Summary of the May 1st meeting

An interesting assignment with responses as varied as the group...surprise, surprise! Don's ten sentence story reflected on his experiences as a teacher with a female student who was challenging on many levels but who found her place in the school culture, herself and the world by the unusual vehicle of her safe sex presentation. A lot of this made possible with some nurturing and belief by Don. Years later, she invited him to her wedding and Univeresity grad. A touching story of connection and overcoming stigma and exclusion. Sue Shaw led us on an interesting journey with a letter from a certain Evelynn Rothschilds to the lesser 'vassals and serfs' to whom she shares her thoughts on many global issues and social commentary in a highly amusing fashion. Colin invited us in with his story about his ten fave authors gracing his bookshelves and how they had to earn their priveleged place there in his imagination with their wonderfully engaging characters and stories. Mike R. Read a close to real life story about a senior cadet in the Navy who had a dicey encounter at a Texan bar when he was on a break with his mates. A hot babe was involved, a threatening knife and rescue from his buddies. Truly a close encounter of the red neck kind. I shared a story about the life of a rock who was found by a young girl, brought home to her garden and her life and treasured by generations to come. We finished off with a writing exercise starting with the prompt,'If I had more energy I would...' The group responses included, 'gardening, singing, walking, learning, connecting with old friends,becoming an essayist, engaging in sports and fitness, pursuing dreams, cycle trips,and more!