Aunt Polly's Diary

My Aunt Polly DeVilbiss Diamond was a Registered Nurse and served as Hospital Dietician for the U.S. Army.  She kept a diary of her entire time in the service which included most of WWII and the D-Day blitz June 6, 1944.  A photocopy of her complete diary was lovingly placed in the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Washington D.C. by two of my sisters.

In honor of the 60th anniversary of D-Day, I've attached a pdf document that covers the last section of her diary which describes her experiences landing just after the first troops, and the amazing period of June 4, 1944 through Jan. 4, 1945.  It is 6 pages long, so you may want to print it out and read it at your leisure.  It is mesmerizing and authentic.

I'm very proud of my Aunt and my heritage.                                  Aunt Polly's Diary

Un-Retirement Articles

The Five Benefits of Work

It's hard to imagine that work has one benefit, let alone five!  Yet, the truth is, work plays an enormously important role in our lives.  This role is so important that without it, for some, life becomes meaningless and without identity.                                      More

Model of a Career Transition

This is a sketch of how a career transiton happens over time.  It was designed by Larry Dutmer, M. Ed., NCC currently at the Colorado Mountain College and is used with his permission.

                                                                                         Model of Career Change

Recommended Books

The following link lists books I recommend to my clients. They cover spirituality, self-help and taking care of yourself. Please let me know how you enjoyed them and pass along any recommendations you may have.

Some of my Favorite Poems

If you like good poetry, each of the 2004 newsletters has a poem as well.

    Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
                                                by Portia Nelson

    Sweet Darkness
                                                by David Whyte

    Loaves and Fishes
                                                by David Whyte

   Wild Geese
                                               by Mary Oliver

Articles

Honoring Values
                                          by Debra DeVilbiss

You’ve heard of values, you see references to them in the literature, even your best friends talk about “honoring values,” but really, now, what is a value? Is it just some buzzword designed to employ trainers and coaches? Something to help writers reap in the bucks?

    Exercise

     Values Clarification Exercise
                                              by Debra DeVilbiss

It’s usually easier to spot values in someone else before you can learn to spot them in yourself. If someone you know never answers their phone but rather lets the machine take a message, there could be a “privacy” value in there. Here are a few scenarios that show values of different people. Take a few minutes to think about people’s reaction to his or her situation and pick out their values. They show up when you look.