I wonder why he said, “horrible feeling” ???

Hm-m-m…

My two favorite lines in that song are:

1. Lookin’ like a fool with your pants on the ground
2. Get your pants off the ground

That’s a great message. I hope this song makes an impression on today’s youth.

I read an article about sad songs on the yahoo website a week or so ago. It was entitled something like, “The Top 10 Saddest Songs.” I thought I book marked the page, but I guess I really didn’t. I tried to find it on the search engines and found many similar articles, but not the one I read on Yahoo. So I made my own list.

Some of the songs I listed are on other lists, but several songs on my list are not listed on the other lists I found. Here goes:

1. Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbi Gentry
2. Honey by Bobby Goldsboro
3. Patches by Dickey Lee
4. Tell Laura I Love Her by Ray Peterson
5. The Leader of the Pack by Shangri-Las
6. End of the World by Skeeter Davis
7. Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks
8. Alone Again by Gilbert O’Sullivan
9. Cat’s In The Cradle by Harry Chapin
10. Society’s Child By Janis Ian

This list is subject to change, but as of this date (December 2, 2008) this list is current.

Remembering Sister Emily

February 4, 2007, Sister Emily Hurter, an absolute delight, will celebrate her 100th birthday. Benedictines, students, family and friends will join Sister with wonderful festivities by sharing fascinating memories. I asked sister if I could interview her. Sister with her engaging sense of humor asked, “What will you do with the interview?”

“I’ll share it with all our parents in preparation for the celebration,” I explained.

“What if I die before February 4?” she asked.

“Just don’t,” I responded.

Barbara Hurter was the daughter of John Lewis and Maud Hurter. The family lived in Ochiltree County, Texas where Barbara was born in a home, half of which was a dug-out. She had eight brothers and sisters and loving parents who were dedicated, skilled farmers. Barbara’s father was able to purchase an abandoned one room schoolhouse, attach it to the dug out, and convert it into a kitchen. When Barbara was five years old when a prairie fire burned their home down.

She and her sisters enjoyed attending a two-room school house in Huntoon, Texas. Barbara attended high school in Perryton, Texas while she lived with her sister, Inez, and cared for her sister’s new baby.

Barbara and her sister, Vivian, attended Catholic College in Guthrie OK. While attending school, Barbara felt God calling her to the religious life and she was filled with the desire to be a sister. She wrote her mother that she wanted to enter the convent. Little did Barbara know that her sister Vivian had written her parents the same thing! Barbara’s mom told them to come home for a few weeks and visit about their future.

Eventually, they both entered the convent and not too long after this, two of their sisters, joined them. Sister made perpetual vows in 1931. The four sisters from the Hurter home were: Sister Emily, Sister Bernadette, Sister Mary Ellen and Sister Isabelle.

Sister Emily remembers World War I as frightening. Her brothers were too young to serve; however, they really wanted to fight for their country.

Sister was both teacher and principal in Catholic Schools for 55 years. Her teaching brought her all over Oklahoma: St. Mary’s in Guthrie, St. Francis Xavier in Tulsa, St. Joseph Orphanage in Bethany, Marquette in Tulsa, St. Michael’s in Henryetta, St. John’s in McAlester and Monte Cassino in Tulsa.
A splendid Monte Cassino math teacher, Sister Emily is quoted as saying, “No one can get very far in life without math!” Students recall that no one taught math like Sister Emily. She was kind, gentle and deeply caring about each student. If an eighth grader didn’t learn math one way, she taught it another. Spending time before, after or weekends with youngsters and mathematics was part of her mission. Eventually every student was a star!

Sister Emily remembers one youngster, now Sister Agatha, as volunteering to clean erasers for her. “Clap them together, not on the building,” Sister Emily would admonish. Today both sisters laugh at a “clapping eraser” duty which has vanished from many schools. Former students, nieces, nephews and long-time friends enjoy visiting with this dear sister who comes to prayers and meals daily and entertains her Benedictine Sisters royally!

When asked about her life as a Benedictine, Sister Emily considered, “Being a sister has surely brought me closer to God.” “Now, Sister Agatha, that’s my statement, don’t you go using it!” Sister Emily teased with a glint in her eye!

“What advice would you give to others?” I asked.

“Do all things for God and everything else will fall into place,” she reflected. Sister says this with faith because this is exactly how she lives her life.

Sr. Emily Hurter

Sister Emily was 100 years and 7 months old at the time of her death. I found out about her passing from this life to the next at approximately 8 am, five hours or so after the fact. I was stunned. Even though her years were many, she was alert, coherent, friendly, talkative, and as smart as she could be. She still had a heart to save souls. She always questioned my right standing in the Catholic Church. She wanted to know if my children were baptized in the Catholic Church and she wanted to know if me and Pete (my husband) were married in the Catholic Church. Her concern was sincere. She wanted to make sure everything was spiritually okay within my family.

Sister Emily loved to tell me about her three sisters who also became nuns. She had a big photo of Sister Mary Ellen on the wall in her room. Sister Emily and her sister Mary Ellen both joined the Benedictine Sisters in Guthrie at the same time and the younger two sisters joined the monastery later.

Sister Emily is near and dear to my heart. Every day that I didn’t have to go to work, I would tell my husband to check on her for me and let me know how she’s doing.

The reason for my concern stemmed from a conversation between me and Sister Emily about three weeks prior to her death. She told me, “I don’t know why I’m still here on earth. My work here is complete.” In fact, she said those words to me on at least three separate occasions.

My heart is broken. I know she’s in a better place where there is no sickness, sorrow, sadness, or pain. She has a new glorified body, she’s in the presence of the Lord, and she joined all those who went before her. However, I will still miss her and think about her often. I am sad because she had become a part of my life and now she’s no longer here.

I will always have a place in my heart for Sister Emily. Her life truly made a difference in other people’s lives…

including mine.

HURTER – Sr. Emily (Barbara), died peacefully on Friday, September 21, 2007 at age 100, fulfilling 81 years as a Benedictine Sister. Born in 1907, in Ochiltree County in the Texas panhandle to Maud and John Hurter, Sr. Emily was the fifth of ten children. She graduated from high school in Perryton, TX and attended college at Catholic College of Oklahoma, operated by the Benedictine Sisters of Guthrie, Oklahoma. Sr. Emily entered St. Joseph Monastery in Guthrie on March 19, 1926 along with her sister, Vivian (Sr. Bernadette). Eventually, two younger sisters also joined the community in Guthrie, Marie (Sr. Isabelle) and Elizabeth (Sr. Mary Ellen).

Sr. Emily began a 55 year teaching career in 1928. She taught at St. Francis School in Tulsa, St. John’s School in McAlester, Marquette School in Tulsa, St. Joseph Orphanage in Bethany, St. Michael’s School in Henryetta and Monte Cassino School in Tulsa. She was an excellent math teacher and also served as principal. She served her community in a variety of capacities, most notably by her wise counsel, her devotion to Benedictine life and her dedication to prayer.

In February 2007, Sr. Emily’s family joined her community in celebrating Sr. Emily’s 100th birthday. Many friends and former students joined in this celebration. The Benedictine Sisters want to acknowledge the tremendous devotion of Sr. Emily’s many nieces and nephews who survive her.

A Rosary Vigil will be held 7 p.m., Monday, September 24, with the Mass of Christian Burial Tuesday, September 25, at 10:30 a.m. Both services will be held at the Marian Chapel, St. Joseph Monastery, 2200 S. Lewis Ave. A special word of thanks to the health care staff of St. Joseph Monastery, for their loving dedication to Sr. Emily, to Dr. David Griffiths for his years of compassionate care of Sr. Emily and to the staff of St. John’s ICU for their kindness and sympathy.

This is a very interesting article with photos about torrential rains, overflowing creeks, mudslides, and the unusual things found in the mud.

Summer sunsets are brilliant with colors of purples, reds, and oranges breathing their rays of light into the horizon. God’s beauty transends all else. He is the painter of the sky.

Take time from each day of your life to nourish your spirit. Take a few moments of your time to be grateful for what you have and for the good things in life. Forgive past hurts and wrongs done to you.

Let go of the things that hinder you from moving on in life. Be free from the unnecessary baggage that weighs you down and causes worry and depression. Let go of it. Put your cares, worries, and depression into a balloon and let it fly away. Let your problems fly to Jesus. You don’t need them anymore.

Once you cast your cares, worries, anxieties, and depression upon Jesus, you will experience peace — the peace that only Jesus can give.

“And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:7

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 Amplified

“I leave peace with you; I give *my* peace to you: not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it fear.” John 14:27 Darby

So accept peace of mind and peace in your heart, the peace that is beyond anything the things of this world can give. Experience the peace that only Jesus can give.

“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
— Albert Einstein, Genius.

4:6 Be anxious for nothing. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God.

4:7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4:6-7

The peace of God will guard your heart.

The reconstruction and repairs were finally completed this week. It took about four months to finish the updates to the house.

Mother doesn’t live in the house though. She rents it to my daughter and granddaughter.

Living in Oklahoma, I never did get to see first hand, the damage that was done. And the only photos of the destruction I ever received were black and white enlargements that were printed with a computer printer on plain paper. Needless-to-say, I couldn’t make heads or tails of the photos.

Then one day, when my eighteen year old granddaughter came over to visit, and showed me the myspace of my twenty year old granddaughter who lived in the house at the time it burned. She had a photo slide show of pictures of the house both inside and out posted to her myspace. She also has music on her space. That music is a song by Regina Spektor entitled, “Fidelity.” That was the first time I had ever heard the song and the singer.

Immediately upon hearing “Fidelity,” I fell in love with Regina Spektor’s original style. This song is so alive it’s got to have her very soul in it.

After hearing it, I began searching the internet to hear more of her songs and I came across, “Begin To Hope.” Spektor really has talent. Her somewhat raspy voice mixed in with her somewaht classical background music are a perfect blend.

Her sound is both whiney and mopey. You will hear sadness and joy in this young Russian girl’s voice. She sets a mood with her songs–a sad or depressed mood.

“Fidelity” is a great song, but her songs really aren’t upbeat enough to make a regular diet of them.

Spektor was six years old when her parents made her take classical music lessons. Her mother was a music teacher and her father was a violin player.

She started out singing solo in cafes, but once Anthony Zuiker heard her sing, her music became the soundtracks for television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and CSI Miama.

“When you’re playing such brilliant music every day, then the last thing you ever want to do is try to write something of your own that’s crude and not as good,” she said.