Clove Apples I am sitting in the kitchen while my Aunt is preparing her apples to make her Apple Crisp for dessert.   My Aunt turns to me and says, “Have you heard of a “clove apple?”   I look over puzzled, “No, but I know what cloves are; one of the spices in making pumpkin pies.”   “Your Mom never told you about clove apples?”   Hmm, this is something my mother never mentioned.   My Aunt proceeds to tell me about clove apples and walks out of the kitchen to her pantry and brings back a small container of cloves and I take a whiff; strong smell.   My Aunt walks over to get an apple and says she would show me how one was made and then I would make my own clove apple.   That evening, as I awoke from my nap to have dinner, I found my Aunt sitting in the recliner, stabbing her apple with cloves. I was curious and looked up “clove apple.”   A clove apple is a common term for what is called a pomander.   Pomander comes from the French t...

Aging, Gracefully Today is my birthday. I was originally due the end of September but, as my mother tells me, I was born pre-mature, 8 months. My mother should know, first time and “Bing,” cake was in the oven! Of course, my mother says she was not even expecting me, nor did she expect she would ever be pregnant...her first time. Mom’s “first time,” she says, she and my dad did not have intercourse/ penetration so my mother and my father (who pressured my mom) assumed everything would be okay. No one would suspect they were in the back of the barn “genitalia kissing.” One of the programs I manage, a pregnancy prevention program provides sexual health education to middle and high school students. I shared my story with a group of high school students and many of them laughed, “Your mom and dad didn’t have sex but she got pregnant?” They did not believe my story. Ahh, sex education is not efficiently taught in schools today. In fact, many parents are not well equipped to talk to their...

Challenges Change Us A week ago I met with staff in one of the programs under my management (portfolio) to discuss changes that would take place in this fiscal year.   These changes would be a challenge for them because it means tracking additional services that required by our funding agency.   The contract for this program was just renewed for another three year period and provides comprehensive services to victim survivors of crime; including intimate partner violence and sexual assault.   Additional services were added to ensure that our participants would get the best services possible to meet their needs in order to “enhance their quality of life.”   One person on my staff is already challenged; time management is a major issue and focusing on tasks at hand is another.   This person is not able to keep up with “changes” in program deliverables or meet deadlines.   Micro managing is not my style of supervision but, in this case, I have to “change...

One True Vineyard I don't know what Bible or which translations or versions "Christians" are reading these days (too many to count) but what I read is, Christians, followers of Jesus Christ should be of the same mind as Christ (Philippians 2).   Jesus also said the Ten Commandments are wrapped up in just two, the greatest being love for God with your whole being and the second to love others as yourself in response to a lawyer’s question (Matthew 22:35-40).   Paul (Saul of Tarsus) even added if we do not have love for others, what we do and say (as followers reflecting Christ) would be useless, would mean nothing (1 Corinthians 13). There are those who identify as "Christians," “Disciples,” “Saints” or “Witnesses” that might not believe as I do or interpret the Bible as I read it but, one thing is clear, LOVE for our neighbors, praying and doing good for them is what I read (Micah 6:8).   Jesus condemned no one; hated no one but condemned the contradic...

The “Soup” of Faith I love to make my own Chicken Noodle Soup.   A good family friend who shares an apartment with me loves the way I make my Chicken Noodle Soup; especially when he is fighting a bad cold.   He would rather eat my soup than purchase one at the local Chinese Take-out.   What is so special about my Chicken Noodle Soup?   It’s really not that special; just the way that it is made.   I buy two chicken breasts; bone in.   After rinsing the breasts off and use my fingers to peel as much chicken off the bones as possible without breaking the bones.   I do not throw the bones out but put them aside while I cut up the breast meat.   I place the meat and the bones in pot with about two and one half quarts of water and bring to boil.   I put in a forth cup of chopped garlic, a table spoon of Italian spice, two table spoons of   parsley and oregano, and salt lightly to taste..   I then add a handful of spaghetti, split in...

Why Social Work My first attendance at college, Philadelphia College of Bible (PCB) was when it was located near Center City Philadelphia.   My first year was right after high school and I was not quite sure what my major would be.   Learning to read and understand the Bible was the first reason for my going to Bible College.   I did think about going to The Kings College in Briarcliff Manor, New York because I trusted it’s President, Robert A Cook to whom I listened to each weekday morning on The King’s Hour and to whom I wrote concerning things going with my family; particularly about the abuse my mother suffered at the hands of my father.   I decided to stay home because as long as I was around, my father would not lay a hand on my mother (I had just learned to stand up to him).   Attending PCB was a challenge for me right after high school.   First, I did not grow up in a middle class home; we were on Public Assistance.   Secondly, I did not ...

Friendship “A FRIEND is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.” George Eliot Mary Anne Evans (November 22 1819 to December 22 1880) was known by her “pen name” George Eliot.   She was an English writer and poet.   Unlike other women writers of the Victorian era, Mary decided to use a pen name to move from the stereotype of women limited to writing romance novels; having her fictional writing judged separately from being a well-known editor and critic; and, shields her private life from possible scandal seeing a married man. I am a collector of little plaques that have quotes about friendships written on them.   The quote above was inscribed on a tiny wooden one that hung from a wall in my living room.   I bought the plaque a long time ago at a flea market spons...