Stormy Trials & Victorious Triumphs Forged a Woman of Strength
In response to DEP prompt 50 of 52: “Most valuable things I’ve learned in my life”
Published in
4 min readSep 17, 2023
There are a number of truths I’ve learned in eighty plus years on earth. They have shaped me into the person I am today.
- All Nature’s creations have a loving energy. As long as I surround myself with trees and handle plants, I am nourished. When I am troubled, creeks and waterfalls soothe my spirit. Birds uplift my soul and I am content. A praying mantis and hummingbirds have come to me as messengers. I’m closer to God in a wilderness setting, away from civilization.
- As a young girl, I realized there were angels who watch over us. A lightning bolt hit our house, danced across the floor, and grounded in our cast iron coal stove. It missed my mother’s feet. Do you know how scary it is to see a live bolt? It could have set our house on fire. This is one incident. There were many others.
- One of our rotations as a student nurse was assigned to a New York City Borough. I had Puerto Rican and African American patients. It was a West Side Story scenario. A classmate received an invitation to lunch from grateful patients. While waiting for a ride at a bus stop, Puerto Rican teenagers surrounded us. I knew they had knives on them. My…
