Guest Bloggers – Page 20 – Disney Leadership Keynote Speaker

Guest Blogger Lorie Sheffer, Worry Wart

Cat playing on pool cover in melted ice — Winter worrying (photo: Lorie Sheffer)

Old habits are hard to break. Even when you think you’ve banished them, they tend to make a return appearance on occasion. They will eagerly slip back into our life if we open the door and ask them to join us.

For some reason, stray cats love me. Every so often, I will look out and there will be one or more, looking in the window as if there is some neon sign beckoning them: Food, Water and Kind Words; All Stray Cats Welcome; Inquire Within.

A few weeks ago The Brothers came to visit. They are two lovely gray males, surely displaced or dumped by their owners. I’ve posted their photos, hoping to find someone who would be willing to adopt them.

Winter in this part of Pennsylvania has been mercifully mild this year. March is here, and so the days will naturally become warmer and the nights less frigid. Still, there is the possibility of some wintry weather. In fact one of the biggest blizzards in memory came to us one March. And so one night last week, as I struggled to get to sleep, my own two cats (former strays, of course) snuggled into bed between my husband and me, I worried about The Brothers. Sleet pelted the windows and I could hear the wind slamming the branches of our magnolia tree into the side of the house. I came downstairs and looked out into the empty shelter. I scanned the yard for possible places where a cat or two could find a dry spot to spend the night. I didn’t sleep well, worrying the cats were wet and cold. The next morning I sat over my coffee, wondering where they were, anxious to make eye contact. Soon the strays appeared on the deck, knowing that breakfast would be served. I warmed their food, thinking it would take the chill off. Wind blew through their fur as they gratefully gobbled down two cans of the warmed cat food. At about eleven AM the sun came out, thawing the ice on our pool cover and turning it into a giant puddle. The water level beneath was so high that it was coming up through the mesh.

I showered and got ready to run errands. When I looked into the back yard, I saw them; The Brothers, those furry, sweet boys I had lost sleep over, were sitting in the puddle of icy water. How cold must it be? Yet they played in it all day, till just before sunset. They stepped on the cover and then jumped in the puddles as they formed around their paws. Once again, the old habit of worry had knocked on my door and I had more than willingly allowed it to enter. I sat puffy eyed and in need of a nap, watching those cats run and play in the icy water.

Guest blogger Lorie Sheffer, Lead by example

Children learn from adults. They learn by example. Their sense of what is normal and what is acceptable comes from their environment. I’ve always felt that children have the right to question the rules and question authority, so long as they do so in a respectful way. They should also understand that questioning a rule doesn’t necessarily change that rule.

Debate clubs and teams are a wonderful way for older kids to learn the art of respectful disagreement. In fact, most school debate teams will have the student make a case for both sides of an issue, in an effort for them to understand the opposition.

Riding with my grandson, we passed a car covered in bumper stickers. Most of them were political in nature. The only words I can put in this post without it turning from G or PG rated to R rated would be “idiot” and “stupid”. My grandson is soon going to be 13 years old. He read the stickers and laughed. Then he commented about how, when someone really has no facts to back up their hatred or displeasure, they will resort to name-calling. It’s pretty much a standard playground tactic used during elementary school recesses. I see the same tactics used in Facebook posts and during what are supposed to be adult discussions. Imagine going for a job interview and being told, “Get out, you’re stupid.” End of story. Not, “I’m sorry, but for these reasons we don’t feel you are qualified for this job.” That’s the difference between treating someone with respect or not. We don’t have to agree with someone, like someone or even respect someone to treat him or her respectfully.

Our children are watching us. They are listening to us. They are observing how we treat others. Not just those with whom we agree, but those with whom we disagree. If they treat people with whom they disagree in a disrespectful way, if they call them names, if they become bullies, perhaps the reason can be found if we take a look in the mirror.

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Guest Blogger Lorie Sheffer, Hero Worship

Philadelphia on a rainy night (photo: Lorie Sheffer)

It’s happened again. A fallen hero is in the news. Olympic “Blade Runner”, Oscar Pristorius stands accused of shooting and killing his girlfriend, lawyer/model Reeva Steenkamp. People are shocked; they are in a state of disbelief.

I live in South Central Pennsylvania, where Penn State football is almost the regional religion. Last year, the support for Joe Paterno began with the force of a wildfire and it continues to this day. People “KNEW Joe Pa”. Granted, they had never actually met or had any type of personal contact with the late coach, but they “KNEW and LOVED” the man. What did he know? I don’t know, because he was a stranger to me.

Lance Armstrong was a national hero for years, all the while lying about doping and actually threatening legal action against his accusers. John Edwards was by all accounts a decent family man. He also just happened to have fathered a child with his mistress while his now deceased wife was undergoing cancer treatments.

We all feel like we KNOW these famous athletes, actors, singers, religious leaders and politicians. We step to their defense if stand accused of a crime or a dramatic slip, ignoring any and all evidence that leans toward their guilt.

And yet……… How many times have we been shocked by something a close friend has done? How many people do we know whose marriage has fallen victim to betrayal? If people who we actually do know, actually do interact with, can sometimes do something we find totally out of character, then why do we feel as if we intimately KNOW what a total stranger will or will not do or be capable of?

Maybe we long for someone who is beyond reproach. Maybe we are projecting what we wish these mortals were, instead of understanding that they are human beings with human failings; human beings with sometimes superhuman talents and abilities, but humans all the same. Sometimes they aren’t very heroic at all. Maybe instead of trying to create a hero in a total stranger, we should strive to BE more of what we are searching for.

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Guest blogger Lorie Sheffer: Courage 2

Over the course of the past three weeks, I spent a few hours in the Cancer Center of my home city. Thankfully, I was not there to accompany a family member or friend for the reason the name implies. Other services are provided for less serious illness, and that was the reason for our visit. Sitting in the infusion room I couldn’t help but think back to a few years ago, when my brother sat in that very room, a needle in the port in his chest, receiving chemotherapy. He went to each appointment himself, refusing the offers for company and support. Seeing that room for myself made me even more aware of the courage it took for him and for every person who sits in those recliners. I can only hope that soon, like my brother, they are able to get up, walk out of that room, and never have to look back.

“Before I knew you, I thought brave was not being afraid. You’ve taught me that bravery is being terrified and doing it anyway.” – Laurell K Hamilton; Blood Noir

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Aunt Ruth, by Lorie Sheffer Guest blogger

Aunt Ruth and her husband, 1930's, possibly at Longwood Gardens (PA) — Aunt Ruth and her husband, 1930’s, possibly at Longwood Gardens (PA)

When Jeff Noel and Lorie Gotwalt first became acquainted on the playground of Thomasville Elementary, the year was 1965 and she was 54 years old. One year older than Jeff and I are today.

The year she was born, King George V – the father of King George VI, who was portrayed in The King’s Speech- ruled England.

Penicillin was not to be discovered for another 17 years, or be used to treat bacterial infections for almost 30 years.

The first Indianapolis 500 was held with the winning car reaching an average speed of 74.56 MPH.

Her life spanned airmail through email.

The median household income was $520.00 a year. Milk sold for $.17 a gallon and a new car cost about $750.00. This was also the time Louis Chevrolet opened his car company and the first public elevator went into use in London, England. Crisco shortening was being introduced to home cooks, and the US Navy acquired its first airplane.

California became the 6^th state out in the US to grant women the right to vote, with hopes that the rest of the 40 states would soon follow.

She was born when William Taft was President, and she lived through the Administrations of Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W.Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

She lived through two World Wars, a Cold War, a Forgotten War, the Vietnam War, Gulf War and War on Terror. She experienced The Great Depression, several recessions, saw people march for civil rights, and tuned in to the TV coverage of the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK, Jr. She read of and listened to her radio, for updates on the attacks on Pearl Harbor and watched TV to see in real time as the terror of September 11th unfolded.

She was able to recall a time when people dressed like the characters on Downton Abbey, and also remember what a man wore to walk on the moon.

In her life, she married and had two daughters and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. She loved animals, and always had pets in the house. She was a wonderful cook and had an amazing sense of humor. If not for the fact that she had passed the century mark with her mind still intact and her wit as sharp as ever, she would have passed through this world as just another ordinary housewife and mother.

She will be laid to rest today. For the first time in 102 years, the world will go on without her.