Laughter Salad: A Nourishing Mix of Inspiring Stories

Copyright © 2012 by Kimberly Ann Borin, Ed.D.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-3753-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-3751-0 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-3752-7 (dj)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012912542

iUniverse rev. date: 8/17/2012

Contents

Introduction

Part One

Chapter One —Gifts

The Gift

Chapter Two —Angels

Bryan’s Story

The Cat Architect

Chapter Three —Blossoming

Belong

In Bocca Al Lupo!

Beauty, Strength, Voice, And Vision

Chapter Four —Art

Becoming An Artist

One Good Frame Deserves Another

Mariano Fortuny And The Search  

 For Beautiful

Chapter Five —The Journey

The Tender Voice Within

Laughter Salad And Other Wordplay

Making It A Prayer

Chapter Six —Signs Of Hope And Love

Bride Under Construction

Other Signs On The Road

Love Wins

Who Wins The Polka Dot Jersey?

Chapter Seven —Comfort

The Brown Woolly

Wearing Black

Ben Yobst Cookies

Chapter Eight —Letters

A Letter For Allie

A Letter For Lily

Chapter Nine —Your Calling

The Boy At The Door

One Door Opens And Zibonele

Part Two

Chapter Ten —New Beginnings

Noggin

Child of New Beginnings

Living Laughter Salad

About The Author

Appendix

Bryan’s Dream Foundation

About Reiki Healing

List of Story Projects

List of Illustrations

Endnotes

Dedication

This book is for my family. They continually uplift and inspire me, especially Hunter and the Roses.

Your laughter is like sunshine.

Acknowledgements

I had no idea that writing a book required so much patience, love, and support. I am grateful for the continued help, sense of humor, and time offered by so many people. This book was brought to you with the help of my family, friends, writing group, angels seen and unseen, as well as athletes and students I have met along the way.

I am so grateful for my family as they listened to me talk about the ongoing writing of the book. I am thankful to my mom and dad for always being so adventurous, for encouraging me to travel and for sharing with me their stories of love and hope along the way.

I am also very grateful to my family in Italy. I feel fortunate to have spent time with them during the summer months, sharing their laughter, good food, beautiful company, and special memories. I thank them most for my special serving of laughter salad.

Thank you to my mom, who is also a member of my writing group. I feel so lucky to learn how to write a book of memoirs alongside my mother. She makes writing seem like a piece of cake. I am so grateful for her continued listening, support, and encouragement as I shared minute details of every piece of the book. If I gave her a penny for every minute of listening, she would be a millionaire by now.

I am especially grateful to Bryan Opremcak and his family. Bryan helped me have a greater understanding of the impact one person can make in the world. I felt lucky to be his student and have him as my teacher – even though he was only twelve years old. I am grateful to Tim and Nancy Opremcak, who sat with me and gave me permission to include their story in my book.

I am also grateful to my friends who are terrific cheerleaders when a new goal is in sight. My writing group has been so inspiring – it has been a gift to be on the journey with other writers as they struggled to dig deep, find the words, and gather the courage to share them with others. Thank you also to Alice Olford, Carol Johnson, and Scarlett Doyle! Thank you also to Patti Williamson, who is a constant source of encouragement whether I am running the Boston Marathon or writing a book.

I am really grateful for the editing of Alexa Offenhauer and for Lora Korman, who helped me with editing, rereading and listening to my ideas about the book. Thank you also to Tracy Ivie, who was an angel in disguise at the end of the book and worked with me to do all of the editing. I am so grateful to Tracy for her constant attention to detail, to bringing my voice to a greater level of clarity and who always knew just what to say!

I am also grateful for all the angels within and around the book and everyone I met who allowed me to write about them on these pages, including Sam Hitman, Angelo senza la o, Eros Poli, Janet Cargill, and Sue Pizer Yoder. I am also grateful for Gabrielle, Joe, and Allie as well as Maryellen, Lily, and the Briscoe family.

Thank you to all of the children, teachers, and counselors I have worked with over the last 25 years. My students have often been my teachers, inspiring me to learn, grow, and achieve more than I thought possible. The teachers and counselors who surround me continually remind me of our journey as people who develop greater compassion for others along the way.

In that list of teachers, I include my grandparents, especially my grandmothers, who were such symbols of independence, strength, love, and creativity. All of the angels I have met who live on within the stories offered gifts of miracles, synchronicities, and more. I hope that I have brought honor to them and their stories by capturing the glimmer of light and love that they added to my life while making my world bigger.

I am also grateful to all of the athletes I know. In this book, I talk about riding the mountains of the Tour de France, running races, riding my bicycle across the country, and even running in an art show. I continue to be surrounded by athletes who inspire me with their endurance, their willingness to go the extra mile (at least), and their constant encouragement. I am in awe of everything they do, despite struggles, injuries, and more.

Thank you to all of the inspiring people I have met who have healed from concussions. The healing journey of a concussion is not like any endurance event I have ever undertaken. I felt blessed to be in the midst of all sorts of doctors who helped me to understand, navigate, and move toward a wonderful recovery. I am so grateful for all of the stories I have read about people who have healed from concussions too, including my students. Thank you for helping me.

I would like to say, Thank you, to all the people I have met whose stories are within these pages. Your words, your stories, and your presence have been such a gift to me. You know who you are in the book by your words, and I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey. You will bring countless blessings to others, which I know will come back to you too!

There are so many people who have inspired me along the way, heroes like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, and W.H. Murray. There are also heroes who are not known, children I have seen, but not met, from a distance, those suffering from illness whom I never met, but prayed for, and countless people who have taught me about courage, even though I don’t know their names. I hope my words reflect a bit of their courage, care, and healing.

Lastly, I am so grateful to you, the reader. Thank you for taking the time to let me share my stories with you. You are a gift to the world!

Introduction

In this little book, I want to share some simple stories about gifts – those moments of synchronicity, serendipity, and miracles that bring blessings into our lives. These simple stories are a reflection of those moments in my life. I have written them down in story form because that is what I am called to do.

This collection is called Laughter Salad because it is a mix of laughter, stories, and nourishment. The title came from a mistake I made while trying to speak Italian.

As I was writing this collection of memoirs, I was surprised at how messy and difficult it was to put together my stories. Each tale seemed to come in bits and pieces, with its own voice, its own details, and its own message. And each story needed tremendous care, patience, and tending, which reminds me of cooking risotto. Like risotto, every story had to be heated, smoothed out, prayed over, and stirred some more until it was just the right consistency.

I was also surprised at how memories called out to be told. I noticed that when a story needed to be written, my heart seemed to whisper the concept to me. I usually ignored it, assuming it was just my imagination – secretly hoping it would go away. I sometimes didn’t want to write because I felt it would require a great deal of work and energy. Then, the idea would get louder and louder until I was compelled to sit down and write. Lucky for me, most of the stories had been written the year before my concussion, when it became harder to sit in front of a computer.

While finishing the manuscript, I came across a quote by Joan Chittister, who has written more than forty books. She summed up how I felt about the process of putting your heart and soul onto paper for others to read:

Writing makes a person very vulnerable. It opens you to public criticism, to ridicule, to rejection. But it also opens conversations and thought. It stirs minds, and touches hearts. It brings us into contact with our souls. So how can it possibly be a waste of time, an idle act, a mistake, a betrayal of truth? Who can possibly tell us not to do it?¹

I have always been called to write stories and memoirs. We each have many stories to tell! Stories are very powerful and it is important to understand the reasons we create and share them. They help us to define our experiences and connect with the community around us. Stories also help us to connect to the natural and spiritual worlds around us.

Stories are a valuable teaching tool. They allow us to tap into our emotions and help us