Helen Hegener

>Message: 10
> Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 21:25:04 -0400
> From: Katedavislawfirm@...
>Subject: Re: Re: a note from Helen
>
>HELEN SAID: Picture me sitting in a little Canadian lodge in the
>middle of nowhere reading the messages I'd downloaded in the last
>"big city."
>KATE SAYS: Helen --
>I have never known envy before. . . .
>I know it now. . . .

Mark got a call from his sister in Michigan yesterday - their mother,
whose health has been seriously compromised in recent weeks - had
what the doctors termed an "incident of serious proportions"
yesterday. She's old, very frail, and they're afraid it's only a
matter of time now. Mark wants to be able to be there within hours,
so I'm flying to Alaska tomorrow evening. If he needs to fly to
Michigan I'll meet him back in Seattle en route...

The adventure can wait. If my Dad weren't also in rough shape I'd
probably not go at all, but my brothers advised me that it would
really be good for Dad to spend some time with me, and Mark agrees.
As the oldest I think he relies on me for a lot sometimes. Not more
than any of the other kids, but in different ways. My sister says Dad
keeps saying he has important stuff to talk to me about and frets
that he won't get the chance. Not the kind of stuff you can put in a
phone conversation, the kind of stuff you take a long drive into the
mountains for... At least that's how we do it in our family when we
need to connect on certain levels. We go out into the mountains,
where it's quiet and the only distractions are the incredible beauty
of a sunset or the northern lights. They can be awesome this time of
year.

Anyway. Just thought I'd pop over and check the digest for my
favorite list. Found out last night that yesterday was the list's
third birthday: it was created April 11, 1999! Cool, eh? <g>

>Unschooling is what grownups do, all the time. Why is it, then,
>that any grownups (or politicians), think that schooling must be so
>formulaic? . . . . .

Training and conditioning. Our good friend John Taylor Gatto explains
that schools aren't failing, they're succeeding quite nicely at what
they were created to do:

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com

Helen