Open Thread – Letters from Europe
I just received the sad news that we have lost a dear member of our community. Elizabeth van Brooks passed away on October 31, 2010 much too young, at the age of 46. You know her by her frequent comments and contributions using her screen name Letters from Europe. She was a Forum Moderator until she became too ill to continue.
You can go light a candle for her HERE, and she left a blog full of poetry, and links that you can visit HERE.
Here is one I just loved.
For One Day
by Elizabeth van Brooks
For one day
I promise
to give my cynicism
a rest
let my hope
shine through
believe that change
has a chance
one whole day
and then to work
to nourish change
today
a rest
and then
to work
You
and
I
Heartfelt condolences to Elizabeth’s family
Thank you for your spirit and thoughts Elizabeth. You enlightened my space. Peace, friend.
“For One Day”
What a beautiful poem, and just what I needed to read right now as I am just sick about the recent elections.
“..a rest and then to work….”
to “Letters” – thank you and, truly, rest in peace.
Condolences to the family of Letters from Europe, Elizabeth van Brooks. ‘Flatters will miss her contributions to this special space created by AKM and maintained by very special people.
South Side Chicago
Dear Letters, you will be missed but not forgotten. May your spirit continue with us all.
My deepest condolences for her family and friends. Now I’m going to light a candle. RIP.
Sorry, but I am feeling the loss of Letters right now. I know this is an Open Thread,… but if more comments could be directed to this fine woman and fewer to the queen of nutcases….
I have linked her family to this thread, the one on Mudflats Forum, and the Candles. If you can particiate in acknowledging the passing of a fine human being, please do. All who knew and loved her would appreciate it.
Mahalo Nui Loa.
Letters from Europe had the heart of a poet and the strength of a true mudpup. I will miss her presence.
Letters was my dear friend and co-mod on the ‘flats forum. Her clarity of mind and beautiful writing blessed my life. I miss her so much. I hope you will take a moment to comment on these links and light a candle. I have emailed the links to her family. https://themudflats.net/forum/index.php/topic,10778.0.html
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=LizVB
Rest in Peace dear Angel.
TXSMR posted this late on yesterday’s open thread. It is worth reading:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/11/05/an-open-letter-to-the-white-right-on-the-occasion-of-your-recent-successful-temper-tantrum-tim-wise/#more-51960
Apparently the person who wrote it (Tim Wise) got hammered with hateful comments. Says something doesn’t it?
(((((Letter’s family)))). You are in my thoughts today. May time bring you peace. I shall miss her posts.
I am off to a fundraiser for a young fellow Alaskan with cancer today. He also has young children……
OUCH!!!
Peggy Noonan calls Sarah a “nincompoop”: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/06/peggy-noonan-sarah-palin_n_779624.html
I don’t usually agree with Peggy, but she nailed it this time.
I pray that when my time comes, I can go out of this earthly place with the grace and fortitude that Elizabeth exhibited, as well as leave it a better place for having been a part of it, just as she did.
RIP Dear Lady. Candle lit.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101105/el_yblog_upshot/gop-takes-credit-for-bob-etheridge-viral-video;_ylt=ArUDO8Nx8cDYpzLrvEMPYiKyFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTN0dDIwaWxyBGFzc2V0A3libG9nX3Vwc2hvdC8yMDEwMTEwNS9nb3AtdGFrZXMtY3JlZGl0LWZvci1ib2ItZXRoZXJpZGdlLXZpcmFsLXZpZGVvBGNwb3MDNwRwb3MDNARzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDbW9udGhzbGF0ZXJn
geez, didn’t think the link woiuld be so big… Just a little taste of what sort of tactics the Repubs are still doing… and what we’ll have to deal with over the next two years….
Elizabeth van Brooks, may your awesome spirit live on through all you have touched with your life, your comments, your poetry, your commitment.
Rest in peace.
REST IN PEACE OUR DEAR FRIEND. WE ENJOYED YOUR FRIENDSHIP.
The Mudflats is a smaller, sadder place today, but a place at the table will always be saved for Letters from Europe.
May her spirit forever shine and the memories of her life bring comfort to her family.
Sad news indeed. It has been a difficult semester, with too many young people taking their own lives, and earlier this semester one of my students died in a car crash – I was teaching on a Tuesday and he had died Monday night and I did not know. When I called his name for roll, two of his friends who knew what had happened had to fight back tears. They told me after class, and shortly thereafter the college president did make a formal statement.
I’d like to pass on what I said to the class when we met next, with of course this being not just for my student but for Letters from Europe and anyone else in your life to whom you would like it to apply.
“In all cultures, in all times, music is a constant companion in one’s life. It puts us to sleep while in mother’s arms; it marches down the aisle with us as we move forward into new areas of our lives in graduation ceremonies and weddings; it celebrates with us in dancing and merry-making; it brings people together in spiritual worship. And yes, it grieves with us and helps us deal with loss.
In a world where people are looking for truths in which they can steadfastly believe, music is there. Words can be lies, but music cannot lie. Music can be used to spread lies by unscrupulous people, but the music itself cannot lie.”
If there’s any composer that embodies the ‘truthiness’ of music, it is without any doubt in my mind J. S. Bach. Perhaps that’s why this piece of his was chosen as a memoriam for musicians who have passed on.
I played this in class for my students and asked that they take a moment to remember their fellow student (if they knew him) or any one else they would like to remember and honor, so I offer same to Mudflatters, for Elizabeth, and for any of your loved ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2j-frfK-yg
My interest always perked up to see a post under her moniker. So sad to hear the news about Elizabeth.
Sympathies to her family from mine….
Is Sarah on the way down and out? I think she’s becoming seen as the liability she is. Attendance at her speeches is down. I wonder if they’ve dropped her asking price? She had many candidates that she endorsed win, but, frankly, I think they would have won, and possibly more handily, without her endorsement. She also had some flaming losses, some candidates that tried to walk back her endorsement, and chose some completely unsuitable candidates. If she does in fact “lose” the Alaskan Senate race, I think you’ll see more criticism from the right. I really wanted McAdams to win and hope he sticks with it, but now, it’s Go Lisa! Not because I like her policies, but a win for Lisa is a loss for Sarah.
She’s come up against two people who are willing to take her on head on and who have the smarts to outsmart her: Lisa and Joe the Author (not plumber, not Six Pack, not Shyster). Just MHO.
““Palin appears to have gained little luster from the success of the tea party political movement with which she’d aligned,” ABC News reported. “Just 39 percent of registered voters see her favorably, the most basic measure of a public figure’s popularity.”
Judging by those recent comments from GOP higher-ups, that apparently includes many Republicans.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Election-2010/Vox-News/2010/1106/Republican-establishment-takes-on-Sarah-Palin
Letters, you are with us in spirit. We have you here in the blog and your family has many rick memories, I’m sure. Your lovely qualities live on forever and enrich our lives and, consequently, the lives that we touch as well.
My thoughts and condolences to her family. May they find peace in time.
Oh, Letters from Europe, you are missed. RIP. Candle lit.
i’ve browsed her site and lit a candle and also one for my daughter who visited me in my dreams last night.
Dearest Letters-
from Szymborska’s A Tale Begun
“The world is never ready
for the birth of a child…”
nor the death of a friend.
grant me wisdom to know what I can make of your gift of kindness and courage
blessings to your sons
goodbye Letters, goodbye…
Wow- I am bummed-
She is one of the first members I met here- and she was very kind and encouraging.
Very Very sad to hear.
God Bless You …
May her soul find peace. May her family find strength. She has left them a legacy beyond treasure: a heart with noble vision and the talent and grace with which she shared it..
Beautifully stated ks <3
I am lighting a candle in dark anchorage now.
Peace
That is lovely, KS. May I add: May her spirit know the peace of God which is beyond all understanding.
I am saddened to learn this news. My deepest condolences to her family.
So very, very sad to hear of the lost battle. Letters put up a heck of a fight and her spirit was strong.
You are missed already.
interesting opinion from WaPo…. not sure if I agree on autjor’s view point, but good to see a different slant on her.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/14/AR2010101404794.html?nav=hcmodule
I thought it was a very simplistic piece, which left most of the meat untouched. While it is true political opinions can change, I don’t thing Nixon would have been elected to anything after Watergate, and Hillary a) did nothing wrong in the White House and b) worked damn hard to earn what she’s gotten.
However, it’s obvious some people prefer simplistic fairy tales, as shown by Tuesday’s results.
And I hope the current Mayor of Sitka continues in politics!
i couldn’t finish it. as soon as the writer started defending her resignation as governor – the breaking of her oath as governor – as anything other than a greedy grab for the big bucks, i quit reading. i had already noticed that the article says that her extremism is a myth. no, i don’t think so.
Your presence will be missed….
ohhh. sad news indeed. may flights of angels guide her to her peace. forever.
Peace.
For Letters From Europe:
To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of peace, I swear it’s not too late
sorry:
Music: Pete Seeger Words: the bible.
” a day to rest
and then
to work
you
and
i”
may the Lord make his face to shine upon you, dear sister.
This is so very sad. Your memory will always be alive, dear Letters.
Rest in peace dear Letters.
God rest her soul and bless her sons.
Rest in peace, dear lady. I will light a candle and keep you in my heart and prayers.
Sorry, forgot to add the link:
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/11/17/opinion/columnists/doc491d0c71aa9b4424387056.txt
Actually, I think I first read the letter on Mudflats. It would have been around that time I discovered the Mudflats and all the other great Alaskan blogs.
I went onto her site and in her archives found an article from The Frontiersman: Valley teen has some big questions.
Elizabeth van Brooks found this is worthy of remembering. I read it first two years ago, and reread it today. I’m sure you all are familiar with the article. It is even more true in todays political climate.
Today I posted the article from the Frontiersman on my facebook. I hope all of you on facebook do the same.
I’ll bet Elizabeth would approve.
I was just reading some face book posts, and there is a story floating about that Ann Coulter made some cynical joke on Faux Noise (surprise) about Obama being a Muslim with photographic proof.
They say $arah P took it as fact and has been tweeting some garbage this morning. Any of you mud pups on twitter need to find out if there is anything to this.
Found on reddit:
How I finally got my conservative relatives to stop insisting Obama is Muslim: Michelle Obama is too immodest for a fundamentalist Muslim’s wife.by nothingdoing
http://i.imgur.com/oxlUq.jpg
I haven’t seen anything like that Gol3ig. Although it does sound plausible, I don’t see a tweet under SarahPacUSA since Nov 4.
In those she is hot about funding recount for Renee Ellmers and touting the success of the “targeted” incumbents that lost on election night.
Whew, that is enough looking at that for one morning!
I think you are referring to this. http://gawker.com/5681802/sarah-palins-favorite-tweet-is-about-our-taliban-muslim-illegally-elected-president The tweet is an old one by Ann Coulter.
Oh, how very sad, I knew she was suffering from cancer. We spent much time last year, off the flats, discussing gardening and all the wonderful things she hoped to do with her yard. She was much, much, too young to go… she has two young sons, as well. She fought hard. So sad. So sad. So sad.
On an additional sad not, a local bullied teen commits suicide: http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x603547374/Bullied-student-kills-self
stop the inasanity
Lovely and appropriate poem for today.
A keynote speaker at my conference said something about dealing with adversity that really struck a chord with me: “We have a choice. We can be bitter…or we can be better.” I want to be better (even if it’s fueled by the bitter).
In loving memory of Elizabeth,
“For one day I promise…”
*wrapping my wings around you all, and holding you close to my heart as I head home today*
L’Shalom,
thatcrowwoman
And add this: “Adversity doesn’t develop character, it reveals it.”
So sad to hear this, dammit
Rest in peace dear friend!!
i lit a candle…my condolences