As some of you may know, Ursula, our beloved member of the Gratefulness Community passed away on July 31. In the Gratitude Lounge many of us are struggling deeply with this. It almost feels disrespectful to Ursula to call her passing a challenging experience. But I certainly do feel challenged. Actually, I am grieving.
I am reminded to appreciate my life and to appreciate family, friends and the children that I teach.
Ursula was very devoted to St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and nature. Pilgrim, another member of the Gratefulness Community is looking into St Francis. I plan to do the same.
Ursula was very dear to me and I am missing her.
I guess the best that I can do is to try to be present in each moment, give love and kindness freely, and to live my life in an intentional way.
I send love and peace to all.
Mary

Yes Palm, it is good to connect with each other. It feels bittersweet to me- so good to connect with each of you, dear friends, but sad to be doing so without Ursula.
Thank you Palm for reminding me to let go.
The first line in your friends prayer about putting worries into the hands of the God reminded me of the refrain from the hymn
Eagle’s Wing’s by Fr. Jim O’Connor.

“ And he will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of his hands.”
I find that to be comforting.

Thank you for sharing your friend’s prayer, Palm.
It is beautiful and very helpful.
I will copy it into my journal.
I will also go back and copy Diane’s great poem
“She Let Go” into my journal.
I love that, and meant to copy it
when Diane shared it.
I find it to be very inspiring.

Thanks also Palm for the idea
of watching a comedy tonight.
Laughing sounds so good!
Thank you so much dear Palm
for everything.
Peace to everyone.
I care about all of you so very much!
Mary. 💕💕💕

💕Dear Michele,💕
I am thinking of you too.
I can only imagine how hard
losing Ursula has been for you.
I am also wondering how hard keeping
up with your puppy Finnegan
over this hot summer has been for you.
If I could do something to help you
I would do it in a minute.
I just want you to know
how much I care about you.
I hope you are getting
any help you need and
are taking care of your
💕lovely lovely self.💕
We love you Michele.
I love you.
I am missing you
I am sending you my love.
I will light a virtual candle
for you on this site.
I send you all my love and
I will pray for you each day.
Mary💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

will keep it

Dear Palm,
I am glad to hear you related to much of what I wrote. When I wrote, it just felt natural and I wrote as thoughts came to me. As I often do, I wondered later if I should have toned it down. I am glad to hear you related to much of what I said. I also knew Ursula was quite sick, but she wrote in regularly so I just thought she would continue to do so. I knew she was sick, yet I was so shocked when her husband wrote in to say she had passed.
I too, Palm am feeling more and more close to the members of our gratefulness community. I used to feel like maybe I don’t really belong but I don’t feel that way anymore.
It is so interesting how I have come to care so much for the wonderful people in our community, even though none of us have met in person.
Thank you Palm for being open with your feelings. and for always caring for and encouraging others in this community. It is so good to know you and to read your thoughts. I appreciate you very much.
Sending my love.
Mary

Thank you dear Pilgrim for this sharing. I agree with you that Ursula brought us more fully into our circle of sharing. Ursula surely helped to bring us together. I feel like I belong here so much more since we started our common prayer day. I am so grateful for everyone here. And I am so grateful to you dear Pilgrim. You have such helpful insights. I can see why you were in ministry and I can only imagine how many people you have helped. I always feel so warmly received by you and am always interested to hear your thoughts on various ideas. I am also always interested in hearing how you are doing. I know that the aftermath of your surgery has been so challenging. I think I take my hands for granted. I am reminded to be grateful for my hands, my arms, my legs, my feet and for my whole body.
I like your idea of looking into St. Francis. I will do the same. I love that he was such a lover of animals. I also love the way that Ursula loved Sunny. I remember she was at first concerned that although her boys wanted a dog, she would be the one taking care of him. And then she ended up enjoying him so much.
Blessings to you dear Pilgrim. You add so much to the gratitude lounge with your wisdom and your great kindness. I want you to know how much I appreciate you.
I am sending you my love.
Mary