Community

posted by Mary Lello, Sunday, March 15, 2009, 6:08 AM

The pasta social was last night and I just have to share a few thoughts on it. It was astounding, amazing and incredible. Nance Trueworthy did a truly wonderful job organizing this huge event. It is not easy pulling something like that off and this gal did it. I know she had lots of help - and that is just so wonderful too! - but still, it was her idea and she just jumped into the fire and got it rocking and rolling. I should have grabbed the mic from my sister last night and had everyone give a standing "O" to Nance .... but it's hard getting the mic away from my sister Karmo.

(I hope she knows I'm kidding!!)

Jim and I were very nervous about going to this thing. King for a day syndrome. But after the first 15 minutes or so I realized how big my heart was feeling. It was expanding, like the Grinch as he stood on his mountain top listening to all the Who's in Whoville singing, my heart grew several sizes last night as I watched Jim just soak up all this love from every single person in that room. You really can NOT be hugged too much!

So many gifts with all this. Good God. I've had several people tell me that they are so blown away by this community of ours and they wonder if this was to happen to them would they have as much, or a fraction of, the support that we have? And I say, may you find out BEFORE a life threatening disease! But, seriously, what I REALLY say is ... you just don't know and you might be very surprised to find out how much you really are loved.

Maybe the lesson here is to at least ask? People who love you always want to help, to step in and carry some of your load when you just need to set it down for a short while. I'm learning this lesson now. And maybe it's because we really are 'family' animals. We use to travel in large family packs, like wolves, and then we colonized in new lands but still had a huge interdependence on that colony to pull together and act as a well functioning unit. OK, they went witch hunting and shit but still you get my drift, it was very hard to survive alone. We aren't really meant to be walled off from a community and operating from these smaller, tight knit cells that we all operate from now. To tap into that bigger community and to feel the strength of it is so primal!

Last night those of you in that hall could feel this community rallying beside Jim! There is so much power in joining together and working with each others strengths and accepting each others weaknesses and joining hands and hearts to move a mountain .... or a tumor.

I am forced to carry burdens now that I never thought I might have to carry. I can feel so alone in all this at times and wonder what our life will look like a few months from now ... it's hard to think in years just yet ... but just when I feel I can't hold this heavy load anymore 3, 5, 8 people step in and start to carry my burden for me and I get lifted up and offered a shoulder to lean on and I realize we are not alone in all this.

Each and every one of you is creating a single thread that is reaching out and connecting and weaving into this larger web that is offering so much love, support and strength to Jim and I. Each one of you is creating this powerful entity called community. It is tangible, you all felt it last night, you all are a part of it and we are all connected.

Perhaps you felt your heart grow a little larger last night too?

Thank you to the moon and back. Thank you to the ends of the earth and back. Thank you beyond the sky and the earth ....

and loving you all back!

Mary