THERE ARE HEROES AMONG US!

By Shirley M. Carolan, ATM-G If you look around you I’m sure you will come up with at least one hero who has impacted you, or your world, in some way. Whether you know that person intimately or he/she is an acquaintance, it doesn’t matter. What matters is how has that person impacted you? Do they know how you feel about them or what they did for you to think of them as a hero? Heroes come in all shapes, sizes ages, etc. and can be male or female. For the benefit of this article I am purposely not including our wonderful 4 legged friends, many of whom rank as heroes too. My Toastmaster club, Tick Talk Toastmasters, has such a hero in our midst. He’s a young marine stationed at Camp Pendleton and is a part of the “wounded warriors” contingent. He attends our meetings in what may be called “fatigues.” His young, boyish, handsome face belies the unspeakable war action he has seen having served four tours of duty in Iraq. He holds the rank of Sergeant, but looking at him and hearing him speak you’d think he was right out of college. Last week, I had the honor of evaluating his 10th manual speech which means he is now eligible for the “Competent Communicator” Toastmaster award. He detailed how he had wanted to be a marine, the training he underwent and the tears of joy he experienced upon reaching that goal. Then he used colorful slides projecting his journey in the marines. He used a road with darkened clouds as a metaphor for projecting the “road” of his life” ending with his healing from PTSD by means of holistic medicine and a brighter “road” with dissipating clouds. His speech, presentation and slides were so well done that Sgt. Rob has been asked to be one of our guest speakers at our Open House this week. We are all so proud of him, even though he is very unassuming and comes across a little shy. I can’t wait for the public to meet him and see that we have a hero in our midst! We meet at Carlsbad by the Sea, 2855 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad, Ca and this week only at 6:30 PM. Refreshments will be served, plus you’ll get to see how Toastmasters works! Who is your hero and why? I’d like to hear about them. Shirley M. Carolan, ATMG Writer ● Speaker ● Artist artistwithaflair@att.net Phone/Fax: 760-732-0663 http://www.shirleycarolan.com http://www.angelscross.blogspot.com http://www.smcarolan.blogspot.com Copyright© 2012 by Shirley M. Carolan. All rights reserved. To reprint any part of this article simply contact Shirley Carolan at artistwithaflair@att.net. Thank you

AN ECHO FROM THE PAST!

By Shirley M. Carolan, ATM-G

One never knows when a gift from our past will surface via correspondence, email or telephone call; but when it does it can bring back profound memories from our past. Some may be painful, others poignant and truly heartrending...

This week, my twin brother, Terrence, sent me an email with a link to “Bartram's Residence” in London, England. As I clicked on the link it brought tears to my eyes. It gave a brief history of the original Bartram’s Convent, which I was unaware of at the time being only 6 years old.

Following is that brief history: “Bartrams Residence is owned and maintained by the Sisters of Providence. In 1865 His Eminence Cardinal Manning, invited the Sisters from Belgium to London to work in prisons. The Home Office, however, did not share the Cardinal’s view with regard to having Sisters involved in prison work in England.

The Cardinal then asked them to open an orphanage in High Street Hampstead. In 1868 the orphanage was transferred to a house called Bartrams in Haverstock Hill. It was turned into a boarding school, and remained as such until the Convent was destroyed by bombs in 1940. A new building was erected as a residence for students and was officially opened in 1959 by His Eminence Cardinal Godfrey…” e-mail: bartramsresidence@yahoo.co.uk
or, www.bartramsresidence.com.

So why did this bring tears to my eyes? My twin brother and I attended Bartram's Convent in northwest London in 1939. During the “Battle of Britain” we were evacuated along with the nuns to Kettering (southern England) in 1940 when the school was bombed. We were 6-1/2 years old at the time. Our parents had no idea where we were being sent with bombs dropping everywhere no shelter was safe. The nuns were wonderful to us. I will never forget Sister Michael and the bravery of all the nuns!

My parents finally found out where we had been taken and immediately set out to bring us back. My father felt strongly that if we were to die then we would die together. It would be the last I would see of Sister Michael and my old school chums.

We also lost a beautiful 3-storied house near the school during the bombing. We attended Mass regularly at the “Priory” where well known Father Vincent McNab, OP baptized and gave us our First Holy Communion. Years before he also married my parents.

My parents, twin brother and I emigrated to the USA December 1947 (when I was 14-1/2) to my Uncle's farm on Long Island, New York. I very luckily finished high school at Queen of the Rosary Academy, Amityville, New York one month after my 16th birthday.

In a sense, I had no childhood. The war started when I was 6-1/2 and ended when I was 12-1/2. But, I would not trade the memories I have of surviving a brutal war and learning what courage, sacrifice and love really mean. I was surrounded by them!

I hope your past memories are as significant as mine!


Shirley M. Carolan, ATMG
Writer ● Speaker ● Artist
artistwithaflair@att.net
Phone/Fax: 760-732-0663
http://www.shirleycarolan.com
http://www.angelscross.blogspot.com
http://www.smcarolan.blogspot.com

Copyright© 2012 by Shirley M. Carolan. All rights reserved. To reprint any part of this article simply contact Shirley Carolan at artistwithaflair@att.net. Thank you