PROGRAM
WORDS FROM ANN
I'd like to say a few words about my mom and her influence in my life.
As you know I come from a long line of teachers. I went to university bound and determined not to be a teacher, not to do just what my parents did. Well, it didn't take me long to realize that teaching was truly in my blood and it's what I enjoy doing. It's been a wonderfully rewarding career and I know that a big piece of this is due to watching and learning from my teacher parents as I grew up. Even the 2 years of MS French with my mom as a teacher and 4 years of HS math with my dad didn't dampen my enthusiasm to enter the education field. And now those teaching genes have passed down to some of the grandchildren.
I'd like to thank my mom for passing on to me her love of reading. Although I must say that as a child I could never understand, when I was in the middle of a good story, why I wasn't allowed to bring the book to the dinner table. Totally unfair in the eyes of a ten year old! Until 2 weeks ago our conversations always included, what are you reading? Who is a good author? What was the story about? I'll miss those conversations.
My mom had a special relationship with each one of her children, however, growing up with a family of 4 males and 2 females we had to put up a united front! Then my marrying and producing 2 sons just made the male numbers higher as it was always me and mom and all the guys. It was always much more fun with 2 in the kitchen, and there was always someone to gossip with, shop with, play scrabble with, and just be with.
There are countless things that my mom passed on to me; love of family, soaking up the warm sun, a bit of the travel bug, always buttering your toast to the very edge, enjoying a good cup of tea, an affinity for cats, and then there was how to make gravy... The word while my kids were growing up was "good gravy, Mom. Not as good as grandma's, but good."
Well, I'm still working on the gravy... But I don't care to surpass the legend.
So, I'd like to end by having you to think of your favorite plant, tree, flower or bush. The thing that they all have in common is roots. Those unseen roots are what enables the plant to grow and flourish. Both of my parents provided the roots - strong, deep roots of love that have allowed their children to bloom and grow.
I thank my mom for a million things and for her constant presence in my life.
I'd like to say a few words about my mom and her influence in my life.
As you know I come from a long line of teachers. I went to university bound and determined not to be a teacher, not to do just what my parents did. Well, it didn't take me long to realize that teaching was truly in my blood and it's what I enjoy doing. It's been a wonderfully rewarding career and I know that a big piece of this is due to watching and learning from my teacher parents as I grew up. Even the 2 years of MS French with my mom as a teacher and 4 years of HS math with my dad didn't dampen my enthusiasm to enter the education field. And now those teaching genes have passed down to some of the grandchildren.
I'd like to thank my mom for passing on to me her love of reading. Although I must say that as a child I could never understand, when I was in the middle of a good story, why I wasn't allowed to bring the book to the dinner table. Totally unfair in the eyes of a ten year old! Until 2 weeks ago our conversations always included, what are you reading? Who is a good author? What was the story about? I'll miss those conversations.
My mom had a special relationship with each one of her children, however, growing up with a family of 4 males and 2 females we had to put up a united front! Then my marrying and producing 2 sons just made the male numbers higher as it was always me and mom and all the guys. It was always much more fun with 2 in the kitchen, and there was always someone to gossip with, shop with, play scrabble with, and just be with.
There are countless things that my mom passed on to me; love of family, soaking up the warm sun, a bit of the travel bug, always buttering your toast to the very edge, enjoying a good cup of tea, an affinity for cats, and then there was how to make gravy... The word while my kids were growing up was "good gravy, Mom. Not as good as grandma's, but good."
Well, I'm still working on the gravy... But I don't care to surpass the legend.
So, I'd like to end by having you to think of your favorite plant, tree, flower or bush. The thing that they all have in common is roots. Those unseen roots are what enables the plant to grow and flourish. Both of my parents provided the roots - strong, deep roots of love that have allowed their children to bloom and grow.
I thank my mom for a million things and for her constant presence in my life.
WORDS FROM ERIN
When I think about my grandmother, immediately this quote incorporated in a piece of art from a Mary Englebriet book I got when I was a little girl comes to mind. "Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing is so gentle as real strength." Mary Englebriet, a graphic artist and children’s book illustrator, is not the originator of this quote, but these words combined with her artwork always stuck out in my mind as one of my favorite pieces of hers. Mary Englebreit’s illustration depicts a father tucking his young children into a bunk bed, with him lifting a child to the top bunk. When I think about Grandma C., I see the definition of strength in her. She was an amazing matriarch to her family, to her children, and to her grandchildren alike. My grandmother has taught me that real strength comes in the form of softness, and possessing a genuine interest in the well being of others. For this, I will be forever thankful.
I know that her gentle and beautiful spirit lives on through one of the places she loved to be, at the beach. From growing up just down the road from Kenney’s beach to collecting seashells on the sandy shores of Florida, my grandmother was one with the sand and sun. Many of us here are fortunate enough to have taken vacations on the water, or to have traveled the seas, or to have experienced beautiful summers right here in Southold. For me, as someone who feels at peace and at home at the beach, the gentleness of the waves in the sea and the softness of the sand beneath my toes will forever carry my grandmother’s memory and her eternal spirit. In dedication to my grandmother, who was much like myself, a lover of the French language and of the beach, this song will be forever in dedication to her.
La Mer (French)
La mer
Qu'on voit danser
le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie
La mer
Au ciel d'été confond
Ses blancs moutons
Avec les anges si purs
La mer bergère d'azur
Infinie
Voyez
Près des étangs
Ces grands roseaux mouillés
Voyez Ces oiseaux blancs
Et ces maisons rouillées
La mer
Les a bercés
Le long des golfes clairs
Et d'une chanson d'amour
La mer
A bercé mon cœur pour la vie
The Sea (English)
The sea
seen dancing along the clear gulfs
with silver reflections
The sea, changing reflections
beneath the rain
The sea
confused in the summer-like Heaven
His white sheep and angels so pure
The sea
an infinite shepherdess of blue
Look
Near ponds are tall, wet reeds
Look
These white birds
and those rusty houses
The sea
it has calmed
the clear gulfs
with a love song
The sea
it has calmed my heart
When I think about my grandmother, immediately this quote incorporated in a piece of art from a Mary Englebriet book I got when I was a little girl comes to mind. "Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing is so gentle as real strength." Mary Englebriet, a graphic artist and children’s book illustrator, is not the originator of this quote, but these words combined with her artwork always stuck out in my mind as one of my favorite pieces of hers. Mary Englebreit’s illustration depicts a father tucking his young children into a bunk bed, with him lifting a child to the top bunk. When I think about Grandma C., I see the definition of strength in her. She was an amazing matriarch to her family, to her children, and to her grandchildren alike. My grandmother has taught me that real strength comes in the form of softness, and possessing a genuine interest in the well being of others. For this, I will be forever thankful.
I know that her gentle and beautiful spirit lives on through one of the places she loved to be, at the beach. From growing up just down the road from Kenney’s beach to collecting seashells on the sandy shores of Florida, my grandmother was one with the sand and sun. Many of us here are fortunate enough to have taken vacations on the water, or to have traveled the seas, or to have experienced beautiful summers right here in Southold. For me, as someone who feels at peace and at home at the beach, the gentleness of the waves in the sea and the softness of the sand beneath my toes will forever carry my grandmother’s memory and her eternal spirit. In dedication to my grandmother, who was much like myself, a lover of the French language and of the beach, this song will be forever in dedication to her.
La Mer (French)
La mer
Qu'on voit danser
le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie
La mer
Au ciel d'été confond
Ses blancs moutons
Avec les anges si purs
La mer bergère d'azur
Infinie
Voyez
Près des étangs
Ces grands roseaux mouillés
Voyez Ces oiseaux blancs
Et ces maisons rouillées
La mer
Les a bercés
Le long des golfes clairs
Et d'une chanson d'amour
La mer
A bercé mon cœur pour la vie
The Sea (English)
The sea
seen dancing along the clear gulfs
with silver reflections
The sea, changing reflections
beneath the rain
The sea
confused in the summer-like Heaven
His white sheep and angels so pure
The sea
an infinite shepherdess of blue
Look
Near ponds are tall, wet reeds
Look
These white birds
and those rusty houses
The sea
it has calmed
the clear gulfs
with a love song
The sea
it has calmed my heart
WORDS FROM ROGER