John’s Journal: Journeys in Life

Our new year began with the joyous event of the marriage of our son Jack and Curtis Moeller. The ceremony and celebration were in Mesa, Arizona. Curtis’s family came from Missouri, and the Farrell’s arrived from Hong Kong, California, Virginia, NY and NH. It was the first time all our children had been together in more than a year. Other family and friends of the couple helped complete a day that was filled with love, hope, music, dancing, good food, laughter, hugs and gratitude. It was magnificent!

This July we will celebrate love and hope again when Maggie and Devin are married here, near our home in Hillsdale, NY. Maggie and Devin, like Jack and Curtis, have a partnership founded on great love, mutual respect, and devotion to family and friends. Maggie and Dev bring out the best in each other and those around them. They also share a strong commitment to social justice and working to promote goodwill. We laugh a lot when we’re together. We’re thrilled to be celebrating with Devin’s wonderful family and many of Maggie and Devin’s friends.  

Katie, Colleen, and Patrick are all doing well too. Katie, now a 3rd year Resident OB-Gyn Dr at Dartmouth Medical Center in NH, is very busy and loves her work. Colleen and family enjoy living in the Bay Area in California. Colleen will be charting a new career path when she completes her Master’s Degree in Counseling later this year. Patrick is also busy, as he has been working full time as an EMT while completing his Paramedic Training. Pat and his partner Diana live in Manassas, Virginia.

Upcoming Travels

March will be a busy month for me. I’m traveling to California to do a teachers workshop for the Contra Costa Reading Council in Concord, CA.I will also spend time singing and writing with our friends at Pine Ridge Elementary School in Paradise. An added bonus to this trip will be staying with Colleen, Pat and Ella part of the time. I can’t wait. I have new song ideas I want to work on with Ella.

Later in March I will be going to Finland to do a presentation at the Central and Eastern European Schools Association (CEESA) Conference in Helsinki. My session is titled “Making Connections That Change Lives: Storytelling and Music.” I’ll be sharing stories and songs about the “bridges” that BoPH has helped create, and how and why creative arts projects connect us across and within cultures. I look forward to meeting new teachers who may be interested in collaborating with BoPH.

Following the CEESA conference I’ll be traveling to Austria to do an Artist in Residency program at the American International School of Vienna. AISV has a strong Bridges of Peace and Hope Club and the teachers and students there work closely with Mukwashi Trust School, our model partner in Zambia. The two schools have collaborated on many projects, and teachers from AISV have visited Zambia. Head Teacher Judah and Lead Teacher Mulemba from MTS also traveled to Vienna to work with their colleagues and peers there in 2017.  The video below is an Empathy / Human rights collaboration between the schools.

  

Thanks for your interest in Bridges of Peace and Hope, and your friendship and thoughtfulness through the years. With spring on the horizon, and crocus’s already emerging, we pray that hope and love will also continue to grow everywhere.

Comment(1)

  1. Julie A Ardito says

    It is s wonderful to see and hear about your family. I have many fond memories of them at the Danbury Hospital Winter concert you used to do. One very fond memory was Jack watching one of my twins (Brady was only 2 at the time) because Bayleigh and Taylor wanted to go back in the auditorium to watch you. Brady was crying and Jack took him and Brady stayed while I took the other kids in. Truly amazing as Brady won’t talk to anyone now…. Wishing you all health and happiness. A lot of wonderful things happening with the Farrells.

Post a comment to Julie A Ardito