Writers' Group Meets at B's - Poem: Drinking Coffee Under the Stars

We're ready to do another Icing on the Cake.

But who will pay for it?

How about GoFundMe?

We should rename our Writers' Group as we no longer meet in the Coffeeshop at the Willow Grove Giant.

Your thoughts, please?

Was really happy to see Lorraine. She comes periodically. Like me, she lives alone in a big house. Her husband Dave died five years ago. My two kids moved out.

Friends give Lorraine diaries which she writes in sporadically. Same with me and my morning pages from

Yellow blanket, white socks. Clean white socks.

Her essay PLASTICS IN THE OCEAN was alarming. Plastics never really return to the earth like organic materials. Read more about this, she said, from the book PLASTIC, A TOXIC LOVE STORY.

We're so fortunate to have B's expertise on the environment, not to mention her beloved pollinators!

Easy quiz question: What movie was about the future of plastics? Hint: The star is now 79 and was on the PBS show Finding your Roots hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who's a young 66.

The Internet knows all. Except when it's wrong.

Linda read an unfinished short story called TEENAGE VAMPIRE CHEERLEADER.

Group comments, which I agree with, were: She paints great characters. Dialog is excellent and so are the odd names of the southern characters like Billy Clyde.

Lorraine marveled at our talent. Yes, Linda's just a simple girl living with her mom in a big house in Abington.

We were trying to think about how long we'd been together. Perhaps 10 years.

Donna K wanted to be with us but she had an eye injury. She should regain full retinal vision shortly. 

Rem, in his Angels warm jacket, continued to amaze us with the next chapter of his novel. I had forgotten it was a dream and I panicked that the main character - Rem himself revealed thru dreams - dropped dead at the end.

Chapter titles are names of songs.

18 with a Bullet by Peter Wingfield.

It was exciting for Lorraine to hear each one of us read.

She also does illustrations in her diary.

She and some family members, including David, flew to Mexico City for a relative's marriage. Elena and Guillermo, a member of the Mexico City Symphony,  tied the knot.

Wonderful descriptions. Wrin in the mid-1990s.

t 
I read my 7 page opus ROOM NUMBER EIGHT, at least I think that's the title.

Originally I called it The Blue Door. Thanks to my friend Hazel Barry for reviewing it in the wee hours of the morning.

I woke up for the day at 11:30 am. Was really glad bc I needed my sleep.

Was determined to finish the story. For breakfast I ate a salad, which I'd made yesterday. Then I ran upstairs to print out the story.

I'm very pleased with it. Linda called it "mesmerizing" - Rem thought it was "depressing" - Beatriz had trouble with the sense of time - and Lorraine enjoyed it.

I shared a story about not being notified to return to a Thursday Night Writers' Group. My local contact, Linda, is a very nice person, but totally unreliable.

I knew she wouldn't notify me.

DRINKING COFFEE UNDER THE STARS

For Kim and Bob Ruby

Pump, pump, pump, out
comes the coffee from
a toddler-high carafe,
dark as the night,
plopping into my
thick paper cup,
Halloween-themed
no doubt.

I tiptoe across the
wet grass, find my
unlocked car, and
place the cup in
the holder under
the defroster.

No cheating, I think,
as I drive slowly
home, steam pouring
from the cup.

Such a wonderful time
I had at the small basement cafe
like back at Goddard in the
Rathskeller, or in the Village
where Ginsburg and Dylan
and the howling hippies
were born.

My tired feet swing out the door.
How can I break the mood of the
night by entering my brightly-lit
home?

I cradle the paper cup in my hand
blow on it, and stare up at the
stars. What's happened to the moon - is that
it? or just a lamp light on the Kiernan's
street?

I'm not a praying man, I'd said to Kim, but I'll
send up a prayer for you both tonight. So I
did. And God watched me from wherever He
hangs his hat.

And the coffee was good and hot like it's
supposed to be, as I stepped up over the
crunchy leaves and entered my mezzuzah-framed
house, thinking God is good.

My turquoise Buddha in the front yard could be heard
laughing up and down the street.

I told Rem he should make his own spaghetti and tomato sauce. Easy as opening a jar and boiling water.

Scott thought he would help me clear up the mess on the husband's side of the bed, so he easily built me two shelves above my bed.

Last night I did a smart thing. My bedside lamp was way too bright on the end table, so I put it on the shelf, where just the right amount of light comes down w/o blinding me.

Just got off my bike after attending the Coffee Grounds Group - Poem: A Whisper

 

 Kimberly Ruby said on FB she was making baked apples for tonight. Sure enough, there they were, studded with raisins and cinnamon.

There also was a terrific band there. Hold on, lemme go back on FB and find the name.

Emmanuel Ohemeng III in Perpetual Motion. The band members are very young.

At half-time, I spoke to Manny's girlfriend, Stacey, who had beautiful long dreadlocks.

All I wanted was one good conversation.

I pulled out my insulin pen and asked her, Dyou know what this is?

And that was the start of her story. 

It concerned a man about seventy who lost one of his fingers and two toes due to this insidious disease!

As I told Kim Ruby, I went against medical advice, refuse to wear a contraption on my still-broken toe, and ride my bike to lower my blood sugar.

Shall we check now and see what it is?

96 - perfect.

I brought home a cup of hot coffee.

Before I went in the house, I sipped it slowly under the stars.

Is there a poem in this?

***

have

This was my dinner. Multi-grain thin spaghetti, sauteed shrooms, spag sauce and cheese and parm cheese.

Dr Joel Fuhrman - the biggest money-maker for WHYY - said that tomatoes with their micronutrients have properties that prevent cancer. And he cited the facts.

Sarah got me some postcards she bought at The Cloisters. Uncle Dave was the liaison - not dangerous tho - and I mailed em all out this morning.

I kept the Baby Jesus with the Apple and it's residing on the bulletin board in my upstairs office. Perhaps he will inspire me to write really good things.

Altho Jesus looks quite modern, the "paint on wood" was done in the 1400s!

Two years ago I visited the Cloisters. I made a mistake and thought I was going somewhere else. View blog here.

Gotta work on two short stories for our writing group tomro. The Blue Door and The Missing Girl.

Although I've written two unpublished novels, I decided to write a third for November's Novel Writing Month.

Was gonna refine my second novel, in which my late friend Wendy was a fictitious character.

Got a new idea to write a children's book, based on the adventures of Grace and her little brother Max, my grandchildren.

Twill have elements of fantasy in it.

Came up with the idea while reading REBECCA this morning. Fascinating how ideas arrive, n'est pas Athena?

  Oh, my aching head! It's worse than one of those "pot" headaches.


A WHISPER

Rid thyself of
things you do
not need

They are heavy
as I march them
into the back seat

Books and more books
for the library,
a Random House dictionary
Cooking with Wine
Virginia Woolf's
mysterious The Waves
which, when the voices
came back, drowned herself
at fifty-eight

Impact Thrift will
will swallow, like Jonah,
a Black and Decker Coffeemaker
two made-in-Ghana African
statues that will fetch five
dollars apiece
and a lovely checkered
too-tight blouse

I'll keep a tiny battery-
operated light from Walter
born in 1918, who's gone
off with his adopted
family in Germantown. His
memory, he will never know,
resides like a piquant
lemon, in my mind.

The always popular Uncle Dave visits from Texas

 Dave drove Mom and Ellen to Tanner's Orchards.

After a delicious meal of Lasagne made by Ellen and a salad I brought, we had ice cream and plenty of it.

erry

 I added the Bark to my Black Raspberry Ice Cream

And the strawberries

Dave loves his job in Crockett, TX, the homestead for the Deming Family. He's a vocational rehab counselor.

Mom was resting downstairs. Actually she was knocked out from her cough syrup. You're very resilient Mom I said.

When she heard Dave talking she said he sounds a lot like Dan. He'll hang out with Dan tomro.

They're first cousins, once removed.

Sarah gave me lovely postcards from The Cloisters. Am not able to load photos on FB, so I'm bring the entire blog to FB and see if that works.

New Directions Support Group - Now in our 30th Year - Our many innovations over the years

  

Posted on October 29, 2016, but updated several times.

New Directions: The Little Support Group that Could!

New Directions Support Group meets the first and third Tuesday night from 7 to 9:15 pm at Abington Presbyterian Church, 1082 York Road at Susquehanna, Abington PA 19001.

Ruth Z Deming - that's me - founded the group in 1986 after I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder One. 

We have a great team of people who help run the group. Carole and Greg Hodges (black couple on right) run the Loved Ones' Group. Ada Moss Fleisher (front row gray shirt)  runs the Depression Group.

Helen Kirschner  (in red on left) runs the bi-monthly Daytime Group at the Willow Grove Giant Supermarket. When she can't attend, Jonathan is her able substitute. He also mails out encouraging emails.

Helen, with husband Larry, runs our Annual Fall Bonfire at Tamanend Park in Southampton. 

This blog post will give you an overview of what we do. It can also help anyone who seeks to start a new support group of any kind. Here's a prior blog post we previously wrote about starting a group.

Also, I gave a talk especially for newly diagnosed people. Read it here.  It was held at the Doylestown PA Health and Wellness Center.

Here are some of our publications

One of our proudest accomplishments is our annual Compass magazine, printed at Bux-Mont Stationers in Hatboro, PA.  Mark Amos, owner, is enormously helpful.

We are working on our 2017 issue and would love your contributions. Please email me with ideas or poetry at RuthDeming at Comcast.net.   

The above is my book on my Bipolar Journey. I was diagnosed with bipolar at the age of 38. I faithfully took my medication - I had excellent psychiatrists - but shockingly it went away when I was about 58. We don't know why. I was born on Christmas Day, 1945.

Above is a poetry journal we wrote several years ago, Icing on the Cake. At the time our writers' group met at Weinrich's Bakery in Willow Grove and the bakery kindly paid for it.

The KaleidoScope is another small magazine we're very proud of. Photo on back of the late Frank Wolfe, a true Renaissance man. Paid for by Montgomery County Office of Mental Health.

This is a postcard - YES I CAN - we mail to folks to congratulate them on a job well done or to boost their morale.

We keep a list of psychiatrists and therapists based on recommendations from our group.

Read this recent column for the Bucks Co. Intelligencer I wrote. It took "Mark" years before he was willing to go on meds.

We write columns twice a year to help the public understand mental illness and lessen stigma. 

My grandson Max, 3, is standing in for something important we do - visit people at home if they are newly diagnosed or suicidal or if their family members just don't  "get it."

I also enjoy doing "couples counseling."

These visits are of immeasurable value to the household.

Family members try hard, but they often think their adult son or daughter - or spouse - can just "snap out of it."

Our Annual Bonfire held in the Fall at Tamanend Park in Southampton. Brrr! It's almost always freezing. We hold it in October and The Kirschners do a magnificent job of organizing it.

Read about the minor debacle that happened at the last Bonfire at the fireplace pavilion. 

 We're hosting our third Annual Arts Festival on Sunday, November 6 at the Willow Grove Giant Supermarket, second floor classroom. Y'all come!

  I was really excited when Claudia said she'd come!

Many of our visual artists inspire others to try their hand at something new. I'm recommending this book to artists or would-be artists.

 Julia Cameron, who was once married to Martin Scorsese, asks us to write Morning Pages. I write in this little brown diary.

 Here's my exercise bike. I ride it while watching PBS or talking on the phone or reading, say, Rebecca, which is our book club selection at the library.  It also lowers my blood sugar, as I have diabetes, which you'll read about below.

This guest column for the Intell is about aging. Read it here.

Do you exercise?  We highly recommend it. For older people like me, it's a necessity.

Miranda Esmonde Erbe of Canada, hosts Classical Stretches and Aging Backwards on PBS. Read about her on Wiki.



Exercise helps both your brain and your body.

Larry Kirschner, videographer, taped some of us from ND in a video. Watch the 2014 video here.

While we're at it, he also taped me reading some of my poetry. Watch the 2015 video here.

Folks with mood disorders have unusually creative minds.

I was always a shy person - seriously - but through my involvement with ND and in writers' groups, I became quite outgoing. 

Surprisingly, many of the folks in the writers groups I've attended have mood disorders!

A lit mag called Bella Mused published my essay This Writer's Life. 

The first writers' group I attended was in Lambertville, NJ for perhaps 10 years. Then the leader's boyfriend died, so she moved to Daytona Beach, FL to be with her family. The group disbanded.

I had started a group at Weinrich's Bakery in their "coffee" room. They closed down this room b/c of lack of people, so we all moved to The Willow Grove Giant Coffeeshop.

When the Giant installed a Beer Garden, we moved to the home of Beatriz in Abington. I usually blog about our meetings. Here's the blog I did recently.

For several years I taught about Bipolar and Depression at the Upper Moreland Adult Evening School. My class is in the middle column at the top with "New Class" running through the description.

I also taught at the Doylestown Hospital's Wellness Center.



 Here's Bruce Uhrich, M.Ed. 

I love teaching and orating.

We love featuring the talents of others. This program, held in 2002, I believe, at the now-defunct Daily Grind Cafe in Hatboro, was called An Afternoon of Music, Poetry and Tales from the Deep.

One of our bipolar women designed this lovely magnet, which goes on the back of your car or the side of your fridge. The magnet's designer is now the mother of a two-year-old daughter.

Many of our members or alumni have had healthy children. Important to have your psychiatrist and your Gyn cooperate.

My two children, Dan, 40, and Sarah, 43, are healthy individuals. I gave birth when I was 28 and 30, before the onset of my bipolar.

In the year 2011, Sarah donated her kidney to me, as I had end stage renal failure (kidney disease).

Sarah saved my life. Our kidney doctor forbad her to do certain things after her nephrectomy (what an awful word). Read her award-winning essay here.

Hard to see, but this is my thesis, which I did for Hahnemann University, earning me the degree of MGPGP. I became psychotic while writing it, but Risperdal helped bring me back to normal, whatever that is.

Ruth Z Deming, MGPGP, is how I sign my name. Master, Group Process and Group Psychotherapy.

A couple of pages from my thesis. Click to enlarge.

My bipolar disorder vanished when I was 58 and has never come back. No one knows why. However, my kidney antirejection meds have given me insulin-dependent diabetes. I just grin and bear it. Grrrrrr!

That's why my exercise bike is so important. Exercise lowers your blood sugar.

We partner with nutritionist Mary Ann Moylan of the Giant Supermarket. We encourage our members to make an appointment with her. Shockingly, people do not know how to eat right!

Mostly I follow the nutritional advice of Dr Joel Fuhrman of PBS. 

Mary Ann is on the left. What a great person!



The Giant offers free food lectures.

I've appeared on Comcast Newsmakers several times.

View conversation here.

Appearing on TV - or the radio - is the most anxiety-provoking thing I do.

In the past I worked for two mental health agencies where I saw hundreds of clients. When a radio interview of  me played on WHYY-FM, people at my former agency heard it and learned I had bipolar disorder.

Afterword, they treated me differently. Like They questioned me about decisions I had made and enjoyed putting me on the spot.

Since I'm an excellent psychotherapist, I answered them back and surprised them with my knowledge.



Know this. The worst prejudice toward mental illness is found at the very agencies that are supposed to be compassionate!

Do not disclose your mood disorder at your workplace. I know numerous people who did and were fired for dubious reasons within the year. There are a few exceptions, of course.

It's very important our people have jobs. If their illness prevents them from working, they should do volunteer work.

Vocational Rehabilitation will pay for you to go to college. One of our women qualified and will go to Drexel and get a PhD and a JD. She'll be a psychologist and a lawyer!

Read my blog post here about JEVS, another job training site. 

Everyone needs a life of meaning!

Every day I write a poem on Facebook. I like to challenge myself. Here's the one I wrote this morning.

DRINKING COFFEE UNDER THE STARS

For Kim and Bob Ruby

Pump, pump, pump, out
comes the coffee from
a toddler-high carafe,
dark as the night,
plopping into my
thick paper cup,
Halloween-themed
no doubt.

I tiptoe across the
wet grass, find my
unlocked car, and
place the cup in
the holder under
the defroster.

No cheating, I think,
as I drive slowly
home, steam pouring
from the cup.

Such a wonderful time
I had at the small basement cafe
like back at Goddard in the
Rathskeller, or in the Village
where Ginsburg and Dylan
and the howling hippies
were born.

My tired feet swing out the door.
How can I break the mood of the
night by entering my brightly-lit
home?

I cradle the paper cup in my hand
blow on it, and stare up at the
stars. What's happened to the moon - is that
it? or just a lamp light on the Kiernan's
street?

I'm not a praying man, I'd said to Kim, but I'll
send up a prayer for you both tonight. So I
did. And God watched me from wherever He
hangs his hat.

And the coffee was good and hot like it's
supposed to be, as I stepped up over the
crunchy leaves and entered my mezzuzah-framed
house, thinking God is good.

My turquoise Buddha in the front yard could be heard
laughing up and down the street.

Namaste!

My writing group at B's condo is terribly important to me. I'm an avid reader and writer. My newest short story "Unfettered" is about a nun who at age 66 leaves the convent. As usual, I need lots of reassurance to make sure it's any good.

Coach Iris really liked it! She'll give you a free coaching session if you like.

Every year we participate in the Pennypack Trust Creek Cleanup. View it on my blog here.

  Our team of volunteers.

New Directions recommends our people have an excellent psychiatrist as well as psychotherapist. We maintain a list recommended by our members.

Quite honestly, I never get tired of helping people. Sometimes when people call me, they say, "Sorry to bother you, Ruth, I know how busy you are."

Not true! Yes, I am always busy. It's my nature. But I can always make time to talk. The pleasure centers of my brain light up!

View this video from 2012 on the Charlie Rose Brain Series. We have absolutely brilliant men and women  working on our behalf to find cures and better treatments for mental illness.  Watch here. 



Deep Brain Stimulation by neurologist Helen Mayberg of Emory University. She was born in 1956.

Also in November "The Sunflower Club" will debut at the Giant. What's dat, you ask. We'll watch a movie for the whole family - the new 2016 Disney film THE JUNGLE BOOK.

Plus people can bring donations for disaster victims. We'll donate them to GreenDrop, which is right across the street on Easton Road.

Every day of the week, we have phone greeters who answer our ND phone.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Every year we host an Arts Festival that features visual artists, painters, sculptures, dancers, musicians and poets.

View this year's event. My camera was on the blink.

Claudia McGill's new acrylic painting.

In the year 2014, we ran a program DIVERSE RELIGIONS IN OUR WORLD.

American Muslims were being targeted by neighbors, policemen, and other religions due to terrorist Muslims here and abroad who pervert the meaning of "Muslim."

View the event here.



Monsignor Bolger represented the Catholic religion.

And now, if you'll excuse me, gonna watch some film noirs on YouTube.



Must see! Double Indemnity.