Maria's House Doylestown

"It is for us the living, to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is for us to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we may take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.

Let us resolve, then, that these dead shall not have died in vain, that our nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

~ Abraham Lincoln, President
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
19 November, 1863

To Mom...

I have been dug and on this wheel of life
I will be spun, turned and returned, set free,
an independent shape (so it will seem
to all who look my way, but not to me

who did not form myself). Each accolade
that I might earn, each prize, the empty praise
and honest admiration, the dull noise
of recognition, every turn of phrase

that I inspire while moving, year to year,
from this sweet, simple time to mastery,
may seem well earned to friends and peers and all
who know me well, but still, they will not see

that I would have been lost along the way
but for the heart and hands that shaped the clay.

To all of the selfless and beautiful women who gave everything that we might become something, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. Happy Mother's Day.

Our Maria...

Of all the flowers our Prima Donna loved, tulips held a particular place in her heart. "Tre petali, tre sepali..." she journaled... "The three petals and three sepals remind me of the places I've called home, my beloved Italia, Switzerland and Spain, England, India and now The Netherlands. I am so thankful to have known them all."

Seventy-four years ago, May 6, 1952, Dr. Montessori and her son, Mario, were enjoying a spring retreat on the shores of the North Sea some 30 miles southwest of Amsterdam (a place called Noordwijk aan Zee). Ignoring the advice of her physicians and the well-meaning protests of her son, Maria (at 81) was engaged in planning her first excursion to the African continent, excited about another opportunity "to see and to learn" among peoples and cultures she'd only read about. After hours of lively discussion, Mario encouraged his mother to accompany him inside for a light supper and some tea. The Dottoressa sent him on ahead, preferring to "take in the beautiful light and enjoy the flowers for a little while longer." They were tulips, in a riot of colors.

When Mario returned an hour later to bring her in, he found that she had fallen asleep and passed away. Surrounded by flowers, dreaming of her next adventure with children.

That's our Maria. We don't talk with the children about this being the anniversary of her passing. But in our House, May 6 will always bring reminders of a place that she loved in the shape of a flower that she cherished. Her work is never done.

So, if your energetic explorer arrives at home today with a beautiful spring tulip, you'll know exactly why. That's how we remember our hero... here at Maria's House.

PS - Headquartered in Amsterdam, Maria's own Association Montessori Internationale also remembers:
https://archives.montessori-ami.org/news/special-day-6-may-1952

The last 40,000 miles...

Dear Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy,

Every day of this flight, we were with you, watching over your shoulders, listening to your voices, seeing (now and then) some of the remarkable things that you were seeing, marveling in the calmness of your courage and the courage of your calmness. Thank you for taking us back there, for showing us again the irreplaceable beauty of this shared sanctuary that we call earth, and for reminding us that our species is sustained and advanced by the intelligence, resilience, ingenuity and love that characterizes all people of goodwill around our small globe. Thank you for being the explorers who reopened the gateway to the stars. In peace. For all mankind.

Now get yourselves home. Ocean temps off San Diego are still a little refreshing (around 65°F), but LPD 26 (USS John P. Murtha) is standing by, and will be happy to save you the long swim. We look forward to seeing your smiling faces back here, on the planet we all love. Godspeed, Integrity, and safe home.

Need a little more? Try these on...
NASA Artemis

https://www.surfpac.navy.mil/lpd26/

Although we may welcome spring in varied ways,

gathering our families and friends around diverse customs, foods, rites, images and ancient stories, there is one wish that beats within each of our hearts, and is the birthright of every child in every corner of our beautiful, fragile planet. You already know what it is.

"So let us persevere. Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it."
~ President John F. Kennedy
American University
(June, 1963)

We'll see our bright-eyed explorers tomorrow morning... at the House!

PS: The Orion crew is closing in on the moon!
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis-ii/arow/

PPS: The full text of JFK's American University commencement address can be found online here:
https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-university-19630610

Boldly go...

It's been a little over fifty-three years since we last took this trip with Gene, Ron and Jack. We were still losing troops in Vietnam. Incumbent Richard Nixon was running for reelection against Senator George McGovern (D. South Dakota), and the story of the politically motivated break-in at DC's Watergate Hotel with its subsequent cover-ups had yet to break. In a six-year stretch that began with the 1968 assassinations of Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy and ended with the 1974 resignation of Nixon and his top aides, 1972 was a challenging year. But we still landed one more remarkable mission in the Taurus-Littrow Valley on the surface of the moon.

Maria Montessori passed away in 1952, sixteen years before the crew of Apollo 8 became the first human beings to make the "trip around the block," flying their unnamed command module 240,000 miles into space to see our long-time companion up close. They completed ten lunar orbits over twenty hours before heading safely back to earth with a treasure trove of photographs and radar information regarding future landing sites. The crew (Frank Borman (USAF), Jim Lovell (USN), and William Anders (USAF)) also produced, directed and starred in the most-watched television broadcast ever, as they shared views of our home planet from a quarter-million miles away on the night before Christmas. "Funny," said then Captain Lovell a few years later, "but I never thought of earth the same after that trip, where everyone I knew, everyone alive was on this one bright blue marble riding through the blackness of space."

Our Maria dreamed of travel. When she fell asleep for the last time, it was in a chair on the sunny lawn of a cottage outside of Amsterdam, an atlas of Africa open in her lap as she planned for her first trip across that continent. She was 82.

She was also an anthropologist, an avid researcher and a firm believer in the value of human experience, of seeing firsthand. "Which is better, to talk to a child about a place that you've never been to, or to show them your photographs and tell them your stories?"

If she could have, she would have. So, we pay close attention to the well-meaning men and women around the globe who continue exploring, discovering, extending the breadth and depth of our shared human experience. Whenever and wherever they boldly go, part of us goes with them.

And today might... just might... be one of those days. We'll know more this evening. In the meantime, we'll be following along.

If you'd like to join us (and Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy...):

NASA (live mission status): https://www.youtube.com/live/Tf_UjBMIzNo

NASA (Artemis 2 Mission Website):
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Apollo Missions - "From the Earth to the Moon"
The award winning 12 part miniseries from Byron Haskin & Tom Hanks is worth having in your family's viewing library:

On Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.53c4e779-912e-43a2-b851-a1b4af761a17?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

On Apple TV:
https://tv.apple.com/us/show/from-the-earth-to-the-moon/umc.cmc.5v9px4zu8e6h9lcbdipl413dy