American Legion Post 242 Update

BY DICK HELM

Even though August is usually an in between month in activities; your Post has much to report to you this month.

Our Adjutant, Charles Wismer, would like for me to report some statistics on events, fundraisers, and sponsorships. As normal we want to remind you that we have wonderful meals scheduled for Friday nights that are usually open to the public. In the fall our Sons organization will resume the monthly Sunday breakfasts. Don’t forget our Patriot Day services on September 11th at the Post (9/11 services honoring those lost that day and our first responders). Most important mark your calendar for the Veteran’s Day services for the Upper Bucks area. We will have greater details as to date, time, and place this is to be held in future issues as November 11th is on a Saturday and we usually have the services in a local school auditorium.

Getting back to Charlie’s statistics. For two years our Post renewal had hit 100%.

Although we proudly announce the addition of “28” new members we missed achieving a full goal by 8% (92). Realizing times are tough we are glad that so many of your kept up your membership. We are a very active organization bringing many important public functions to the community honoring our vets and most important keeping our youth occupied with healthy activities as well as helping veterans in their time of need. At this time Charley ask me to remind you to put your renewal in the mail and send it out early so it is not forgotten or misplaced and we miss our 100% goal for this year (2023-2024).

Once again the membership came through and helped us raise around $2600.00 for the Veteran’s drawing. As Mr. Wismer would say, “Great JOB!” Les Walter’s our Service Officer wants to remind those veterans to keep a lookout for new information about Agent Orange and the water contamination at the Camp LeJeune. We hosted one seminar on this that was well attended and hope to have another seminar with persons from the local Federal and State Political regions available to answer any questions. Keep a lookout for such meeting announcements on our NEW roadside bulletin board for more information.

When asked, we help sponsor two baseball organizations. Last year we donated funds to two important baseball teams in our area. One is the “Baseball for Special People” and the other is the Legion team. If you have been listening to TV Sports you would be aware that the Legion team is doing great and we wish them the best in their title games.

Great Going Gang!

Remember that we care! We care about our Veteran’s and their physical and mental health and we care about the future of country-The children. That is why we ask you to care about your legion in sending in that membership and supporting our yearly functions for our two fundraisers. One fundraiser for Veteran’s the other for Youth.

~ FOR GOD & COUNTRY, Dick

Ponderings by Palma

BY PALMA MOYER, RN

Looking back over my life, at some memorable moments.

I remember my Wedding - it was a big deal because I was raised Catholic and was marrying a Mennonite. The whole Italian clan on my side came to see what was going happen and the Mennonites wondered about Italians. Our wedding reception was held at my husband’s farm; chickens were killed and there were lots of homemade goodies from the Pennsylvania Dutch side of my new husband’s family. My family - not to be outdone- invited many to a celebration at my home with lots of Italian food and drink. My side of the family wondered what kind of church doesn't give wedding rings. The explanation is that you’re supposed to show you were married by your actions, not jewelry. I was still working at Temple hospital and was happy to get back to work after being married.

The next memorable things were the births of my children. After the first child was born, Ed, my husband, decided he needed to go to college. It was in the midwest, and not being

Helm

Weekend Events

rich we had a friend who offered to move our furniture in his empty pig truck. He was going out to Indiana with an empty truck to get a load of pigs to bring back to Pennsylvania. We got to our attic apartment in the summertime and it was very very hot with no air conditioning. We moved in with the help of friendly neighbors.

I started to work the night shift, sleeping during the day and working at night. This one particular day was blistering hot and I was sleeping in the nude to be cooler. I noticed Ed had shut the bedroom door. I got up yelling at him, “What are you trying to do, cook me?” I threw open the door, still yelling at Ed. There was the Minister and his wife came to welcome us to Goshen. I carefully backed into the bedroom and returned fully clothed as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. This was the first of my adventures while working at the local hospital. The rest will follow as I remember them. Thanks for all the support in reading my adventures.

~As Always, Palma Moyer

Palma is a 1957 graDuate of temPle uniVersity hosPital sChool of nursing she shares her exPerienCes anD PersPeCtiVes on nursing anD on life she Can be reaCheD at DonthelPmemoyer@aol Com

We Means You

I finally, after all these years, figured out that “we” means “you”. We don’t have company that often, but when we do, Shelli loves to cook the meal, as well as dessert. If it’s in season, she uses vegetables from our garden.

She enjoys cooking for large groups, especially family, and loves entertaining. (I on the other hand would be happy sitting on me arse and watching whatever show I happen to be binging, along with a glass of my favorite beverage du jour.)

Since I am retired and Shelli is still working and bringing home the bacon, I do most of the cleaning and ancillary things that need to be done around our tiny little farmhouse.

I think she feels bad asking me to do things, although I rarely mind doing whatever those things might be. So, instead of asking me, she uses “we”.

If she is heading into work, we usually leave each other a note. This weekend we had family over and she baked a chocolate cake, and this morning I saw her morning note which asked, “Can we put the chocolate cake in the freezer?”

I read it, and thought to myself, “Why doesn’t she just ask if I would put it in the freezer?”

So, I waited, and the cake sat there in a cake dish, covered, on top of the kitchen counter, next to the red wine bottles so I knew she would see it.

One day passed. Then a second. Finally, on the third day, Shelli said, “I thought you were going to put the cake away?”

To which I replied, “No. you just asked if we could, and I thought sure. Makes sense. But you never asked me to.”

She stared at me with the look that by now I know means that while I think I’m being cute and funny, she doesn’t. And she is Judge Judy in this house.

So the next day I took the still fresh (good cake tin!) fantastic chocolate cake (Shelli’s a great cook/baker), cut it into a few pieces and then into the freezer.

Job done.

But now I’m thinking that it might me my turn to ask an important question.

“Sweetheart, can we go upstairs and get “reacquainted”?”. (our code word for you know what) john sChaninger is a lifelong resiDent of PennsylVania anD has liVeD in uPPer blaCk eDDy for oVer 13 years reaCh him at m12string@aol Com

Hopefully she doesn’t make me wait three days.

My wife Nina and I and our dog Brandi made the trek up to our Summer Home in between volunteer functions and Doctor’s visits for a few days around the 22’d of July. I am going to share with you as I shared with fellow residents of Milford Township, Roger and Patti Sigmans activities that brought back memories of my younger days.

I can remember as a boy wondering what type of community event or social gathering our family might attend on the “Weekend.” There was always some sort of parade, firemen’s carnival, church picnic, or town gathering happening in the towns or townships of Upper Bucks County. Many times my parents had to choose one place to go out of two or three available. These functions were listed in the Daily Free Press, or heard from the speakers of Ahlum’s sound truck criss-crossing the streets of each small town, the then local radio station WBUX, church bulletin boards, or fire house signs. Most social halls were booked for weddings or special dinners every weekend. Granges had their all you can eat meals in the fall of each year. Now it is hard pressed to find something to do as a community. People have to volunteer to make these events happen. If there is a function it is usually put up by an organization that has various vendors selling their goods and food trucks. I wish to thank the various local governments for hosting community days or agriculture days, etc. to get people involved. Last evening we heard a lot of oldies presented by local artists (The Starlight’s) over at Milford Townships new entertainment facility. It just happened that our friends Roger & Patti Sigmans were also there. While listening to the performance I though it would be interesting to step back in time with another event that we spent time with them over 200 miles from home. I will call it a step back in time.

When we arrive up for a usual five-day stay upstate we tune in our radio to a local station for the usual calendar of events for the weekend in the surrounding towns and counties. This is a step back in time by about 40 years to our area local news around here. (This publication still gives us an idea of happenings in Upper Bucks if the information is sent to them.) In the case of meeting the Sigmans, we were aware of the special event they were participating in at Coudersport, Pa. It took us about one hour to drive up to the Potter County area county seat. It was “Eliot Ness Fest” weekend.

If you can remember back to the time when we had the rabbit ears or outside antenna and received the channels 3, 6, 10 or 12, there was a program call “The Untouchables.” It told of the period of time in Chicago when the mob ruled under the leadership of Al Capone. Crime was rampant and the US Treasury

Prohibition agent credited with cleaning up the syndicate and crimes was Eliot Ness. Eliot’s history is quite interesting and his career extended into Ohio. Eliot Ness settled into a home in Coudersport, Pa. where he passed away in 1935. He is interred in a grave in Ohio. Each week we would all be seated in the living room to watch this Walter Winchell narrated series.

Roger and his son finished the restoration of a 1926 Harley Davidson “Pea Shooter” style motorcycle that Roger’s uncle did such a great job before him when he had a motorcycle shop in Pleasant Valley. This style motorcycle is “One cylinder” with 3 ½ horsepower and when it runs the exhaust has a certain putt, putt sound. This motorcycle could reach speeds of nearly 60 mph. Roger states that he would never try those speeds with the light frame and braking system that the stripped down cycle had to achieve this speed. This offering of showing this beautiful restoration was so well received that they displayed his motorcycle directly in front of the local museum. The Fest organizers literally had busy route “6” shut down for 3 days so they could have the town looking like the 1920’s and 1930’s. I stood in the very wide main street of this picturesque town in northern Pennsylvania and there were no modern cars parked. The street looked like a picture from the 1930’s. Many of the participants were dressed in garb of the period. Women were in the Roaring Twenties type flapper dresses and men were in white shirts with suspenders, black garter type ribbons, and appropriate hats of the period. Some of them had reproduction “Tommy Guns” nearby. It was “Stepping Back in Time!” The screen of our Dimmig Electric Philco TV became alive!

Can you imagine this “Fest” happening here in Upper Bucks with men walking around with disarmed Tommy Guns? We really enjoyed this and want to thank this fellow Upper Bucks family and friends Roger, Patti, and Ryan Sigmans for putting the finishing touches on this gem of a motorcycle and hauling up to “God’s Country” so all could enjoy.

Gone are many of the myriad of public events here in Upper Bucks. The community governments and various organizations are trying to revitalize these very important social gatherings that are truly need to knit a community together. So next time they block Broad Street for a community day, or have a Township Community or Farm Day, push yourself away from the computer or shut the children’s phone down and you all come out to enjoy the event and meet your neighbors! You to will have pleasant memories such as we had in Coudersport at Eliot Ness Fest. We send a big thank you to the Sigmans for their flatlanders contribution to an event in God’s Country!

DiCk helm is a long time quakertown area

The answers to the puzzles on this page are found elsewhere in this issue.

Think Local. Play Local. Be Local.

Have something to share with your community? Send it to us! UBFP • 582 S. West End Blvd, Ste 2 • Quakertown, PA 18951 info@ubfp.org • fb.com/ubfreepress • www.ubfp.org

Alligator Adder

Anaconda Anole Axolotl Boa Caiman Chameleon

Cobra Copperhead Crocodile Dinosaur

KomodoIguanaDragon

Lizard Mudpuppy

Newt Olm

Snake

Tadpole Taipan Toad

Tortoise Tuatara Turtle Viper

Collecting the Makings for Crab Soup

Many might disagree but I am not a hoarder. I’m a collector. Yes, I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff some would consider junk, but I also have hundreds of pounds of fossils, a large Indian artifact collection and albums of stamps, coins and old postcards. In display cabinets I show off my glass hatchets, glass knives and antique milk-glass eggs collections. Among the thousands of books in my library are many autographed or collectable editions, obscure research volumes and leather-bound literature sets. I have decades of encyclopedia year books and Military History magazines in binders. There is some ‘junk’, though, like the half-peck of baseballs and golf balls I’ve found, or the rusty axe, sledge, shovel, and pick-heads out in the shed next to the three sets of tire chains and old car-jacks. I have plenty of ‘semi-collectables’, too: boxes of Boy Scout stuff, vinal record albums, my dad’s coffee cup collection, the kids’ musical instruments, etc. Some’s good yard sale stuff, anyway. I keep ‘family antiques’ in Grammy Hinkel’s passeddown, mahogany ‘dishes’ cabinet. I also have a bunch of small display boxes of ‘special’ rocks and seashells that I’ve collected in our travels. My attempt to supplement that seashell collection while in Texas on our drive to California, spawned a troubling, perplexing mystery. then horror over our happy home. It began at the house in Pioneertown, days ‘after the fact’. First, it was just a perplexing mystery, but it soon became to a spooky, seemingly supernatural situation that had fatal consequences. The unexpected tragedy prompted a sense of guilt and sadness that inspired introspection. It will forever be one of those ‘bad memories’ we all carry and occasional mull over.

My wife and I were in South Padre Island, Texas. [Padre is the world’s longest barrier-island (~200-miiles)]. It’s mostly wildlife refuge and grassy dunes, but for the resort town on its southern tip. Our KOA site was bayside on Laguna Madre. It adjoined a promenade/park that was adjacent to a brushy, bird-frequented, tidal mud-flat. The dog and I strolled the shoreline. As usual, I collected a couple of dozen seashells—and a little crab claw. I laid them out on the RV’s table for my wife to appreciate, then put them in Baggies and stowed them for the rest of the drive: up the Rio Grande to El Paso, across the Sonoran to Tucson then Quartzite then on to Joshua Tree in the Mojave an up to our place in the San Bernardino foothills. That took a couple days. A day or two after we arrived, I got around to the seashells, cleaning and sorting them for display before grandkids visited. They were mostly cone-shaped, curled shells. Some were spiky, others pointy and smooth. There were several snail-type ones and a few small clams—and one little crab claw. I spread them out on a towel on the lunch-table in our sunroom and left them to dry and be admired.

Next morning, my wife asked, “Why are your seashells all over the floor?” I was surprised to find many of them scattered around the sun-room. “Maybe the cat got hungry,” I sniffed the crab little claw for a clue. She blamed mice. I suggested a poltergeist. I gathered up my ‘enchanted’ collection and put them aside in a pot of well water.

That evening my wife pestered, “When are you going to do something with those shells?” So, I put them out on the towel to dry again, with plans to finish in the morning before she got up. But, when I got to it, they were scattered around the room again! I’d closed the door so it wasn’t the dog or cat. There were no other signs of rodents. Windows were closed there was no wind. “Poltergeist!” I speculated again.

I picked up a couple errant shells to examine. There were little claws sticking out! They moved, disappeared inside when I touched them. Hermit crabs! Half my shells were stuffed with crab! No mystery; just desperate, pathetic efforts to escape a slow death.

The wife and I were both horrified. Visions of crabs crawling around the house in the night gave her the heebie-jeebies. Me too, but I also felt guilty and sad. The poor crabs were snatched up, put in plastic bags out of water for days. Then their misery was extenuated by a futile hope of escape. Ridiculously, I wondered if I could save them, as pets. Haul a saltwater aquarium cross-country in the RV!? I actually considered driving the couple hours down to Laguna and dumping them in the Pacific. But I just had to accept my guilt and complete the mass-murder. I put them back in the pot and ‘mulled’ a while.

“I can dump them outback, let them slowly desiccate, or I can boil ‘em and get it over with quick.” I offered my wife a vote in the decision so she could fully share in the tragedy. She frowned and just stared at me for a pretty long time before passing sentence: “Boil them, I guess.” jaCk sChiCk is a long time area resiDent anD regular Contributor at ubfP. reaCh him at sjCks

I’ve read that bringing up the water temperature slowly minimizes suffering, unlike dropping lobsters into boiling pots. My cooked pet hermit crabs turned orange, like regular crabs and shrimp do. I pulled them out of their ‘collectable’, commandeered homes by their little claws, which now hung limply. I got a descent pile of crab meat. I’m a survivalist and considered it, just for a minute, but didn’t have the nerve to even taste one. I thought about feeding the dog, but instead took the orange corpses outback, troweled a hole and buried them.

I re-boiled my seashell collection—in cluding the little crab claw--cleaned them up and now have a “Rio Grande, Gulf of Mexico Coast” display box next to the “Galveston”, “Navarre Beach” and “Key West” Gulf Coast ones. Whenever I look at that box, I remember the tragedy. But I’ll still get craving for a bowl of good crab soup.

QCHS Alumni Spotlight: Helena van Emmerik-Finn '66

BY RAY FOX '66

Before beginning this month's QCHS Spotlight Article, I want mention how wonderful it has been to receive so many positive comments about last month's article which featured the nine Alumni Scholarship Winners, the three Wall of Fame Inductees, and the Honorary Diploma Recipient. This month will bring us back to the typical articles featuring the talent and accomplishments of former QCHS graduates.

This month’s article is about Helena van Emmerik-Finn who graduated from QCHS in 1966.

Helena was a talented artist during her high school years and has continued her artwork throughout her life. During High School she was the Recall co-art editor as well as a participant on the Prom Decorating Committee. She also played a role in the school Play. Her most fond memories from High School have to do with art class. She mentioned that Mr. Nye, her art teacher, played a significant role in her future. She was able to participate in two art classes every day as well as going to the art room during study hall and after school. The art department gave her the opportunity to learn a wide variety of arts and crafts. She also mentioned Mr. Klingaman as one of her favorite teachers. As did many of her classmates in the mid 60’s, she particular ly enjoyed attending dances at St. Isidore’s on weekends.

After High School Helena attended the Philadelphia College of Art, now University of the Arts, majoring in graphic design, photography, and film making. During the summers, she worked as a sketch artist on the Boardwalk at the Jersey Shore. She did this for about nine years and saved her money to travel. Her travels took her to Europe, North Africa, and India. She spent two years doing sketches in charcoal and pastel in London and lived in the West End. She was also a carnival artist for some time. While there, one of her most famous subjects was doing a portrait of Bob Marley, famous reggae musician.

Helena also drew caricatures done in felt tip pen and chalk. She always had a fine eye for detail which shows in all her artwork. It took about twenty-five years of doing this kind of work before her career really took off. She has done mostly impressionistic work in pastels and oil paint. One of her favorite subjects is painting animals, but she also enjoys landscapes and still life. Living in Bucks County, many of her pieces are of scenes in Bucks County. Here family moved to this area from Holland, shortly before she was born. Her ancestry has caused her to have a significant interest in painting scenes from The Netherlands including windmills and tulips. Back here in Bucks County, she even spent time as a caricaturist in the early days of Sesame Place. Her work in pastels expanded more than forty years and more recently she has been doing more work in oil painting. She feels that she has become more confident in her painting over the years which has brought about a bolder approach using more vibrant colors.

Helena has participated in many are exhibits including Plein Air in Easton and Bucks County

Plein Air Festival, where she took second place in 2018 and 2019. She was the featured artist at the Tinicum Arts Festival in 2018. Her art was exhibited at the Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Annual from 1986-2013. She was the first prize winner in Pastel for twelve years and best of show at the Lititz Fine Arts Annual in 2004. She took first place for three years and best of show for four years at the Cape May Outdoor Art Show. She has exhibited for fourteen years at the Phillips Mill Annual Art Exhibition and twenty-two years at the Yellow Springs Art Show. She was the Poster Artist in 2008 for the Wilmington Flower Market. Presently, she still participates in many local art shows and has given demonstrations and lectures at Delaware Valley University as part of their Center for Learning in Retirement. She is a member of the Peace Valley Plein Air Painters and enjoys plein air painting. About half of her works have been done in her own studio after taking photographs of her subjects and working from the photographs. There has been a feature article about Helena in the Bucks County Magazine written by freelance writer Michele Malinchak. She has also been featured in an Art Talk interview with Laura Womack of Phillips’ Mill Art from New Hope. This interview includes pictures and a review of several of her works and can be found at phillipsmill. org. or on YouTube.

Helena’s family background is quite interesting as well. Her parents moved to America from Holland just before she was born. They settled in Upper Black Eddy and Durham before moving to Haycock Township. She has four older siblings. Plans for Lake Nockamixon were developed in 1953 and a dam was built with the Park opening in December, 1973. The land where Helena grew up is where the Lake exists today. For her elementary school years, Helena attended St. John the Baptist School in Ottsville. After eighth grade Helena began attending Quakertown Community High School. Helena married Bob Finn in 1986, who she met in Doylestown while waitressing at the Doylestown Inn. They have lived in Doylestown for the last thirty years and have enjoyed traveling to Hawaii, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean.

The Quakertown Community Alumni Association encourages alumni to participate in the Association activities. Its mission includes fundraising to provide scholarship opportunities each year for graduating seniors. Please check out our Facebook Page “Quakertown High School Alumni Association” and the Alumni page of the QCSD.org website for more information. We are a 501(c)(3) organization and always welcome any contributions toward our scholarship endeavors. If you are interested in donating, please email Qchsalumniboard@ gmail.com and you will receive instructions on how to do so. Comments and ideas for future articles can be sent to Ray Fox at rdefox@msn.com.

The Alumni board is a group of dedicated people who strive to support the students and alumni as much as we can. You could say that we “bleed blue” but more importantly, that we embody the Quakertown motto: “Enter To Learn; Leave To Serve.”

Have questions about Rain Barrels, Backyard Stormwater Management, and Rain Gardens?

Contact the Bucks County Cooperative Extension Garden/Master Watershed Steward Hotline. This is a free service for Bucks County residents. The Penn State Master Gardeners and Penn State Master Watershed Stewards are extensively trained volunteers available to answer questions about good home gardening practices, issues with outdoor and indoor plants, trees, soil, insects, pests, ponds, backyard stormwater management, streamside property stewardship, rain gardens, rain barrels, native plant selection and installation, habitat improvement and water quality. Contact us by phone 267-483-2020 or email Bucksmg@psu.edu.

Got Tomato Problems? Extreme heat and lack of rain can wreak havoc on gardens according to many of our Hotline emails. “Why aren’t my tomatoes ripening?” has been a common question. Optimal temperatures for tomatoes are 70 to 80 degrees. Temperatures either below or above can “stall” the growth or ripening of tomatoes. Consistent ground watering and proper fertilization are essential to avoid plant stress which can cause fungal diseases such as Septoria Leaf Spot and Blossom End Rot, a nutrient deficiency.

Septoria Leaf Spot is a foliar disease of Tomatoes caused by the fungus Septoria lycopersici. Typical symptoms are small brown spots on lower (oldest) leaves of the plant that eventually spread until leaves yellow and die. If left unchecked the fungus will cause the fruit to have poor color and flavor. By removing infected leaves and maintaining good watering practices you may prevent loss of fruit quality. Be sure to discard infected leaves in the trash (do not compost).

Blossom End Rot is a common condition on tomatoes caused by a calcium deficiency either in the soil or by insufficient watering. It first manifests as a dark brownish black spot on the blossom end of the fruit. The spot will spread and the fruit will eventually rot. If the condition has been caused by insufficient water you may be able to remove all affected fruit and begin regular watering. Later bearing fruit may develop normally.

These are just a few of the common tomato problems. This Penn State online publication describes many more: t.ly/bKGw7 Got Insect Pests? Tomato Hornworms are the large green larvae of the Five-spotted Hawkmoth (Manduca quinquemaculata). They are large and can do considerable damage in the garden. Hand picking is the preferred method of control. If you see one with tiny white eggs on its back it has been visited by the tiny Braconid Wasp which has laid its eggs on the larvae. No need to pick them off. When the eggs hatch the wasp larvae will consume the caterpillar for you.

Marmorated Stink Bugs (Halyomorpha halys Stål) have piercing-sucking mouthparts and the degree of damage can be significant. Spraying the plant with Kaolin Clay can help prevent the bug from laying its eggs and feeding. It is safe for edibles and will wash off. Removing weeds and debris where stink bugs hide can help to keep populations down. Encouraging beneficial insects such as lacewings, praying mantis and ladybugs can help control populations.

Fall Gardening: August can be a great time to plant crops such as beets, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, beans, onions and leafy greens. Typical first frost dates in our area range from the end of October to the first week of November. If you are direct seeding in the garden, count back from the frost date to the number of days to maturity on the seed packet to determine the date to plant. For example, Blue Lake Green Beans days to maturity are 58. Therefore, you can seed in the ground about two months before frost and still enjoy a mature crop.

Visit the Master Gardeners and Master Watershed Stewards at the Wrightstown Fair August 16th-20th.

Our Home Garden/Watershed Hotline is open Monday thru Friday, 9-12 and 1-4. Bucksmg@psu.edu or 267-483-2020

Our new office is being staffed in person on Tuesday and Thursday between 1 and 4, and some other dates and times.Penn State Extension Bucks County, 576 Penns Park Road, Newtown, PA 18940 photo credits: Penn State Master Gardener Program

Please mention that you heard about us in the Upper Bucks Free Press!

BCOC Receives $10,000 Grant for Wheelz2Work Program

The Bucks County Opportunity Council (BCOC) received a $10,000 grant from the Gene and Marlene Epstein Humanitarian Fund in support of the Wheelz2work Program.

Wheelz2Work is operated by BCOC, in partnership with Bucks County Community College and the Epstein Humanitarian Fund and support from Univest Financial.

donated vehicle, Wheelz2Work, since its inception has changed over 500 lives. There are approximately 20 families currently awaiting a vehicle through the program.

BCOC is the only agency in this region that directly provides vehicles to local families, so donating a car has a significant, direct impact on our Bucks County neighbors in need.

“Tears, happy dances, and sighs of relief are just a few ways ES participants celebrate being handed keys to their very own vehicle,” says Erin Lukoss, Executive Director/CEO of poverty, 501(c)(3) non-profit agency in Bucks County, the mission of BCOC is to reduce poverty, and partner with our community to promote economic self-sufficiency. BCOC is a member of the nationwide Community Action Association network, the authority on income families in Bucks County by helping them to stabilize when in crisis, garner resources to achieve a livable wage, gain additional education and training, and work

See the Signs

It will be two years in September that my mother died. It does not seem possible, yet it does because it has been the longest two years of my life. I miss my mother. Her name was Helen. She was everything to me. I looked forward to seeing her and spending as much time as I could with her. There is a huge void in my life without her.

up in my life when they are supposed to i.e., when I am aligned with the universe.

Last year I had my first dream about my mom. It was beautiful. She and I were sitting together on a bench. I looked at her and said how much I loved and missed her. She said she knew and felt the same way and she hugged me. I felt her embrace and woke up feeling more at peace with her not being here with me in the physical world.

additional training, job interviews or have been unable to apply for higher paying jobs at a greater distance from home because of unsafe or unreliable transportation.

While BCOC is close to accepting its 100th

For details on how to participate in the Wheelz2Work Program, visit wheelz2work. com or contact Eileen Hartnett Albillar at BCOC, 215-345-8175, ext. 209 or email ealbillar@bcoc.org.

With that being said, I have been able to find ways to connect with her in spirit. What that means is that I believe in signs. I believe that she has been connecting with me for the past two years through signs. The first sign I received from her was maybe 6 weeks after she died. I was in my office seeing a client. I had this Halloween skeleton figurine that sat on my table and the skeleton’s legs hung over the side of this table.

For no reason the skeleton fell off and it broke its leg in the same spot that mother had when she fell and needed knee replacement. I laughed and could not believe it once I looked at it. I looked up and said “hello” to my mother. I could see her laughing which made me smile. I was not upset by this sign.

In the early days of my grief there were probably more signs, but I just was not ready to see them all. I was so immersed in my grief that if they were there, I was not fully present to receive them. When I was attending a grief group there were members talking about how their loved one came to them in a dream. I was so upset because I wanted to see my mother in a dream and never dreamt of her.

I talked to others in my life that were supportive of me and understood grief and they said that maybe I was not ready or it would happen when it was supposed to happen. I am a firm believer that things and people will show

When I am missing her, I have walked into a restaurant and on the radio will be Frank Sinatra. She loved him. I was in Florida in April visiting my daughter and we were on our way to my grandson’s prom. We passed a street with the same name as my mother’s street when she was alive. I said to my daughter look at your GPS that is my mom’s street. We both looked up and said Hello I miss and love you. The next day we went to Target and decided to check out and the woman’s name was Helen (it was on her tag.)

There have been lots of other signs. I do not believe in coincidences. I believe in signs. They help me heal and connect with my mother. I recently read a book about Signs so that I could learn more just in case I was missing more. This book was phenomenal for me. It was called SIGNS The Secret Language of the Universe by Laura Lynne Jackson. I have been writing about grief for the past 18 months, and have learned that everyone grieves differently. There is no right or wrong way of grieving. I am sharing my experience to support those who are struggling and I want to know that they are not alone. I am living one day at a time with and without my mother by my side. My belief is, “that all persons are truly greater than they think they are.” susan V. brewer is a CertifieD life CoaCh anD PsyChotheraPist in the uPPer buCks area she Can be reaCheD at susan@susanVbrewer Com