Subject: ❤️������. ... TODAY IS SUNDAY ! ....������❤️
MY DEAREST FAMILY AND FRIENDS,
������GREETINGS ��GREETINGS ��GREETINGS��.��������
Here I am again. .... with another story from Zanzibar. You are the best of my friends and I love you for all your encouragement and unconditional love. So I write and am not afraid to share my scribblings with you. Ha!
Hopefully some of my scribblings will encourage you to write some of your own stories .... treasures from the jewel-boxes of your memories of yore. I would love to read your stories.
Yes, today is Sunday. So what?
Here’s what !
When I was a little girl, growing up in Zanzibar I remember with great fondness sitting by the window with my Mum who would either be reading stories to me from my two favourite genres, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and / or the Bible for Children, Or combing my hair and weaving beautiful plaits. These memories have never left me.... and since they say I am a clone of my mother who was an avid writer of poems and funny stories of gold medal status from her school days at the Sacred Heart Good Shepherd Private School in Bangalore, India, I know exactly the treasure she planted in my heart for writing, and story -telling and remembering stories. I am my mother’s girl. Her works were published in the scholastic magazines of her school. She lives on. I think each of us, her five children, has received these gifts as well, but, each in a different way. Thank you, Mum.
SO TODAY IS SUNDAY.
“Shhhhhh.... listen. “.
Mum and I are sitting by the window in our Vuga House in Zanzibar . She is combing my hair . It’s about 10.30am on a clear Sunday morning. Mum stops the chatter and tells me to listen. All I hear are the church bells ringing. But, these are not the deep sounding bells of our St. Joseph’s Cathedral announcing the beginning of Mass, these 10.30am bells are coming from the east, beyond my grandparents’ home in Mkunazini next door to where a slave market once carried on this horrific trade in East Africa. These were the bells of The Church of Christ Anglican Church. Magnificent church....horrific trade next door....can you beat that?
Well, LISTEN ....” Listen to the bells. They’re saying something,” my Mum says. I just hear a high-pitched melodious ringing that keeps on repeating itself. ... nothing more. In my imagination I feel that these bells could be like a descant if rung in unison with our St. Joseph’s Cathedral bells. But what do I know? I am only a little child with big dreams and unlimited imagination. ... and little did I know how very lucky I was and am. Ha.
So Mum starts to sing. “ TODAY IS SUNDAY. COME TO CHURCH TODAY ! “ Mum sings to each note as it rings out over the tropical Sunday sky in beautiful serene Zanzibar of once upon a time....repeating this line over and over again as the bells continue their calling.
TO-DAY IS SUN-DAY. COME TO CHURCH TO-DAY.
Play this on your keyboard and you’ll hear it, and those of you who grew up in Zanzibar will get it pronto even if you didn’t know the words behind the notes. You’ll remember, as you listen to the melody line.
I warned you before that I am of ‘little mind’ so my imagination has no bounds. I am hooked.... ‘hook line and sinker.’... as you will see . Ha.
My dearest friend RABIZNAZ got me writing when I had my shoulder surgery in 2011 telling me in a dream not to give way to the pain of this my third total joint replacement surgery. I listened and healing came via The Crystal Orb of Light ...and my “ SUSEJ. “ Ha.
Last night I was awakened by the ringing of the bells of that good old Zanzibar Anglican Church and I remembered my Mum’s little bell-induced ditty from way back when. So I decided to write this down whilst it is still fresh in my mind, besides I’m not going anywhere .... I’m still nursing this wicked shoulder pain .... I’ll not complain. RABIZNAZ tells me to ��. Ha. I hear and obey ... anything to ease the pain ... right? Share the pain to get better? Thanks my dearest family and friends for your great kindness in my healing quest. Asante Sana.
Now, repeating what I said earlier, they say that little things please little minds. Well, I warned you a while ago that I am of little mind but with humongous imagination, so there we are. Too late to change, so I’ll continue to dream and imagine and write in imitation of my Mum, and my Dad who was , besides everything else, a political and sports writer in his spare time ...... published! What more could a girl ask for?
Today, a new day is a-dawning. Friends of Jesus will always be friends of Jesus... Catholic? Anglican? Protestant? Why not? We love the same Jesus. We love the same God by whatever name we call Him. ...and even if we think we don’t love Him, He knows that we really do, deep within our deepest selves. So there. ! Those church bells did not discriminate, and their tones stayed with us forever and a day... with me anyway. I love it. In days of yore we were not allowed to talk of, or visit non-catholic edifices. What a shame. But, today is a new dawning ...right? Right. Education Education Love.???
I see in the horizon, a great coming together in unconditional love under a single banner entitled :-
“HUMANITY UNITED IN LOVE “. With church bells everywhere singing :- TODAY IS SUNDAY.... COME..... !
Wishful thinking? Dream big my dearest family and friends .... Be Not Afraid. .... and yes this gal’s still’s with it... no looney bin for her yet. The pain’s in her shoulder ... getting closer to the grey matter, so until then, come, memories, come. They’ll not be any good to me sans brain, sans wit. You might here, want to activate your delete button.... but wait not before reading my blast from the past.
So, when Sunday rolls along, and we are feeling tired or whatever, let us sing the “ Zanzibar Church call-of-the-bells “ and go praise the Lord with all our hearts and all our souls in thanksgiving for being so lucky to be well, healthy, wealthy and wise. Let’s not be “Strangers in Paradise”. By the way, my Sundays since June have been spent a-moaning and a-groaning at home with Mass for Shut-ins and the Pope via EWTN . .... Mea culpa.
“And, RABIZNAZ, if you’re listening carefully, you too will be hearing the Bells a-calling.” ...from your wonderful Baobab tree. ..... ❤️����❤️
TODAY IS SUNDAY ! COME TO CHURCH TODAY.
As you can see... these Zanzibar Bells have taken over my brain AND.... BELIEVE IT OR NOT....... MY PAIN AS WELL.....albeit Temporarily . HA.
Love
Yvette
Ps... Here’s a pic for you ... please print this picture of a baobab tree to glue into your copy of my book...it’s the best one I could find to date .... y
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NICE PEOPLE
My dearest Family and Friends.... this is a continuation of ‘TODAY IS SUNDAY’ ... please bear with me.
My dearest Family and Friends.... this is a continuation of ‘TODAY IS SUNDAY’ ... please bear with me.
NICE PEOPLE
Nice People, with nice manners,
But have no money at all.
They’ve got some nice habits,
They keep rabbits,������
But have no money at all.
The father keeps the mother,
The mother keeps the brother,
And when they’re running short of cash,
They borrow from each other.
Nice People, with nice manners,
But have no money at all.
������������������������. [ Melody line available if you want it scribbled in....y]
Well, my dearest Family and Friends,
After sending you my ‘TODAY IS SUNDAY ‘ shpeel from memories of yore, I wanted to scrap the word “ wealthy “ from the last paragraph, .... ‘healthy, wealthy and wise ‘ because it is a foreign word to me.... literally. Ha. But, it was too late .... I had already hit the ‘send ‘ button.
And as I pondered with regret the erratic choice of word, my Dad’s song came to me over and over again as if it were only yesterday that he had been singing this song to us in Unguja ... Zanzibar ... our once-upon-a-time Paradise island in the sun.
You see, our parents shared their own up-bringings with us through stories, songs and our Faith, and mind-developing activities. Their parents had taught them well. ... and we are the beneficiaries of so many blessings.Thus we learnt to look, listen, observe, create, and develop our God-given talents. Perhaps as eldest child I imbibed all their gifts that come from bonding as a first-born. I don’t know, but I’ll say that I am some lucky gal.
So what’s so special about this song .... ‘NICE PEOPLE’ ?
When I look at the lyrics, now, I see the import of the words. Each line is a teaching line of immense love of the simple joys of life, of love, of commitment, of family, of caring, of sharing, of patience and of trying to walk blissfully in the Path that was set out for us through our Faith ... if we but look ... I only see it now in analysis, but I must have imbibed their import, growing up. Accumulation of wealth was not the focus of our lives in our home.when I was growing up in Zanzibar. .... Or even now. Our parents fostered Love .... unconditional love and generosity that would keep our family safe in God’s Hand. Of this I have no doubt. ... I told you I was ‘simple’. Ha.
Yes, believe it or not .... our Dad and Mum had All the answers, and hopefully what they imparted to us their children, we will have imparted to our own children and grandchildren and thus honour our benefactors our Mum and Dad, who were specially chosen for us by our Creator.
So, ‘ Wealth ‘ ? .... ha ! I have none!
Here’s where my wealth is .... :-
-IN MY CHILDREN , THEIR SPOUSES, ... AND THEIR CHILDREN, OUR SIX GRAND CHILDREN WE CALL OUR MALAIKAS. I thank God everyday for His wonderful gifts to me. And Mike.
-IN MY GOD-GIVEN TALENTS OF MUSIC, ART, CRAFT-MAKING, WRITING, SEWING ETC. .... in everything I do, have done, and will do.
-IN MY CREATIVITY.... ditto
-IN MY MEMORY. .... ditto
-IN YOU, MY DEAREST FAMILY AND FRIENDS... Ditto.
Those who truly know me, know that I have never cared for wealth ie worldly riches.... for, ‘ silver and gold I have none’ ... never cared about them .... so my dearest All , here I am , in all my simplicity, hopefully, and most humbly, as one of the ‘NICE PEOPLE ‘ in my father’s song. Bless him. Would that I would so honour him and my Mum by being the daughter they always wanted me to be. Ha.
And, hopefully I have been a good wife, mother, friend, teacher and citizen of this world. Ha
AND, you know something? I’ve just awakened to the fact that I found these same ‘ NICE PEOPLE ‘ from my Dad’s song, when I came to Canada 50 years ago when I met Mike’s parents, Sophie and Joe Muise in New Waterford and they shared their home with Mike and me that year... 1968, and made me their daughter. They knew the true meaning of love. They were of the same mind as my parents. Lucky me ! Do you see what I see? Blessings and more blessings. Ha. They had bought up nine children of their own.... nine who honoured them by being the creme-de-la-creme all their lives. ...... NICE PEOPLE.! I love them All. My Mum and Dad loved them All too. You would too.
And , peering through it all, I see you All, my dearest Family and Friends... you too are ‘THE NICE PEOPLE ‘ in my Dad’s song. How blest I am to have you in my life. Asante Sana. Love you. See what I’m seeing ! Ha. BEAUTIFUL HEARTS! Ha.
I write this in honour of my Dad whose birthday was on 8th November, and who went to heaven On 23rd November 1984. ... May he Rest In Peace.
Love and blessings to All.
Yvette.
Song of the day :- ‘ NICE PEOPLE’