Dear Friends and Community,
The picture is of my mom and me…along time ago. I am not sure of the year, or our ages. She passed 25 years ago this February. I miss seeing her in the flesh, but she is always with me, near me, and I talk to her as if she were in the room, because I feel she is. I adored her and still do. Her name was Rose.
She was wild. She cursed often and gambled like crazy. She was very funny. She was her own person, even if it seemed it was the wrong person to be. She loved unconditionally. She gave all of what she had to give. If you were sick, she had remedies from another time that seemed from another world. She was misunderstood by many, and it took me a long time as well to discover her. I am still discovering her.
I will share more down the page after the weeks schedule and some announcements.
Announcements:
Nick will soon be given a new surgery date. This will change my class schedule. I will do my best to notify anyone who has preregistered of any changes via email.
Reiki Sessions and other events offered by Myra:
Reiki Master Practitioner /Shinpiden Reiki Master starting sunday, March 8, 15, or 20
Saturday March 15 at 12:30 to 1:45PM Gurdjieff meeting.
Sunday March 30 ~ 1 to 3PM ~ Reiki Share
Please contact Myra Reichel at 610-348-5698
Sunday March 16 ~ 10 to 11 AM ~ rise and Shine Yoga (https://www.heartspacemedia.com/events/mindful-yoga-2025-03-16/)
Monday Mar 17 ~ 6 to 7:15 PM ~ Monday Meditation (https://www.heartspacemedia.com/events/meditation-for-beginners-5-classes-25-2025-03-17/)
Tuesday March 18 ~ 6:30 to 7:30 PM ~ Sacred Word and Mantra Meditation (https://www.heartspacemedia.com/events/sacred-word-and-mantra-meditation-2/)
Thursday March 20 ~ 7 to 8:30 PM ~ True River Sangha (https://www.heartspacemedia.com/events/true-river-sangha-2-2025-03-20/)
Friday March 21 ~ 7 to 8:30 PM ~ Heart Space Drum Circle (https://www.heartspacemedia.com/events/heart-space-drum-circle-2-2025-03-21/)
Sunday March 23 ~ 10 to 11AM ~ Rise and Shine Yoga (https://www.heartspacemedia.com/events/mindful-yoga-2025-03-23/)
Events Upcoming:
Wednesday March 26 ~ 6:30 to 9 PM ~ Soul HeART Creation (https://www.heartspacemedia.com/events/soul-heart-creation-4/)
Sunday April 6 ~ 2 to 4 PM ~ Women’s Ways Circle (https://www.heartspacemedia.com/events/womens-ways-circle-2025-04-13/)
Her Name was Rose…
This week she has been with me a lot and one story came through my memory that I felt I wanted to tell, because it helped me to realize, that while she claimed no belief in God that she would ever talk about, and never went to church, her life moved faithfully towards something, she always trusted things the way they were, carried hope for best outcomes, and good hearts to win the day. It was not a matter of belief at all, she knew something, and lived by it.
We lived in South Philly, 739 Tree St. where there was not a tree to be found. We bought Bond bread from off the truck that came daily daily down the street. And Bond, at some point, made cream donuts, which my mom bought. Inside the cream donut that she bit into, was a piece of wood, thicker than a toot pick, and broken with a jagged edge, that broke her tooth and cut her mouth. She was glad it was her and not one us, I was one of four, and especially not my sister Angelina, my moms first, who was Down Syndrome.
Of course she told the truck driver what happened. He told her to write to the company. She did, over and over again. It was not imaginable to her that they did not care. She kept that donut with the wood inside wrapped in tin foil, with the tooth that had to be pulled, in a kitchen cabinet for a very long time. It may have been 10 years. She just wanted a response.
Of course she didn’t get a lawyer. She just hoped that at some point someone at the Bond Bread Company would do the right thing, which I am not sure what that was for her. Maybe pay for the tooth that she had to have pulled? Take some responsibility for hurting someone? Acknowledge it? She didn’t talk about much. But she kept writing and nothing ever happened. She would share the story, and have show and tell with the donut and the piece of wood wrapped in tin foil,and her tooth, carefully placed in the kitchen cabinet. She would curse the Bond Bread Company and I think we bought Wonder bread from then on.
And then, one day, years after the event, she got a letter, with an apology, a check for $10 and coupons for Bond bread. She never cashed the check, or used the coupons. They were now part of the story, and went into the kitchen cabinet with the donut, the piece of wood, the tooth, all in the tin foil. Yet, she felt validated that someone heard her and responded. Someone cared. Someone took responsibility, however weak, to allow her to know that she was right to expect a response. Her sense of justice was satisfied. Her trust in better outcomes, and a good heart to save the day, was blessed. And honestly, I feel sure she would never use these words.
But I got to know her pretty well and I am confident is my assessment of her being faithful to something. She was no saint at all yet she offered a genuine presence. In her own way she took care of what needed her care and attention. She was who she was. I loved her realness yet did not always agree with her thinking. I was a hippie, and she was a Italian Mama. We had some challenging times, but we always found our way to love.
So many stories of Rosie in the archives of my heart, this was one I almost forgot. Not sure even how it came to be remembered. I was just making the bed and there she was wanting me to remember the cream donut in the kitchen cabinet story. In it is a story of justice, hope, trust and faith. In some way it is very relevant today.
Peace and blessings,
Denise Yocco
Heart Space at Seven Stones
