Mom’s Memorial Video

Project Linus: My Security Blanket :)

Project Linus is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children in need by creating beautiful hand-crafted blankets. This is a story of how I came to learn of this wonderful organization:

My mother died last year, and as I was going through her house, picking out the mementos that I wanted to keep to remember her by, I came across a blanket that her cousin, Anita Blackman, had recently sent her. It had a Kokopelli pattern, a Pueblo character who plays the flute that I have always liked. This blanket, along with other items that I had picked that day, became very special to me.

I was to perform her memorial and graveside service in upstate New York, but having never done anything like that before, there were details that I hadn’t thought through. As I was making last-minute preparations, running through the service in my mind, I realized that I didn’t quite know how the urn was going to be lowered into the ground. Uh-Oh! Then I remembered the blanket and how it had tassels along the edges that would be easy to grip. “But i’d have to give up my blanket!!!”, I thought.

I wasn’t sure how my cousin would feel about this, so I called her and asked if it would be okay. That’s when she explained that she had made the blanket as a member of Project Linus and about the group of ladies who get together for fellowship, fun and making blankets for children who are in need of comfort. How absolutely fitting for my mother to be laid to rest wrapped in this blanket of love! I instructed my siblings to lower the urn and then to be sure to cover it with the blanket!

Today, I picked up my mail and received a package from my cousin. It was another Linus blanket, to replace the one that I returned to mom. This one has horses and mountains and trees on it. The scene is exactly how I would picture heaven to be. It is draped over the back of my couch and will always give me comfort and remind me of where she is now. I may be 42 years old…but everyone who has a parent is still a child.

Saturday, February 20, 2010 is “Make a Blanket Day”. Please visit their web site at www.projectlinus.org, and learn about this wonderful organization! Thanks Anita! And thanks to the “blanketeers” of Project Linus!

Hello World! White Words on a White Canvas

As I went to write my first blog, there were the words staring me right in the face….”Hello World”. Mr. WordPress, as he evidently calls himself, provided me with a sample, just a couple words to get me off and running. Thanks, Mr. WordPress, you will always be special to me! That’s exactly what I want to say!  Just “hello”.  How are you today?  I began typing in the box and it said….nothing!  I soon discovered that I was writing in a white font on a white background.  How fitting? So many of us here in the world…screaming, just wanting to be heard, white words on a white canvas. But it only takes one person to listen in order for you to be heard. Just one person, and the words don’t change, only the canvas. Thank you my friend, Beth Deines, for always believing in me, for listening to all my crazy ideas, believing that I can do it…for helping me to change the color of my canvas!. The gift you gave me through listening was courage.

I am a lover of biographies.  I watch the Biography channel, and their tag line is “every life has a story”.  I love that!  I love to hear about what drives people and motivates them to accomplish great things.  I have noticed lately that the people I admire most tend to weave their personality into their professional life.  I admire people who have a passion for what they do…I think it’s the key to their success.  I decided to call my blog Lory Story, well…because it rhymes! And not because it’s about “me”…but more like “a Lory story…”, a story about things and people that inspire me in the context of business. Don’t we need more of that?

So even though this is going to be a place for my “professional” blogs,  i’m going to start off with an old favorite that I wrote on New Years Day 2007, much as you start out a meal with a prayer.  It’s something that i’ve come back to time and time again as a reminder, and it never changes.  If this were the prevailing mantra, what kind of world would it be?

My New Year’s “Revelation”

Resolution. Resolve. White Knuckles. Jan 4th.

Revelation. Reveal. Expanded Thought. Dec 31st.

I will feel successful if I can make even the smallest amount of progress in becoming the person I want to be. I will only feel unsuccessful if I give up on that. This is who I want to be:

I will be successful at life each time I find small ways to make a difference, even to just one stranger for one fleeting moment. I will be successful at life as I come to a better understanding each day of what I value, for that is what I will have. I will be successful at life when I find something good in a situation, because that is the first rung on the ladder to something better. I will be successful at life when I take time to have a laugh, to appreciate something previously taken for granted, to give a complement, or to do something outrageous!

I will be successful at work as I give each day my best, knowing that although no task is “impossible”, not every task is worth sacrificing what I value more. I will be successful at work if I can focus on those things that are wildly important first, leave the rest, and go home!

I will be successful with my health when I do my best to eat and drink in order to nourish my body, and to splurge on occasion because I deserve it! I will be successful with my health if I at least got some exercise yesterday. If not yesterday, then definitely today!

I will be successful with my emotions if I pay attention to how I feel and why, and know that no one can *rock my boat* unless I let them. I will be successful with my emotions if I can learn to ask myself the right questions, knowing that the answers lie within, and that they will come. “What is good about this?”, or “What is funny about this?” will provide answers that make me feel just a little bit better.

I will be successful with my soul if I take even a few minutes to relax and clear my mind, go for a walk, read something inspirational, write a blog, turn off the TV. I will be successful with my soul as I come a little closer to understanding who I truly am, and my connection to the universe and all that is.

I will be successful at love when I can love and accept myself, because that will allow me to be loving and accepting of others. I will surround myself and focus my energy on those who love me for who I am and I will love them for who they are. I will be successful at love by recognizing those who are deserving of the tender places and trust them completely, and also understanding that loving someone “unconditionally” sometimes needs to take place from a distance. I will be successful at friendship as I strive to *be* the friend that I would like to have.

Live with joy…and enjoy my blogs!

Lory