To Cedar Springs Community, especially first, second and sixth grade with most special thanks for the Michaelmas play!

Dear Ones! What a wonderful Michaelmas Day once again at Cedar Spring Waldorf School.  What a wonderful presentation of the play!... the sweet, skipping, shining, shooting stars... the wise and skillful gnomes. The brave townspeople who become knights of St. Micha-el - The good king and queen, the brave princess - and the huge, roaring dragon of the sixth grade.... the golden shining St. Michael - so courageous and strong!.. and most of all the grand courage of everyone to bring the The Light to triumph over the great dark dragon!

Thank you one and all for the play - and my very special thanks also for the beautiful bouquet of orange and golden roses! Roses of loving courage. The roses meant so much to me.. as you will see!

For after the play come the feats of courage, right?  And I am sure everyone at the school did fine strong deeds of good will!   So too, I went that day with my strong, brave and true grandsons, Nathan Poer (who is a CSWS alumni) and Thomas, who went to Waldorf school in Norway, for an adventure  of courage.

Like the townspeople in the play, after I held the beautiful  roses you gave me in my arms, then I removed my outer garment to show underneath a another garment with inspiration for courage. It says, "There is no horizon so far that we cannot see above it or beyond it...women fly." My golden cross my husband made for me was there too, for I always wear it. I had a special godson who said the cross was my golden sword when he was a little boy. Flying closer to the shining sun was what I wanted to do.

St Micha-el wants to help us be brave, inside and outside, in big ways and small ways. It all counts! Every time we conquer a big or little fear or overcome something in us that can be more kind and good, we can help bring light to the world. "Brave and true will I be, each good deed sets me free, each kind word makes me strong, I will fight for the right I will conquer the wrong!" Each of us can find the way to be brave in ways that are right for us. For this special day, my grandsons and I went to an airport and got ready to go up in a plane to go sky diving! I went once before, 33 years ago. 

I took one of the beautiful golden roses  of the Cedar Springs Waldorf School and put it over my heart - Then we went up toward the shining sun - and there at 9000 feet we jumped out over the beautiful world! At first it is hard as you tumble into the sky but then after the parachute opens it is so peaceful, quiet, the great blue sky with the golden sun above, beloved Mother Earth below, and you can see in all four directions far above the horizons - It is so beautiful! "Sun Above and Earth Below - our loving thanks to you we show! " And here is the really amazing part -the golden rose stayed over my heart the whole time! The flight instructors were astounded, they couldn't believe it was possible for the rose to stay there in the terrific speed (120 miles an hour).   But of course it did for it was full of love from Cedar Springs Waldorf School!

That night we went to a wonderful show called Up With People and we danced and sang and the rose was just as beautiful as ever even after going through the terrific strong wind of free fall and all the way down from 9000 feet! The young men and women in the Up With Peoples are wonderful committed young people (18-25 yrs) from all over the world, from many different nations, all faiths and religions, all races. And they travel all over the world, singing and dancing with messages of justice and human rights for everyone, caring for the earth, caring for each other and above all bringing peace! Nathan's mother, Carolyn, had been part of the wonderful show many years ago.

Remember  roses always stand for courage and peace and hope and love - We all know that Love, like the golden sun above, is the strongest thing in the world!

We did go close to the shining sun to receive the gifts of light and courage like you all and St Michael and his knights with swords held high! We did fly above and beyond the horizons! 

 
Dear Ones, always remember that Grandma Nancy will forever love all of you and Cedar Springs Waldorf School. The golden roses of St Micha-el's courage and love unite us through all the times to come! Live wonderful good brave lives - and ... " Look to the light! Look to the Light!" Read the letter with pictures here.

"Nancy arrived today holding a bouquet of roses from the Cedar Springs Waldorf School honoring her contribution to Waldorf education. She had just come from a theatrical performance of a play which the school has performed for the last 26 years. It was written by Nancy.  It's hard to believe that one woman has accomplished so much." Read the blog post here

With her parents as founding members of Cedar Springs, Shayne always had a strong connection with Waldorf philosophies. She was truly immersed in the teaching approach-in the early years of the school, Shayne's own classroom was situated on her family's property. "I just walked across the yard to my class," she recollected. Regarding her experience in a Waldorf school  and family, Shayne shared, "my relationships with classmates and teachers, they were a strong foundation in my desire to connect with people on a deeper level. As I have continued on in my life, I have sought out those kinds of deep connections and communities where I can relate to people on a different level. I appreciate the tight community that the Waldorf school offers." Read the full article here.