Category: Miscellaneous

How to help save a life

At 14, a boy, so distressed by incessant bullying, took his own life. He left a note for his family and friends, reminding people how important it is to reach beyond labeling and intolerance.

At 14, a girl hanged herself; she looked for all intents and purposes to be a normal teen, active, involved, successful in school, but quietly feeling alone and hopeless.

At 13, another girl attempted suicide numerous times and then grew determined and leapt to her death; although she often seemed happy, in private she fought her own demons.

These youths, whose stories have been changed to protect families, came from different regions, but in many respects they all are “our children”—and we need to learn from their acts of desperation.

True dancing of stars ….

A little more than a year ago, All Saints Lutheran Church in northeast Baltimore city suffered a catastrophic fire. Fortunately, no one was injured.

As part of the recovery effort, Diakon Kathryn’s Kloset donated new office furniture to help re-equip the congregation for its continued mission in the urban neighborhood.

Wade Brown, executive director of Diakon Kathryn’s Kloset, and I attended the dedication a few weeks ago. It was a joyous event! The Delaware-Maryland Synod Bishop was present, there was special music, and the sanctuary was full.

During the offering of the chancel dance ensemble, power to the keyboard was disrupted and the music abruptly stopped!

Help stop bullying

I was bullied in elementary school. For some reason, in the area in which I grew up, political parties were a “big deal,” and my parents were members of the “wrong” party. I can recall to this day being made fun of on the playground because of that fact. It hurt. In fact, I also remember a day—I believe there was a presidential election underway at the time—on which the elementary-school band director asked everyone in the assembled band to raise their hands as to which political party they belonged to—this was in fourth or fifth grade! What he meant was: to which party do your parents belong? I was the only one, out of probably 50 or so children, who raised my hand for the one party.  I remember that scene even today, some 50 years later. Think bullying doesn’t have an effect? —A Diakon staff member

Does bullying concern you? Is your child being bullied? Is your child perhaps bullying others?

The “do’s and don’ts” of design

I was recently at a dinner party and the topics of gardening and native plants came up.

I mentioned the Diakon Wilderness Greenhouse and how the greenhouse and native plant nursery there support a good cause—Diakon Youth Services. I know a lot about the program because, as a freelance designer for Diakon, I had recently created several promotional items for the wilderness greenhouse’s grand reopening native plant sale.

Loving our neighbors… overseas

Diakon maintains the Love of The Neighbor fund, which provides additional paid “vacation” for staff members, who apply to the fund to help cover their service-related activities. The fund is one more way Diakon has impact beyond its direct care and service.

I was in the Baltic region in June on a humanitarian-focused mission project, during the summer solstice in both Lithuania and Latvia. Our mission group’s work is with orphanages, appropriate given Diakon’s history dating to two children’s homes in the 1800s.

Tougher than public speaking: Not taking the opportunity

“A gentleman – and a gentle man.

“A gentle man. He never drank a beer and never touched a cigarette, in his entire life. He was proud of that. He rarely swore and I remember only a few times when I was a child that he lost his temper.

“And a gentleman. He would awake in the middle of the night to provide medicine for a sick child—compare that with today’s health care—and though he grumbled a bit, he would get up from supper many, many evenings to fill prescriptions when a clerk in the drug store attached to our home would ring a bell.”

I wrote—and said—the above about my father.

Living, learning at lake brings reward, award

Living just down the road from Sweet Arrow Lake County Park in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, has been a blessing in so many ways.

The location has made it convenient for my husband, Barry, and me to take advantage of all the park has to offer. The facilities have served as gathering places for family reunions, a way to fish and kayak with friends, and geocaching—an outdoor recreational activity in which participants use a GPS mobile device or other navigational methods to hide and then seek containers—with our children.

The park also has served as a venue for learning how to plant a garden, worshiping at sunrise on Easter Sunday, and just taking a walk to the waterfalls with my Mom.

Senior living Q&A

Should we move?

How can I possibly begin to downsize?

What will I do if my health declines?

As older adults consider options in retirement, they often have questions and concerns. One of the major questions concerns where they should live. We asked admissions staff at a variety of Diakon Senior Living Communities for their input on the topic. Here are their combined answers:

The sign

A blog represents a compilation of various views on various subjects.

Sometimes, blog posts are educational, sometimes inspirational. At times, they’re focused on broad subjects with multiple opinions; at other times, they’re very personal, reflecting a particular view at a pivotal moment in life … as is the following post, written by Melissa Kindall of the Diakon Corporate Communications staff (and her daughter continues to do well).

The call that no parent ever wants to hear came Wednesday morning two weeks ago.

My 15-year-old daughter had gotten a ride home from field hockey practice with a friend. Her friend’s brother was driving when their car was T-boned by a truck.