Super Bowl Update

I wanted to give a quick shout out to my friend Tommy Kail as he opens his new show, Lombardi, on Broadway this evening. Tommy's an awesome guy and I can't wait to see the show! Lombardi is a play about football legend Vince Lombari and stars Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years! We Love Him!) as Lombardi, and Judith Light (Who's the Boss! Ugly Betty! L&O SVU! We Love Her TOO!) as his wife Marie. Such great casting!

The show sounds really cool and I'm sure TK did a phenomenal job directing it. TK is a apparently a Redskins fan (huhbutwhat??) but I won't hold it against him, or question his taste level (Go PATS!). He wrote a little piece about the show that you can read at GQ (and while you're there, there might be some soft core photography of the Glee Cast to look at. If you're interested in that sort of thing.)

Break a leg tonight, Lombardi team! I'd give some kind of motivational speech, but you've already kinda got the market cornered on those.

Date: Friday, August 20, 2010, 8:20 AM

Hi Renee & Margaret:

I just wanted to thank both of you for all the compliments I got at the APA conference. One of my best friends once said that I always wore the same thing to APA. So, the last 2 years, I’ve tried to “be better.”

On the first day of this year’s conference, I wore the cute blue/plaid sundress with the white sweater that I bought a month or so ago. My friend loved it and asked where I got it. I explained Renee's and how Margaret took me there a year or so ago.

The next day, I wore a black top and black/white skirt that I bought at your store on my first visit. Both top and skirt are “flowy.” The reversible skirt is “silky” and the black top has “J-Lo” (or Cher) sleeves. Again, she loved it.

The third day, I wore the cool tan-capri pant, tan tank, and animal-esque print sweater I bought this spring. She was blown away…loved it.

The fourth day (the last day we dressed nicely), I wore the bright pink/white skirt and pink sweater. Again…she was very impressed. So much so that she said (several times), “When I come to Seattle for the Multi-cultural summit in January…we will go there.” So, we will be there in January…and I will probably e-mail ahead to make sure we arrive at a time you are in the store.

I got compliments everywhere I went. Thanks to you, Margaret, for introducing me to the store. And thanks to you Renee, for all the time you spend in helping me find stuff that looks great. I’ve never been much of a fashionista, and your opinions seem to work very well for me! Lynette

Lynette H. Bikos, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology
Director of Research
Seattle Pacific University

Martha note: Gail was a member of the last happy band of folks to take my JMU Lifelong Learning Institute's class on personal essay writing. As we were all of  "a certain age," the  final assignment was to write about the "unfinished business" in our lives.

As all of either have health struggles or love someone who does, I thought you might perchance be moved by Gail's attitude toward her own.

photographs just don't capture the real Gail!

Just before the alarm sounds I roll upright and stretch my feet to the floor.

I am alive to start the day. I am grateful and I am thoughtful.

It takes twelve steps for the bones in my feet to click into the positions that make walking possible, and by then I am ready to find the pills that keep my motor running. Without the pills I slow steadily. Without the pills, my metabolism will eventually become too slow to keep me upright for more than an hour without a matching hour of sleep for recovery.

Though I do not like to compare myself, or my challenges, to others, I am completely aware that every moment I am alive is a gift. I have almost died a few times.

I often think about it and wonder if the repeating of near-death events is because I didn’t get the message the first time. 

Now, -- though I am not confident of having gotten the message, -- I AM grateful to be alive.

I don’t have any grudges or hard feelings to resolve. I make an effort to be available and kind to people who do have grudges or hard feelings, especially if those things are about me.

I don’t have a list of things I want to do. Each time I almost died I didn’t regret what I hadn’t done, or yearn for a trip, activity, or experience. Instead, I affirmed that doing is not what living is about for me.  Being is.

So I bargained with God for time to be with my children, time to be a better person, time to be present to everyone in my circle of living. God has given me time each time I came to the door. 
For that response, I am grateful.

I take my pills to keep moving. I take fifteen minutes afterward, every day, to sit and appreciate the time I have been given, the family I love, the world and its beauty. And then I take another 15 to dream of fun things  -- like living at the ocean, or driving a sports car fast. I imagine doing really big art every day, or playing cards for hours with my children. I think about the charities I admire and how I can do more than give money.

I am thoughtful and I am grateful. That is my business. 

It is not unfinished, but it must be done.

--Gail Napora lives north of the 'burg and spends most of the spring and summer catching butterflies with her camera. The Short- form class introduced a new way of 'seeing' and 'saying' that is sure to influence everything she does.

Martha note# 2: Thanks to Alexis Hart and everyone else at VMI for all the rousing conversations yesterday about writing. And thanks to everyone who listens to WMRA who came to last night's talk.

We are proud to be raising money for two new charities- Michigan Special Olympics and Operation Smile! The Michigan Special Olympics has over 18,000 athletes that participate in its events each year, and we are sponsoring an athlete for the State Ply Hockey Finals in November. The Special Olympics provide people with intellectual disabilities with an opportunity to compete in a friendly, yet competitive way. For more information about the Special Olympics, visit their website at http://www.somi.org/index.php.

Our company is also determined to raise $3,000 for the Operation Smile charity by the end of the year! Operation Smile provides free surgeries to repair cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities for children around the globe. Our donations help send doctors to countries where desperate children are waiting to be healed. Keep up with our progress by visiting out Operation Smile webpage: http://bit.ly/bLgjhW.

We have lots of ideas for fun ways to raise money for our Operation Smile challenge. Our next event is a poker tournament where all the buy-in money will be donated to the charity and the winner of the tournament will receive an iPad that will be provided by DBC! So sharpen up your poker skills and get ready for the upcoming tournament!

George Marshall, VMI Class of 1901

Martha note: As soon as I finish keeping Bob Leweke company during Morning Edition (asking you to call 1-800-677-9672), I am jumping into my car and heading to Lexington to spend the day at VMI talking with various groups about the National Day of Writing. Tonight, I will give a talk (open to the public)  in the Pogue Auditorium, which is part of the George C. Marshall Museum.

About General Marshall:

Referring to then Secretary of State Colin Powell, President George W. Bush said the following to the George C. Marshall ROTC Award Seminar on National Security at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in April 2002:

“Only one other Army general has gone on to serve as Secretary of State, and that was George Marshall himself — VMI's highest-ranking cadet in the Class of 1901. As Army chief of staff, General Marshall became the architect of America's victory in the Second World War. He fought tenaciously against our enemies, and then worked just as hard to secure the peace.”

My beloved mother-in law died last year and so my husband and his family have been slowly clearing out her house so that it can be sold. Charlie recently brought home a box of his father's papers. Carroll Woodroof was a Captain in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Among his papers was a copy of a letter from Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall that accompanied his discharge.

To me, General Marshall's message about leadership is as relevant today as it was back in the mid-Forties. And I thought you'd enjoy reading it.

ON this occasion, in your last formation as members of the Armed Forces, it is fitting that you should receive the following message from the Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshal.

“You are being discharged from the Army today – from your Army. It is your Army because your skill and your patriotism, your labor and courage and devotion have been some of the factors which make it great. You have been a member of the finest military team in history. You have accomplished miracles in battle and supply. Your country is proud of you and you have every right to be proud of yourselves.

“You have seen, in the lands where you worked and fought and where many of your comrades died, what happens when the people of a nation lost interest in their government. You have seen what happens when they follow false leaders. You have seen what happens when a nation accepts hate and intolerance.

“We all are determined that what happened in Europe and in Asia must not happen to our country. Back in civilian life you will find that your generation will be called upon to guide our country’s destiny. Opportunity for leadership is yours. The responsibility is yours. The nations which depended on your courage and stamina to protect it from its enemies now expects you as individuals to claim your right of leadership, a right which you earned honorably and which is well deserved.

“Start being a leader as soon as you put on your civilian clothes. If you see intolerance and hate, speak out against them. Make your individual voices heard, not for selfish things, but for honor and decency among men, for the rights of all people.

“Remember, too, that NO American can afford to be disinterested in any part of his government, whether it is county, city, state, or nation.

“Choose your leaders wisely – that is the way to keep ours the country for which you fought. Make sure that those leaders are determined to maintain peace throughout the world. You know what war is. You know that we must not have another. As individuals you can prevent it if you give to the task which lies ahead the same spirit which you displayed in uniform.

“Accept that trust and the challenge which it carries. I know that the people of America are counting on you. I know that you will not let them down.

“Goodbye to each and every one of you and to each and every one of you good luck!”

STEP UP and GET INVOVLED!!!!This year the Chamberlain Student Center, Rec Center, Dance Extensions and the Rowan Dance Team will be celebrating LOVE YOUR BODY Day on Thursday, October 21st from 9:00am-7:00pm on the main floor of the Student Center.Come in and make the pledge stating that you LOVE YOUR BODY by signing our poster! Get a FREE! LOVE YOUR BODY wristband, and information on body image,