As part of the membership meeting in June, 2010, I asked members to remember two incidents this past year that stood out for them in the life of our Ethical Society -- one that they enjoyed, and one that they didn't enjoy so much.  I also asked that they try to boil down to one word the quality of life that they were wanting -- a quality of life they found in the moment they enjoyed, a quality of life that they found wanting in the moment that they didn't enjoy.  Out of those words, I created this word cloud:

 I belong to a very large family.  In fact, we are more a tribe.  My mother had eleven brothers and sisters and I have fifty-six first cousins.   Although we try to keep up with each other through Facebook and holiday letters, we relish our family reunions.  We fill the reunion time by greeting the older generation and meeting the new one, learning about our family history, doing a bit of bragging, and thoroughly enjoying each other’s company.   

Dear Etty, 

  I have been a teacher for thirty-nine years.  My year begins on the first day of school in September and ends on the last day of school in June.  Academicians who also followed a school year calendar founded our Ethical Culture society.  I like their way of doing things!

Dear Ethical Etty, 

As Memorial Day approaches, I remember that the day was initially created to honor the dead on both sides of a major conflict – the American Civil War – and in that remembering, to re-unite the nation that had nearly split in two. It was not to glorify war, or to justify the rightness of either side, but to mourn those who’d died and honor them as people, and to move forward in unity. (more on that: Memorial Day Origins)