundraiser - a soccer tournament - in order to support strong programs the club does in Santa Clara for needy children.

* volunteered to take on extra classes when my colleague went on maternity leave.  A normal schedule is five, and for a couple of months I had seven, which, while not something I want to repeat, was a good learning experience.  At one point, it occurred to me that across the seven classes, there wasn't a single student that I wished simply weren't there.  That probably says several things, but one surely is that I've grown as a teacher over time.  That's something for which I should certainly give thanks!

Posted: 4 years ago

Things that I am thankful for and services that I give now and in the past year are interesting ideas to review (and then forget, so that I can enjoy the two because analysis can undermine passion and enjoyment). That is one of the things that I am most thankful for:

-my ability to forget or to push something to the corners of my mind and consciousness. This year I learned that I have bone on bone in my right knee. When the pain started, I went to the doctor, only to find out that the infection in my left knee (when it was replaced in 2003 was still there as MRS) which made it impossible to replace that right knee (at least not without going through two years of surgery and waiting on the left one to clear of the infection), Daily, to get done what must be done, I forget the pain of: simply walking to class, standing or sitting in a lecture, and playing with the grandchildren. It is an ability that I have worked upon most of my life: to separate creative thought, analysis, knowing and forgeting.

- my daily passion for teaching and seeing the wonder of art all around me.

- of course, my family: a woman who has put up with my craziness for 51 years and is still in our honeymoon; two children that I am proud of and still push me to excell; and those grandchildren who are my and America's future.

- my ability to write, draw and paint my ideas and share them with others in the classroom and outside in the world.

- living in America whose concept of freedom is the backbone of any creative approach to living for everyone.

- living to see an Afro-American president of the United States. Those marches in the 60s and 70s seem so far away now that America has grown up a great deal (but still has challenges that each of us can help to improve).

What did I do to fulfill my thankfulness? I did the following:

- continued to teach at least two classes at the local college: Art Appreciation (which opens eyes, minds and the wonder factor about what it around each of us) and beginning Drawing (since my collegue is away on a sabatical in Japan). In January 2009, I go back to teaching two classes in appreciation of the wonders of creativity and art. I still believe that "The future is now, in front of each of us."

- went back to class myself about new technology in the classroom for getting across ideas, images and passions about learning. I created a working journal which is now bound and presented to the college library for future use by students, teachers and the public. I daily find "To know is to grow."

- helped teachers abroad with grants to further their careers. One Georgian professor, who is a friend from one of my Fulbright grants, was able to come to America to teach for this year, therefore getting away from the war with Russia (which is still going on although the press has left it behind the original outbreak). It is still "May the beauty we love be what we do."

- built being the place in our neighborhood where our family is known as the "popsickle stop" each day and the place where stories are shared between this "alien" and the werewolves, vampires, Hulks and other characters created by six to ten year olds in our open garage (my studio). I am a member of their "Alien Mole Club" since I know one magic trick (and of course, give out sugar free popsickles). I hold this in as high regard as my being in the Rotary eClub or a Fulbright Scholar. I marvel at the idea that "At our core is the child."

- and of course, being honored to serve a second term as President/Chairman of a worldwide corp of dedicated individuals who serve Rotary and Rotary history: the Rotary Global History Fellowship is a constant blessing. We have recently added all the Rotary zones (with RGHF zone representatives in every district of the world) to our working board, which does administrative business at the end of each month with a 72-hour eMeeting. When I turn over the duties of that position in June 2009, I will take on my previous job again as a Peace Historian for the website which gets one million Rotarian visitors each year and now has 3000 pages of history on our site. I am being considered for a Lone Star College System Published Writing Award (five colleges make up the system) for work done on the RGHF website in 2007-2009 (which is one of those side blessings that come with service- "When you give, you always get").

Joe