Posts made in April, 2009
Women and Heart Dis-ease
My sister Faye’s funeral is over and as we’re picking up the pieces of our lives it almost feels like we’re sleep walking, hoping to wake up and know that this was all a dream and Susie is home from her vacation in Cancun. In the mist of our sorrow my sisters and I talk about how we just burst into tears when we remember she’s gone, it’s still a shock and the hole in our hearts a very raw wound. As the big sister I’ve organized the work to be done like a project, creating a spreadsheet with all the information, action items and duties to be performed. I did the research on the legal financial responsibilities and spoke to the appropriate...
Read MoreShe Lived from her Heart
I’m creating notes about my sister Faye for her pastor as he prepares consoling words for her funeral service on Monday. Later today we will gather with family and friends for her visitation. I’ve started with just the facts, when and where she was born and a list of family members, where she went to school and her career. The hard part is I’m trying to describe who she was or at least how I remember her as I’m big sister. I was reflecting on how we were so opposite in many ways, she had this big smile that made her approachable and it showed in the number of friends she attracted. She nurtured and protected relationships...
Read MoreHealing Memories of Faye “Susie” Chapa
I struggled to find the right words to write my sister’s obituary this week. Her body was shipped home from Cancun late Thursday night, she died of a heart attack while on vacation with my family. The past few days have been difficult as we communicated long distance through phone calls and text messaging, bless my 13 year old niece Simone for being our communication hub for all the family members. The frustration over distance, language and culture differences as we worked through getting everyone back to Minnesota was overwhelming. We are all here now, my brother finally arrived from New Mexico to join us in our grief. My sister had a...
Read MoreHope and Gratitude
One of my friends taught me about practicing Gratitude a few years ago and introduced me to the Gratitude Journal as part of a women’s retreat. It was a new experience for me to write down what seemed obvious to me but after practicing for a while I’ve learned how much we take stuff for granted, especially the loved ones in our lives. Last year around this time I lost a friend to suicide and last fall my father died at 91 years old, and my life lesson was to appreciate and be grateful for all those opportunities to just BE with family and friends. Yesterday I got a message telling me my sister Susie was not feeling well, I was surprised as she just left for...
Read MoreDon’t forget the value of Bartering
Barter, trade, exchange, swap, etc. In it’s simplest form to Barter means “to trade goods or services without the exchange of money.” In these tough economic times I look at what I need to build a business and Bartering has become a viable avenue to access needed services. We all have something to offer in trade and before I give away my talent and skill I now take the opportunity to ask my fellow business associates to consider an exchange of services that has a fair exchange value for both of us. It’s funny but when I talk to my friends and associates we tend to under value our gifts and yet the reality is that we all have...
Read MoreQuick Bio
Mary Chapa is a multi-talented woman with a background in nursing leadership, quality management and business development in both health care and private industry; she's also a writer and a passionate holistic health practitioner living in Minnesota.
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