Life Lessons from Scrabble

       I love word games and Scrabble is one of my favorites. Most Mondays I play with Sisters David Ruschmann, Margaret Mary Dressman and Estelle Schulte who reside in our infirmary. It is a community-style game, meaning we are free to help each other if the tiles we draw are too challenging.

      As everyone will tell you I’m quite competitive and like winning more than anything. I also like to use good letters, even if they are someone else’s. While we don’t share the points we do share the glory of valuable words.

       So, what are some life lessons I have learned in my recent Scrabble games?

 You don’t always know what you will get in life. That might be people-related or job-related. You might have a day full of vowels (one point values) or a day with the right mix of vowels and consonants (some higher point values). Whatever the combination, you have to make the most of it. Sometimes you can draw from others suggestions; sometimes you are on your own.

           What you plan may have to be adjusted to the circumstances that you don’t control. You have a word in mind but another player takes your spot. I can’t tell you how many times one of us has exclaimed, “She took my spot” before re-examining other necessary possibilities.

Your way is not always accepted as the best way. I’m always looking for the highest scoring spots for myself and the other players. Even when I’ve found a place for someone to use a Q without a U on a double letter space that person will decide to make a four-point word instead. I don’t get it, but she does it. Each of us makes our own way, with or without others' help.

       I’m sure other Scrabble players can think of many other lessons to be learned from their games. I just know I enjoy my time with the sisters and learn from them, whether during Scrabble or at other times.  

            Sr. Nancy Kordenbrock, OSB

Life Lessons from My Mother

       When the schedule for us bloggers came out this summer I saw my turn for today and I thought I would write about my new position as treasurer and how I am adjusting to not teaching after 40+ years.  That thought changed on August 1. 

       On August 1, my mother went into surgery for a routine procedure at 1:30 in the afternoon, something that several sisters had had with great results.  At 2:00 the nurse came out to tell my brother and me that they couldn't finish the procedure and that the doctor would talk to us. We thought that they would just do the procedure a couple days later. When the doctor came out of the room the chaplain was with him. We knew that this was not a normal problem with her procedure.   My mother’s heart had stopped and she had been revived. She was unconscious and on a ventilator.

       Naturally we were shaken but called our sister and brother who came to the ICU right away. After several hours watching Mom struggle even with the ventilator we made the decision to remove it. While we knew this was her wish it was a traumatic decision for us. She was able to breathe on her own overnight but with no hope of recovery. She was moved to hospice and lived for about four hours. She peacefully breathed her last in the early hours of August 3.

       I have learned so much since her death and her funeral. The support and love of so many friends, community members and family in the days that followed was overwhelming. I received letters from former neighbors and Villa Madonna alumni, from former Villa parents and Mom’s friends whom I had never met.

       Those who knew her praised her kindness and generous spirit. She would have been humbled to hear their comments. She didn't live her life to be honored; she lived it to be a good person and live the teachings of love she learned from her earliest days in her Catholic family and school.

       Another lesson that stays with me especially is that “we never know what each day will bring.” I can only hope that I will have lived my life as well as Mom and will be ready when that day comes. As we finished clearing out Mom’s apartment, my brother said, “I can’t believe that it’s over.” Her earthly life may be over, but Mom lives on in our memories and in the lives we now live as she taught us. 

       Sr. Nancy Kordenbrock, OSB