"Daddy Deploys Today" Memorial Day Tribute

"Daddy deploys today." 

Memorial Day Deployment 

Today's Memorial Day. There will be hot dogs grillin' with badminton and 'corn hole' being played all across America. We did all of the above yesterday, because in this home, where we are visiting, "Daddy deploys today." I took the picture above without staging. True glimpse into the life of a pilot in the Ohio Air Guard. Captain Mettle will deploy later this afternoon. At this moment his desert boots are sitting beside the flotsam and jetsam treasures of his Little Red. Later today there will be hugs and squeezes amid tears and then those same boots will move on to the heat of the other side of the world.  

Memorial Day. We honor the sacrifice of generations before us. What does that mean in 2013?  

Captain Mettle holds Kindergarten Art Inspired by "Red, White and Blue" 

How did I 'land' in the position of 'suddenly' being surrounded by the military? My husband is a Navy Veteran, having served aboard the original USS John F. Kennedy. He had the responsibility of giving the final signal before the fighter planes screeched off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier and then of tying down those same planes in the middle of oceanic storms, where he saw waves surging over the flight deck some 75 feet above the sea. I have two children. Daughter #1 is married to Captain Mettle pictured above, flying out today. Daughter #2 is also married to a Navy-man, stationed permanently in Annapolis. 

I didn't see this coming. Wasn't I the daisy loving peace-nik? I didn't ever envision September 11th either. 

Remember, Tuesday, 9-11 of 2001? I know you remember exactly where you were when you heard the news. My happy little polka-dotted life has had quite an adventure since that crystal clear blue sky day changed everything in our collective history. On Friday of that week, the official national day of prayer and mourning, I wrote a little dittie for the preschool children of the New Albany Jewish Center to sing to their parents and grandparents on the steps of the synagogue as I led that memorable Tot Shabbat. As the protestant P.K. (pastor's kid) leading the assembled in Hebrew every week as the candles were lit, I was well in over my head already. Leading prayers on the day of national prayer and mourning? I wanted to call in sick. What could I possibly do in this setting, under these circumstances that would be appropriate for children? 

Pre-September 11th Fourth Fest

They were mostly three and four years old. What could I do? Brainstorm. I had a flag bag, filled with American flags. By Friday of that week, you couldn't buy the American flag in America -- they were sold out -- but I had a bag of flags from earlier festive Fourth of July fun. Whatever the children would sing had to be simple. It had to be something that I could teach the wee-ones that morning, to sing at noon for the massive number of extended family members who would arrive to join us in worship. 

"Red, white and blue. I love you. Red, white and blue. I love you."

Sufficiently simple. There wasn't a dry eye in the synagogue. I was able to strum my guitar, but I couldn't look at the children for fear of totally, completely and utterly 'losing it.' They sang with innocence, the kind of direct purity that only the tiniest can convey. They waved their flags sweetly, completely unaware of what had happened days earlier. They kept hope alive that we would make it through the coming weekend. Who knew what ledge of destruction we were poised on? Hope won out that day. The children kept the candle light glowing with their sincerity.

That day seems a long time ago now. My daughters are grown, graduated and out on their own. I'm a grandma now.  At the prompting of teachers I ended up developing those two lines into an official Dittie with a capital D. We recorded it in the studio with a full complement of background singers and sweet children's voices adding their clarity and heart. Then piece by piece, year by year later those simple words became the text of what would become my picture book version of the song. (Yes. There is a CD insert of the song included.)

True story.  I had finished piecing together the Thanksgiving quilt that would illustrate the final verse of the song. I had an 'empty chair' in the corner of all of the activity that surrounds a community coming together for a meal of thanks. My daughter Sarah looked at me, and said, "I know what you're trying to say with the empty chair. No child will ever 'get that.' It would have been better if you'd have had Scott coming home in his uniform in time for turkey." At the time she said those words, Scott was literally in Afghanistan and would indeed be returning in time for turkey. {Out of the mouths of babes.} I don't think I have a picture of the 'before' quilt, but this is the amended version, with a 6 foot 4 pilot-in-fabric inserted at the eleventh hour. 

Once she put that thought into my heart, I realized I finally had the 'solution' for the final quilt I still needed to design and piece together. If Scott was going to make an appearance in the book, then I needed to include my other son-in-law as well. I needed to have Zac in uniform. After a quick look at his Facebook photos, I designed his quartet of trombones within a gazebo, since that was the setting of their wedding. Ta-da. The quilts are finished. The book is printed.  The book wins a national award! Oh happy day! 

[It's a long story about those last couple of quilts and why it took me over five years to make the needed total of 16 quilts. The short version? I overcame a lot of personal setbacks, side effects and obstacles generated by the return invasion of cancer in my body: Cancer the Sequel. With the help of therapists and an untold number of prayers, I was eventually strong enough to lift a light-weight iron and steam together the final cotton pieces which are now part of my legacy.]

Jump ahead in time again. As a result of my book with its patriotic images and now with men-in-uniform 
{{{and the intervention of a committee of angels}}} I am invited to EUROPE to perform and present to the children of our troops stationed abroad. Hubby makes all the travel arrangements and acts as chauffeur with European GPS through the five countries of my tour. I meet amazing individuals. Individuals sacrificing. Separated from their family at times and moving said family from pillar to post, all in the name of service. Always available. Always willing to give their all.  I am humbled to be a part of the "Military Month of the Child." Having a parent in the military is indeed a sacrifice. Participating in the festivities on behalf of the children makes my heart both proud and humbled. 

As a result of being in Europe, we are returning to Zurich to fly stateside again. While sitting at a charming candle lit dinner in a cafe at the top of a breath-taking switchback peak overlooking Florence Italy, we suddenly realize that there is literally a hole in our remaining self-guided tour and we have no reservation for the following night, the night before Easter. Oh my.

Completely out of left field we 'insert' a day trip to Verona as that is neatly between where we are at the time we realize we have no where to stay and where we need to end up for our return flight and there is room in the inn. Verona was NEVER, EVER on our itinerary. Since we were in Verona on Saturday, we ended up doing all of the tourist-type activities, which led us up into the TOP of their ancient colosseum. As I am happily taking pictures Allen sees that a spectacle is forming below us on the city streets. We can't hear the public speakers from across the square, which doesn't matter anyhow because neither of us can speak Italian. We can however clearly see US Army vehicles forming a parade below us. Everyone is in crisp, but OLD, US military garb and the stars and stripes are waving from every vehicle. Completely confused and clueless we depart the colosseum's many steps to figure out what is happening. 

It is at that point that we wind our way through the crowd and are led to an English speaking participant who as soon as she realizes that we are from America begins to hug us and sob, "You've come!" To capsulize this amazing 'coincidence' (certainly orchestrated by heaven) we realize that we have arrived in Verona at the very moment of their annual observation of our US soldiers liberation of their city during the World War. JUBILEE.

We.Are.Heros. We are hugged and held, because we are from America and it was America that saved Verona. She sobs her appreciation to me in broken English -- as though it was I that personally drove this very tank through the streets those decades earlier when she was a child. She sobs her gratitude for America's soldiers who came to her defense as a child. We are revered. We are the bodily representation of her freedom. America did that. America is being celebrated. American soldiers saved her. Saved her city. Saved her country. I had never ever experienced such pride in my homeland, in my people. I stood for all that is good in this world, because I was America to her. I stood as the mother who sent her sons to save her. History. World history. Revered in the face of the heinous. Good wins again.

Which brings us back to Memorial Day and deployment. I know in my heart that America-the-blessed must stand watch in this fragile world of ours. While I want to cover my eyes and just sing "Let there be PEACE on Earth"  I have lived to witness the unthinkable. I have also been personally hugged as the embodiment of the liberator. I know that we must still have uniforms that stand at the ready. I know that means that there must be mothers who say goodby to their children in uniform, spouses who sleep alone, children who are abruptly in one parent households. I know that in my head. 

Observing it up close and personal is a whole different level of truth. 

This is an extremely long ramble I realize. I appreciate that you've taken the time to read it. I am a daisy lover. I also hug my son-in-law goodbye today. Its an amazing quilt of experience this life I'm living. If you see a young mom with three children in tow at the grocery store looking exhausted and alone, realize those could be my loved ones, my WonderPeeps. Smile. Reach out. It takes a village. Actually, it takes a planet. We are all connected. This little planet of ours needs all of us to collectively cooperate and share this place we call home. Until we can figure out how to do that, we will have those willing to sacrifice their all toward that noble end. We have those in our midst who have lost their loved ones in just such sacrifice. 

Today we pause to reflect on what that means. I know I've shed some tears already before the sun ever came up as I 'thought' about writing this epistle. I appreciate your prayers of support on behalf of Scott. I also appreciate your expressions of support for Sarah and our peeps. Scott's mission this time is for just over two months. A bite-size chunk in the grand scheme of things. Small potatoes comparatively speaking. Just long enough for him to miss his birthday and Father's day and the fireworks of the Fourth and a season of swimming with his dear ones. The sacrifice is real. The emotions are many. The sincerity is genuine. 

***If you have a couple more minutes, watch as Carie-the-Kindergarten teacher, with her earlier nine years of service with the US Army, including one year of service in Iraq, leads her kinders in the singing and signing of my song. They are standing in front of the colossal quilt they created in response to my picture book.

-- Debbie -- 
I really don't intend for this article to be a "commercial" for my work. 
Honest. 
This is my real life today. 
Not a Hallmark movie.
But I do know that there are people searching for ways to instill a sense of patriotism, pride and respect in children they direct, teach and love. To that end, I will leave you the specific links to these projects so that you don't have to go searching. 

My Pinterest pinboard on ALL things patriotic is just one click away. 



My song is now available as a digital download format at our Early Education Emporium. 
It is also in a zipped file at TeachersPayTeachers.  

It will be used at a variety of end-of-the-year concerts and graduations across the country and around the world. 


***If you are reading this in 'real-time' you have the opportunity right this minute to register to win a set of all three of my books over at the blog, Kindergarten Lifestyle, in honor of my launching SKYPE visits to schools. 

Thanks for your continued support. 
Thanks for your pin. 

I'm now at 122,027 followers!     

Click this link to go there directly! 

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Wrapping up: Reggio Remembered

                   It's time to wrap up my Reggio images. My memory card is nearly emptied....

[Reminder: I took all of these photos last spring, during my amazing European Author Tour to four US Army bases as a portion of their "Month of the Military Child" celebrations. Two of the bases were in Italy, with one base just about 90 minutes away from the most amazing field trip of my life!!!! An entire day spent touring two brand new national ECE Centers in the province of Reggio Emilia, Italy. We were able to tour the two programs in exchange for my performing for the Italian children.]

There were drawings everywhere...... and I do mean everywhere. Hallways were filled to the brim with bulletin boards of every sort of artwork imaginable.

How cute are these 'numerals?'

A few more collages of one amazing day of observation!!

 Spring Easter Celebration: assemblage of snippets!

 It's time to conclude these flashbacks. Wrap it up.

 I want to share some random images from around the building.

Large motor room rocking horse parade + climbing block structures. 

An entire box of over a dozen 'play' irons.

Little napping bunks: like the Seven dwarfs in action.

One final set of images: ceilings, floors, recycle bins.

It was the day of a lifetime.

It's such a treasure to re-live it here with those of you reading along.

*****If you are interested in seeing all of my posts that show the various details of this amazing day, they are all catalogued under the label "Reggio" and you can click right here to bring all of the articles together at one time.... for your reference and inspiration.

I've added this post to the Thrifty Thursday link-up!

Yet More REGGIO!!!!

When you think Reggio, you think art materials, right?

RIGHT!!!!!

What I LUV'd about being able to walk through the hallways + classrooms in Italy?

I LUV'd getting to see so many demonstrations of ideas!!

                    Everywhere you looked were yet more ideas.

Ideas.

Documented ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!

I attempted to translate the labeled words on the photographs of the encircled children.

Nido = Nest

Reggio Observations Continued

My return-to-Reggio retro tour continues.

{I am making my way through my camera's memory card -- of images that never got shared here last year.... all from my one day visit to two childcare centers in Reggio Emilia, Italy last spring. If you want to see ALL of my Reggio articles and ideas, they are housed together under the Reggio Label -- you can get to them by clicking here.} 

I LUV these sculpural shape collages that were child-created from up-cycling various bits 'n bobs from the recycle bin. These 'shape-people' were actually fairly large scale. I'm not sure that the photos capture just how large they were in real life. I can just envision the smiles and cararderie and gales of laughter as the children worked together to create this cast of characters. This classroom was for the 'older' children and the work on the walls was much more sophisticated.


Seeing these shapes 'come-to-life' reminds me of the geometry paintings I captured here in the states on the easels. Click here to go back to that post.

I have a hypothesis that this next photo-capture is probably a 'homework' assignment.
Pretty clever concept on bringing the four triangles together to make a square.
Geometry at work in real life. Feels akin to a quilt making concept!

This collage is a delightful combination of media to portray the four seasons.

My thought that it may have been created at home with parental supervision is based on the premise of the inclusion of the family photographs. These were on display in the hallway -- outside of the classroom. Each child had a similar style project.... with the four triangles representing each season.

Another hypothesis on my part. I think this next one may be a sign-in attendance chart.

What I know for certain, is that this graph has taken much time + focus to create!!!

Everytime we introduce graphing, we are working on math skills.

Compare and contrast.

*****This post has been added to Deborah Stewart's continuing series at Teach Preschool.

This time her gloriously beautiful overview is Everyday Math.

There are dozens of math ideas already connected in a blog hop.

-- Debbie --

Reggio Italy: Portfolios

While dashing through the ECE programs in Reggio Emilia, Italy last spring, it was all I could do to keep my camera clicking at the speed of sound -- with batteries and memory card cooperating. There were images in every possible direction that I wanted to document.

As we explored one of the "Art" rooms I was fortunate to stop and think to capture some images of the children's individual portfolios stacked neatly in a corner on the counter top.

As you can see, each child in the class had a delightful presentation of their first name and a painted work-of-art on the tag-board like front cover of their portfolio.

I wanted to spend all morning pouring over the specific pieces inside each portfolio, but time was of the essence and all I could do was swoop into one collection and snap a picture of the pieces on the top. BEHOLD!!! The work of Alessia.

Reggio Emilia Tour Continues

Welcome back to my 'retro-Reggio-tour'
Join me as we take a quick look through two different, brand-new, nationally run programs in Reggio Italy.

I was fortunate enough to have one day to 'tour' two different programs in Reggio. They were nearly an hour's drive apart. An ocean away from the programs I consider home. It's awesome to contemplate the similarities between the programs I visited on this spring day In Reggio and US sites where I am invited. It's awesome to see the similarities!!!


Isn't it fun to see how we all use hand-print and handprint art as a foundational springboard for Arts exploration? This time the handprints are collaborating to make a map of Italy! The map is obviously a cooperative project of 'mature' hands.

Here's a look at wee little Italian finger-paintings. I dare say, you'd be hard pressed to identify children's finger painting in the USA versus those in Italy or those in Australia or Chile. I know that these are 'reggio-finger-painting' explorations because of the Italian labels above the finished work.

If you're on a scavenger hunt searching for handprint projects, click here for my recent post on COLOR THEORY --  the coolest idea since sliced bread from NY.

Or this click will take you to my Top 10 viewed idea on handprint snowflakes.

Tomorrow I've got a peak at some of the Reggio children's Art portfolios.

Must pull them together. Sweet covers with just a quick glimmer inside.

Sept 11th Picture Book

September 11th. 2011. Today is the tenth anniversary of what no one had ever imagined in their worst nightmare. We have had ten years to ponder and make sense out of this most senseless day in my mortal memory. What sense is there? There are no words adequate to quantify the loss on that day. There are no words. Like other events in Camelot we will remember where we were and how we learned what unfolded.

The staggering loss of life is one grievous toll, but the unfathomable loss of innocence is what wracks an entire nation, an entire planet, a decade later. My heart is full as this day gets underway. I personally have decided to leave the television turned off as the visual memories are already seared into my brain. [I am one of those creative types who is easily overwhelmed by the nightly news & have learned that for myself, I must carefully ration the world's horrors to 'protect' my optimal functioning.] 

Instead I will contemplate what I have personally contributed to the making of peace. I will contemplate the power of my book. I will contemplate the power of the Arts. I will consider the power of children and the hope that they offer -- even in the face of the unthinkable. [After all, it is the children that provide potential to improve upon this experience of our sharing Planet Earth -- peacefully and together.] I will contemplate the power of my book for all patriotic moments: Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and the morning pledge of Allegiance -- it could be the perfect contribution for any and all of these.

It is those young & innocent children for whom I first wrote my simple dittie, "Red, White and Blue." Written so that together we might have some means to remember what we hold dear about this amazing and diverse country of ours. Written in that time of crisis. Written with the assumption that one day we would have an observation for the tenth year anniversary. We would persevere. As would our flag. Waving flags and the vast history those colors represent. Perseverance. Surviving. Keep it simple.  

Children + Song + Flags + Hope = Debbie's contribution.

Then somehow, somewhere in the midst of these past ten years I learned how to become an author/illustrator!!!! What would you begin if I could promise you that in a decade it would bring fruit? That's probably the topic for an entirely different blog-post. The truth of the matter? Get underway. Begin. Start. Move. Make a list. Take a step. Trust. Believe. Just do it!!

Today I can sit here on another singular, spectacular, sunny, September morn and see the very first evidence of my idea taking root, of a contribution being made, of a book making a difference. These first pictures are from my summer library programs for the Richland County library system, in and around Mansfield OH.

That first picture was taken in a small town Americana-library housed in the basement of the village post office. Here I am sharing my labor-of-love. I am sharing with children what it takes to make a book. In my case: fabric and guts. Plus the biggest gift of all for a cancer survivor? The gift of time. I am sharing with them that we who survived that day ten years ago owe a debt of gratitude to those who have gone before us. We make payment on the debt by using our talents and capabilities for the service of our wider world. Here we're using sign language to convey the other significant lyric in the song, after red, white and blue comes I love you.

                                       

It doesn't matter if we don't know how to get things done when we begin. We still owe it to ourselves and our communities to get underway. Volunteer. Seek a mentor. Ask questions. Attend a seminar. Learn. Use your talents. Expand your capabilities. Stretch and Grow. 

When I began the quilts-as-illustrations for the book version of "Red, White and Blue" I didn't even have any idea of what all 16 quilts subject matter would include. I knew I needed 6 'flag' quilts: 4 verses + the book's cover + the endpapers = six. That left me with 10 more images to conceive and create. Yet I began. I knew that I wanted my book to be about the diversity of our country -- from the diversity of our geography to the diversity of our people. 

So one of the first quilts I made was of a small village, Ephraim WI. I'd learned that the word Ephraim translates from Moravian to the word 'peace'. A suitable place to begin. Iconic two white churches on the hillside and red & white striped awning for Wilson's ice cream parlor. (That's us together with THE Wilson family -- my BCO/Breast Cancer buddy Saint -- whose gift of time was all together way too short IMHO.) From that extreme microcosm village-America I next began the quilt of the big city. 

It wasn't until last summer, watching the Bailey's Harbor Fourth of July parade, five years after I'd first begun the quilts, that I had the brainstorm that the image of fire trucks was the perfect complement to the big city quilt & to reference the events of September 11th in an 'appropriate' manner for children. Every child is fascinated by fire trucks. Our community helpers. Those who respond when we need help the most. How had it taken me five years to think of that connection?? No matter. When I was ready to begin that quilt the inspiration came barreling down the parade route, in the form of a 911 painted boldly on the front bumper. This quilt is the one that I frequently share with children, with students. That illustration out of all 16 quilts, is the one overt reference to today, to September eleventh. Here it is just getting underway.

Now to contemplate the power of the Arts. It was my song, "Red, White and Blue" that directed a community to unite together last year for Veterans Day to honor the military families in their midst and the Veterans years of service. This year they will have the book to share as a part of their new and ongoing tradition.

It was the song and it's book version which inspired Carie to direct her kindergarten students to create a flag-esque quilt from construction paper that covers the gym wall -- all from marbles rolling through paint.  This is the mammoth project created by one who teaches K-kiddos now, but had served nine years in the Army previously and had a year stationed in Iraq. A truly amazing story of being heroic and being inspired by a book. Watch the YouTube version of Carrie's class singing and signing last spring.

It was the book that powered the USO style tour to Germany & Italy where I met our military members stationed abroad and sang with their children, the children of our troops during Month of the Young Military Child. My mind is still spinning at this opportunity. I am both grateful and humbled to have had the amazing good fortune to have traveled and shared this project abroad. Feel free to read the 39 posts here on my blog of that two week adventure earlier this spring.  [It was while in Europe that we had THE most amazing encounter with the LUV of America in Verona, Italy during their re-enactment of the US liberating them.... you can read that account here.]

This picture above is probably my all time favorite photographic image. Me-on-the-move with two uniformed daddies -- one holding the original quilt and the other soldier holding my open book (endpapers showing) with an adoring and onlooking toddler-daughter looking up in awe to her papa as I introduce the project to all the families gathered together. We are in Italy and we have just shared a meal together. Beyond my wildest imagination a year ago. The power of the Arts. The power of the book.

Yet there are limits to self-publication, when I am the complete creative staff AND the entire marketing and sales departments all rolled into one. This song & book, book & song of mine are still very much a 'word-of-mouth' enterprise. I have to remind myself that It is still a toddler. It hasn't yet celebrated its first birthday. It has not yet started to walk on its own. Receiving the national INDIE Award of Excellence was another exhilarating step forward.

What possibilities lie ahead? My responsibility this summer has been to reach out & get connected to a broader blogging educational community. As a result I have received an email that "Red, White and Blue" was used in Florida on Friday of last week, as they sought permission to circulate their video to the school's website. And I know that my book will be part of the second grade's efforts in Texas on Tuesday as they perform for their PTA. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think YOU can!!! You can tell others of this effort.

Here's a quilt created in the BIG Apple, NYC, last winter in anticipation of my author visit to the preschool right in the heart of it all. This quilt was created by young hands of 3 & 4 year olds.

I will spend this day of observation taking a deep breath. I will spend this day in appreciation for the freedom that I have, that has been crafted by the effort of so many, which needs constant protection. (Click here for my Freedom isn't Free post which chronicles my son-in-law's return from one of his numerous deployments. He is today, now as I type, again in a place I can't spell, far far far from his family. I just received the text message from my daughter that she's fractured her foot. Life goes on with challenges, doesn't it?)

I will spend this day in prayer for those who work to keep us safe: our community helpers, our first responders and our military members here and abroad. I will pray for the many families whose world was irrevocably shattered a decade ago. I will spend this day using my talents. That is the one contribution I can make. That is the one way that I can stand up to terrorism. It is that I can stand up & stitch together my own unique capabilities. I will stand up and be counted. I will stand up and attempt to find teachers in search of this resource. I will stand up and put my capabilities to work. I will stand up in an act of hope. I will stand up in the hope that our children will improve upon this world of ours -- because we have taught them well.

This photo composite was created from my illustrations by Sunny Days

This photo composite was created by my friends at Kindergarten Lesson Plans
Children + Arts + Songs + Books + Literacy = HOPE

[Editor's note from 9-11-12. This song is now available in a digital download format. I am now a participant at Teacher's Pay Teachers where you can immediately purchase and use the song in Mp3 format. Click here.]

In my efforts to learn to 'market' to a wider audience I have learned much about connecting my blog to others. I have learned about linkie-parties. Right this minute Denise of Sunny Days-in-Second Grade is hosting a group link up of ideas that teachers are using to observe 911. I know you will find additional inspiration by going to her blog post. This is her classroom of children and their heart projects created at the end of last week. Go to her post to learn what the children have written on the back of the hearts.

*******************************

To me one of the amazing posts in the Sunny Days link-up is from a third grade teacher in Illinois, who devised a project with her class and the fellow third grade classes to have each student write 25 words to describe September 11th. (This was the number 3000 -- total lives lost, divided by the number of students working on the project.) Her project is described here on her blog, Lifelong Learning. The words were written to create two Twin Towers, to graphically demonstrate what was lost, with the power of words. Please take a moment to read on her blog what all was involved in the creation of this effort.

These photos are from the amazing blog, Lifelong Learning.

And show the 3rd graders twin towers and 25 words from each student. Please take a moment to read on her blog what all was involved in the creation of this effort. I know that I'm moved at the very thought. What difference can you make?

Just do it.

****To ORDER a copy for your collection, please follow this link to my WEBSITE!!!!