“Time Moves Slowly, But Passes Quickly” 

Alice Walker 

Time is a tricky thing.  It always seems to sneak up on us and slip away without our notice.  We are always surprised to find we’ve lost more of it or keep praying for it to pass more quickly.  Each new year we can’t help but exclaim “Can you believe it’s ____?!”  “Where did the time go?,” we ask baffled.  Yet we also know that time is a constant, each year is 365 days (well most), each week 7 units of 24 hours, and so on. We all get the same amount, yet sometimes 24 hours isn’t enough, a week just seems to fly by, or perhaps a month feels like eternity.

We just celebrated the halfway mark of our service here in Lesotho. (although we are well past halfway)  People have asked “How does it feel to have been in Lesotho for seventeen months?  How does it feel to be halfway done? Does it feel like time has flown by or has it felt really slow/ long?”

To these inquiries I find my response almost immediate and surprising, “It feels like I’ve been here seventeen months.”  This past year and a half feels like what a year an a half should feel like.  For once I wasn’t surprised by the advent of December, it didn’t feel crazy to usher in 2019, when the seasons change I’m not caught off guard and each day the setting of the sun seams to be just on time.

I have lived the past 500 days or so and can account for them.  We are often guilty of viewing  24 hours as an insignificant amount of time.  However, when you rise and set with the sun, when you track your water usage each day, when you aren’t given the opportunity to multi task while washing clothes and watching television or cooking, when you are present to what you are doing in the here and now, a day can be enough, can be more than enough.

In our efforts to be more efficient, to use our time well or wisely, to get as much out of each day as we can, we over-schedule, multi-task, cram and fill each moment and somehow miss them all.  We are so busy being busy we miss the passing of time, we no longer know what 24 hours feels like.

We wake tired, go to work distracted, attempt to do two/three/four tasks at once never accomplishing everything on the ever present to- do lists.  We run home late wondering “Where did the time go?,”  we fall into bed exhausted from the race against the clock.

We are always afraid that one day, not too far from now, we will wake up and our life will have past us by.

While tomorrow may not be guaranteed today is exactly 24 hours long.  Try not to schedule every moment, try not to squeeze in 27 hours (24 is enough).  Take one thing, one thing at a time, be present to it, avoid multi-tasking.  Shorten that to-do list.

Friends, don’t let time pass without noticing.  Don’t allow yourself to be caught off guard by the changing of seasons or surprised when 2020 rolls around.  Time is constant.  Contrary to popular belief I think there might just be enough for what is necessary and good.  Live each moment, account for them all.

Salang Hantle,

Bren

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

~ Mother Teresa

Her name is Lerato which means “love” and man do I love her!

The Peacemakers (New and Old) I serve along side in my district

King Letsie III

I am a pacifist. Yes, I said it.  I am a pacifist. Let me rephrase, I am a peacemaker (or at least I am striving to be).  Peace is not passive, and often times pacifism is confused with and even enacted through passive-ism.  Peace is not achieved through being passive… but neither is peace ever achieved through force and/or conquest.  Peace is not merely the cessation of war, the break from fighting.  Peace does not exist when one side loses and one side wins. This is not peace-its not.

Peace is experienced when peoples are equal.  After a fight, unless both sides are knocked down, one side emerges as  victor, one side is stronger, one side is dominant… even when we give lip service to peace after a fight, the loser knows, the loser knows they are not equal, they are not free, for them it is not peace, it is loss.

In seminary when I came to the realization that I was indeed a pacifist, that perhaps Jesus was even a pacifist I didn’t know what to do with that.  I am the daughter of a military man, I am a patriot. At one point my life’s trajectory was directed towards military service myself.  How could I be a pacifist?! Cue the identity crisis.

Here’s how… The goals for what we all want is the same: peace, freedom, equality, honor.  My values did not change, I was raised with the core traits of the Air Force instilled in the fibers of my character: integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do.  I am a product of ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps). I am the overly proud daughter of a veteran and patriot.  We are all fighting the same fight, I am just starting to realize I cannot and will not do so with the weapons of warfare. I want to find and believe that there is another way. (Please do not read this as if I don’t understand just war theory and the need for war as a diplomatic tool… I respect your right to support this, please respect mine to speak otherwise.) 

When I was faced with this identity crisis (which it was in some respects) I hesitated to name it, because of the respect and gratitude I have for the sacrifice men and women make daily in the armed services in the pursuit of freedom and peace.  How could I say anything if I was not actively working towards peace? How does one work towards peace?  What did Jesus mean when he said “blessed are the peace makers”? How could I be a peace maker?

I have very few answers to any of these questions.  Honestly, none of really can claim to… we are all just doing the best we can.  But I have come to believe that to make peace is to see people as people… just like you.  To value their lives, their livelihoods as you value those of yourself.  To look for ways in which we can work together, live side by side, find and affirm the humanity in one another.

I know that 50+ years ago when JFK founded the Peace Corps he was on to something.  Through friendship, through partnership, we are promoting peace around the world.  We are looking at people, finding what makes us the same, and sharing what makes us different.  What am I doing here? Mostly I’m just making friends… but in that I am actively working towards peace.  Peace will not happen swiftly.  When the fighting stops that’s when the work for peace will actually begin. As the aide workers walk in and bandage up those who were left in ruins, when they see someone who looks unlike them but reminds them of someone they know, well that’s where peace can take place.

The mission of the Peace Corps is one of peace and friendship and last week we celebrated 50 years of friendship with the Kingdom of Lesotho.  Through our friendship both Lesotho and the US have benefited, through our friendship both Lesotho and the US have come to know and appreciate themselves and each other.  Peace is often achieved through friendship…

Friends, regardless of where you stand on war, you have the opportunity to make peace today. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you need to join the Peace Corps or the military… go be a friend, go find the common humanity in someone who drives you crazy, go make amends with someone you unfriended on Facebook. Be a Peacemaker right where you are, because we all know that war isn’t the only place where we need peace.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Blessings and Salang Hantle,

Bren

For those of you Enneagram Enthusiasts, I am a three… I see you nodding, knowingly.  For those who are less than familiar with the Enneagram, the Enneagram is a personality typology (one that I would be more than willing to chat about at anytime) and within this typology there are nine different categories or types.  The type I identify closely with is the three. The three among other things is driven by the need to succeed, or at least appear to succeed.

I have a personality trait, quite possibly a fault, where I am riddled with a desire to avoid failure, a deep seeded fear of it.  I know that this desire to succeed is not unique to me or even to those people who identify as a three.  I know it’s part of our collective identity as westerners, Americans, etc., etc.  But to me it feels very personal, perhaps it feels that way to you as well.  We have been nurtured to value success and achievement.  Efficiency and effectiveness are our driving motivations.  We want the job, the family, the house, the car, the esteem, the money, so on and so on.  We want the appearance of success.  We wear our busyness and our achievements as badges of honor.

We have even decided what success looks like.  In our jobs we have quantitative ways to determine our level of effectiveness, to gauge our success (even in ministry this is the case). In our personal lives we measure our “social successes” against others through social media, holding our doctored photos up against those of our peers; judging whose family or life is more “like-able” or more on track.  Even here, living in a small rural community in Lesotho, I am guilty of this.  More than I’d like to admit, I find myself mindlessly scrolling, judging my life against the lives of those back in the states, or worse judging my work in my village against members of my volunteer cohort and what they are accomplishing at their sites.

I need to succeed. Or, do I? 

This past year it has felt nearly impossible to succeed, or to even gauge what success might look like.  I don’t say that with any sadness or disappointment… I say it with awe and what I think feels like freedom.  Success in the ways that I have defined it up until this point is not possible.  Sure there is still data, sure there are still reports and numbers to track our impact and our work, sure the students I am teaching take tests which communicate their level of understanding, but all of this is just indicators of what we are doing together.  That (all of it) is not an indicator of my success, of my achievements… I’m actually just witnessing it.  Please don’t think I am saying this with any sense of false humility either (I have been guilty of that in the past).  No, I am saying this because perhaps I don’t need to succeed.

Last week after a YEAR of washing my clothes in the stream with the other women, I was interrupted mid rinse cycle by a woman who wanted to finish for me, because I was too slow.  I cannot succeed, even in something as simple as washing clothes I am still floundering. As I was leaving the women while giggling said “We are happy for you!” I believe what she meant to say was “we are laughing at you!”  I felt as though I just handed her my pride haha.

On the last day of school I was handing back exams and as I called a student’s name to receive her exam the entire class in an exasperated tone “Madam… it is _______ not ____.”  ON THE LAST DAY I was still struggling to pronounce that name correctly.  The students see through my pretense… I can’t hide it, I cannot succeed.

Yet sometimes we glimpse what true success looks like, and we realize we weren’t even striving for it, and yet it found us…

In the country of Lesotho while primary education is both free and open to all students secondary school is not.  In order to attend students must perform satisfactorily on a standardized exam given in Grade 7.  This test either eliminate their chances of secondary education or it can decide what school they can or cannot attend.  There’s a lot riding on this test.

My school has not performed well on this exam in the past.  This year there has been a lot of expectations placed on the Grade 7 learners and myself.  I have again felt that pull to perform, to succeed, to not fail, but it has felt like impossible odds.  There are many factors which contribute to poor scores, most of which my presence does nothing for.  I have been proud of the work we have done the students, my cooperating teacher and myself.  It has been a hard year.

The morning of the exam I reminded the students that they are smart, they are perfect. That regardless of the results of a test I am proud of them and they have worked hard.  I could see on their faces a sense of calm, of confidence, of knowing, itwas beautiful.  As they walked into the examination room I hugged each child and repeated those words to them.  “You are smart, I am proud.”

As they opened their exams small smirks appeared on their faces, one after another they started sneaking sideways glances in my direction.  I could see it- they felt it- they were confident, they were ready, they were not afraid.  In that moment and in the ones since I have not cared about what the scores say, what the report reads.  Those children, looked in the face of something that could alter their future and for some, for the first time, they were in control, they were confident.  It was the best form of success I have ever experienced,and it wasn’t even mine.

Perhaps I don’t need to succeed, perhaps you don’t. Maybe what’s required is that we stop chasing an ideal, embrace humility, forget the measuring rod and invest in the moment.  Maybe our success is measured by who we witness succeeding, and who we help along the way.

As I fail, falter, flounder, edit my pictures and posts (I haven’t given up the ideal of success just yet ;)) I am breathing in the freedom of stumbling and sitting in awe of the possibilities that await in true humility.

Blessings in the blunders my friends, embrace it all, the success and the failure.

Salang Hantle,

Bren

One Year! Yes, that mug has my face on it!

Small graduations are still graduations!

My handsome little brother and perhaps the proudest sister at the ceremony!

Grade Seven singing at their farewell

Grade Seven Farewell Lunch… Someone just handed me this baby

Brilliant and Beautiful

Award Winning Artist right here

The Man, The Myth, The Legend! Ntate Motumi, my co-teacher and friend!

LOVE

Year’s end is neither an ending or a beginning, but a going on.

  Hal Borland

The year anniversary of my arrival in Lesotho came and went, I did a few inner cartwheels, offered myself a pat on the back, had the opportunity to welcome the newest volunteers to country, and then… nothing changed.  I carried on as I had before.  Nothing stopped, nothing started it just kept going.  If I’m honest, if we’re honest, sometimes the “going” is what is hardest. That saying “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” I know that’s meant to encourage… but when the ‘going’ gets tough, I just wanna rest, stop, or at least distract myself with a party or a celebration.  Yet, one of the hardest and most rewarding years of my life passed and I just kept going, same as before.  We are tough and so we just keep going.

I’m not sharing this to solicit care packages or messages of encouragement but rather to be honest about what I’m doing, and what life is like.  Life and service are full of the beautiful views and faces I’ve shared.  Yes, Lesotho is breathtaking, the Basotho continue to amaze me… but the Peace Corps was clear when they stated volunteering would be “the hardest job you’ll ever love.”  This. Is. Hard.  It’s not easy being so far from everything that seems familiar.  It’s not easy being the outsider in your own home. It’s not easy working towards a goal that you know you will not see realized. And it’s not easy being faced with the brokenness of our world day after day and feeling helpless.  This is not easy.

It has been hard accepting that I am having a tough time.  I felt that I owed it to you, those who are following my journey and to those who I have come to serve to present a brave face.  However, recently I have been reminded that one of the strongest and bravest things we can do is continue to show up, continue to move forward, continue the going.  This is hard, I admit I have struggled and will again… but I am going and even though I don’t feel so tough all the time each day I’m getting a little bit tougher.

I am reminded of the call to follow Jesus, the instruction to pick up our crosses and follow.  Jesus doesn’t sugar coat it, he tells us we are in deed carrying with us the instrument of our death, following is hard, following is death.  Yet although we are not promised glory we are promised that after that death there is life, there is resurrection.  It’s not terribly unlike “the hardest job you’ll ever love.”  Service is tough, faith is tough, life is tough… but friends,WE are tough.  We can and will continue the going. Be tough.

Sala Hantle,

Bren

A few things that have made the tough a little easier…  (scroll over photo for info) 

This face

New Shoes for these learners

Selfies

NEW SHOES!

Grade Seven Boys

Beautiful Cities with Beautiful Friends

Snow Days with my Bro

My Round Home

New Adventures and New Friends

Sprinkles and Celebrations

American Style Birthdays

Small Blankets on Tiny Friends

I long, as does every human being, to be at home  wherever I find myself. 

~Maya Angelou

Stroll into almost any gift shop or decor store and you will likely find a wall hanging, throw pillow or dish towel that makes a claim along the lines of:  home is not a place but a feeling, the place where they have to accept you, home is a people… essentially home is something more than a house or a geographical location.  As  a bit of a nomad I have found this to be comforting and true, home is something we can find wherever we go, home is something we can take with us.

Yet, even if we find home again after leaving ours  behind we don’t ever feel fully at home.  A friend of mine recently shared this quote with me from Miriam Adeney;

“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”

While the mountains and the people of Lesotho have become a home of sorts, and I absolutely adore my round house, I occasionally suffer from a bittersweet bout of  homesickness.  Homesick for; the heat of Texas, the wiggles and giggles of my nieces, the overwhelming eagerness of a certain black dog, the beauty of a North Carolina sky, the crunch of a dirt trail, and my people who I’ve left behind.  I know when I leave Lesotho that there will be a sense of homesickness I will carry with me, because I have come to love and know this place and its people richly.  I am grateful for the many places and the beautiful people across the globe who are a home for me.

Know people, love them well, see places that cause deep awe and break your heart pay the price so that you too carry a bit of homesickness with you, even when you are right at home.

Salang Hantle,

Bren

Welcome to my home… 

The Mountains are Calling and I must go!   

John Muir  

Most of us don’t immediately think “mountains” when we think of Africa, and I’m guessing you don’t think “snow” either.  But here in Lesotho, the self proclaimed “Mountain Kingdom”  mountains and snow are commonplace.  As westerners we often clump together all of Africa, thinking the images the Lion King conjures up is what the entire continent is constituted of.  While the Lion King may be a starting off point for some parts of Africa, where I find myself is unlike Pride Rock and my preconceived notions of Africa.  We (humans) are often guilty of accepting a single story or interaction as universal, applying it to a greater community or people group, assuming all of Africa is a huge safari, or all Americans are rich white people.

That being said I live in Lesotho, a small country in Africa, southern Africa (not South Africa) to be exact.  The stories, experiences and perspective I will share is from my interactions with the Basotho people.  This is not reminiscent of all of Africa, this is Lesotho.

About 6 months ago I moved from my training village in the lowlands to my home and site for the next two years in the beautiful district of Thaba Tseka.  Thaba Tseka is one of ten districts in the country, and is one of the mountainous districts.  I am currently living at about 2,300 meters above sea level (7500 feet)… we are high up!  At this level and this time of year it is COLD!!!  Hoa Bata!

Moving Day

I live in a relatively large village just outside the main town of Thaba Tseka.  It has been one of the highlights of my service to live with a host family.  My Mme ( host mother) Matsolo, my grandfather, Ntate Mohole (who is a a whopping 98!!) and the cutest little abuti (brother) Kemiso.   I live in my own rondaval, the traditional Basotho house on their compound.  (Tour to come!)

While there are plenty of animals. there aren’t any lions or zebras to be found in these parts just a multitude of sheep, cows, horses, donkeys, chickens and a few pigs.  Sorry to disappoint.

My primary job is as a teacher at the local primary school.  I work alongside Basotho teachers teaching English and Life Skills. My school serves my village and the surrounding villages and has a roll of about 350 students in grades k-7.  During the last two quarters I taught in grades 5-7. Currently we are on a well deserved winter break.

Like my neighbors and community members I live without the modern conveniences of electricity, running water and reliable phone/internet coverage.  This is all easier than I had at once thought.  I fetch water from the pump, wash my clothes in the stream and charge devices using solar panels.  (And I use A LOT of candles)  This is how the majority of this country lives, and thousands of people across the globe.

What I am learning and hope to teach those I meet is that Africa is a continent not a people, not a catchall… Africa houses many countries, countries with their own culture and traditions, Lesotho is just one of them.  Likewise,  Americans are not all white, they don’t all think believe or act in the same manner.  We pride ourselves on our individuality and Lesotho is proud of their unique identity.  It’s important that we recognize humans, in any context, cannot be described in one single story, and my time here in Lesotho will be a glimpse for you into the lives of the Basotho people, not all of Africa.

Friends it’s beautiful up here in the Mountain Kingdom, breathtaking even.  But, it’s not how we thought, it’s not how all of Africa is, and I haven’t seen Mufasa yet.  Remember the next time you’re interacting with someone you think you know based on party affiliation, race, status or gender; a single story is not true for Africa, America, or even all democrats or republicans and especially not for that individual standing in front of you.  Let them tell you their story, you might be surprised, they might not be exactly who you thought, and it just might be breathtaking.

Salang Hantle,

Bren

If you have been following my journey you may have noticed some radio silence… that wasn’t intentional (on my part anyway).  Technology has not been my friend since arriving at site, and while I am trying to make peace with our tense relationship I am still trying to battle it out to keep you all informed.  So, bear with me and know that I am fine, beyond fine, I am good!

In the mean time I offer you this: A Photo Essay.  We all know that a photo is worth a thousand words, so for the words I have missed…

Stay tuned for more updates, insights and struggles with technology.

Salang Hantle, (Stay Well)

Bren

“The Peace Corps gives us a chance to show a side of our country which is too often submerged: our desire to live in peace and, our desire to be of help.” John F. Kennedy

In 1961 JFK founded the Peace Corps with the hopes that through real on the ground relationships with our foreign neighbors we might promote the work of world peace. He claimed that the work of the Peace Corps embodies the very best of what it means to be Americans and the very core of what it means to be human.

As we look around at the state of our country, and our world we rarely see the the best parts of what it means to be an American, or for that matter the goodness of humanity. I however agree with JFK I think the Peace Corps gives us a chance to show those qualities which are submerged, neglected and forgotten, our desire for peace. I agree because I have seen it here as a Peace Corps Trainee. I have seen it as we work alongside of our host country to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic and as we work to improve English learning and teaching. I’ve seen the best of America in the Americans young and not so young who have actively picked up the cause of peace. I’ve also seen it in you as you take an interest in the lives of people from an unheard of country in Southern Africa.

Last week, I was sworn in as part of the 87th group of American volunteers to serve in the small southern African country of Lesotho. I stood with 54 fellow Americans as we took an oath, and sang loudly our national anthem and that of our host country, joining the nearly 2000 men and women who have gone before us. I felt proud to join the legacy JFK left representing the American spirit. That spirit which seeks peace, desires to help and values freedom for all at the expense of none.

America is not all good, but she is not all bad either. There is hope for her still. Hope for our country is found in the ambassadors who represent the best parts of America, both foreign and domestic. It’s you and it’s me, doing better, being better.

Whether you find yourself in a remote village in Southern Africa, or on the crowded streets of an American city, work for peace. Do the work of promoting peace and friendship just where you are, as we are doing here in The Mountain Kingdom. Make us proud to be Americans as we strive to make you proud as the newest batch of Peace Corps Volunteers. Let’s all do better.

Peace my Friends,

Bren, “Official” Peace Corps Volunteer

Regardless of what the calendar hails, it is hard to believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  It seems we make that claim each year and yet this year is different.  My surprise is not because I’ve been too busy to anticipate the advent of the holidays, or too distracted to observe the changing of the seasons.  This year my disbelief is based on the fact that the indicators which I have come to rely on, those signals which tell me Thanksgiving is coming, are pretty much non-existent here in Leaotho.  

1. Oh how I miss fall!! Here in the Mountain Kingdom we are in the middle of the hot, sweaty summer.  My sweaters, scarves and fall boots are buried in the bottom of my suitcase. 
2. Pumpkin Spice What?! Pumpkin flavored drinks and treats are a thing of the past, occasionally pumpkin will appear on my plate but not in any form I’m familiar with m. 
3. Red Cups- the beloved Starbucks Red Cups, which I wait all year for, are things in pictures and dreams… the very best dreams of course. 
4. I haven’t heard any complaints about Christmas decor and music appearing in srores too early. I have yet to hear a Christmas tune and decorations are few and far between. 
5. Black Friday hasn’t reached Lesotho… can’t say I’m sad about this one. 

While I am missing the premature Christmas carols, stressful planning, overcrowded stores, endless cooking, and time spent with family and friends (some parts more than others). I am struck by the thought that this year I am far more aware of what I am thankful for and those things which I tend to take for granted.  

Here’s a peak at my Thanksgiving  list so far: 

• Hospitality of strangers 
• Access to clean drinking water
• Warm blankets on cold nights 
• Reliable roofs during scary storms 
• Technology that connects me to friends and family 
• Good coffee 
• Peanut butter 
• Opportunities which I have often  treated as rights and/or obligations 
• Access to education 
• Caring and compassionate teachers
• Mentors and role models 
• Health and access to quality health care
• Organizations and people who are actively working towards peace 
• Basotho people who have hope for the future of Lesotho 
• …. and the list goes on. 

Tomorrow I will share the table with other trainees, friends who are quickly becoming family and just like you we will talk about loved ones, Thanksgiving traditions, the food, and I imagine the conversation will wind its way back to the annual question “what are you thankful for?” As we take our time reflecting and sharing I won’t be surprised if this year the topic isn’t dropped so quickly.  I expect the lists will be a bit longer than other years, and indoor plumbing will likely be mentioned more than once.  With all this thanksgiving I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t even miss  the pumpkin pie. 

Friends, as you gather and reflect on what you are thankful for remember those things which you take for granted, those things which are not guaranteed to all people, those things which you may have left off the list last year.  Enjoy the feast, those you share it with, and be sure to eat some pie for me!  

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Bren 

More Pictures to come…. bad internet right now.

It has been a little over a week since I left the comfort and security of America, and entered into the small community of Bela-Bela in Lesotho, the Mountain Kingdom. It has been a little over a week since I have heard and answered to the Sesotho name Liteboho (prounoced De-tea-bo-ho) more than Brenda. It has been a little over a week of mornings begun by roosters and donkeys sounding off well before 5:00am. It has been a little over a week since anything has felt familiar.  

Friends, it may just have been a little over a week but it has been a very long week. A long week full of first impressions and introductions, a long week full of new rhythms and ways of doing life. 
A few of my first impressions: 

• Lesotho is a beautiful country named “Mountain Kingdom” for a reason. The views are stunning and we have yet to venture out of the lowlands. 
•  The Basotho (people of Lesotho) are a warm and welcoming people. Formal in their greetings, warm in their welcome and proud of their culture and heritage. 
• Sesotho (the language of Lesotho) is and extremely difficult language for a native English speaker, it has clicks and sounds I have never heard before and am not entirely convinced I can physically make.
• The thunderstorms in this country are no joke…which is only heightened by my intense fear of them. 
• “Pack Mule” is not just a phrase, it is reality here, they are everywhere.
• Roosters don’t just cry in the morning, they do it ALL THE TIME.
• Bucket bathing takes skill and can often result in more water on the floor than on you, not that I would know.
• Donuts in any culture are yummy.
• When all else fails play the silly American, grace and laughing abounds.  

It has been a long week, and while there have been hard things, a bit of shock and the learning curve has been steep, there have also been beautiful and lovely things. I find myself in awe of the people and the country. The Basotho are strong and resilient, kind and welcoming. The country is breathtaking.  
We will spend the next ten weeks in this small community learning about the culture and customs of our new home. It will be ten weeks of first and second and third impressions, and at the end I think we will find that underneath it all we are more alike than different.  
Salla Hantle Friends, (stay well) 

Brenda