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Welcome to Arun U3A Members'
On-line Magazine
We look back at the end of 2009.
Click the titles below to see what went on.
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***Christmas
Trees
This cheerful, friendly Stitch &
Sew group meets monthly at the Parish Hall in Rustington.
At the request of Arun U3A vice
Chair, Val Kennedy, the group members got busy and produced these
beautiful little Xmas trees to decorate tables at our U3A
Christmas meeting.
Requests received for 2010 are
to craft and produce a new Arun U3A Hanging Banner; the group has
also agreed to craft blue & gold recognition badges for the Art &
Craft Festival at Burgess Hill in July.
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***Christmas
Flowers
by our Flower Arranging Group
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***Carols
at Middleton
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Conductor Hazel Lloyd |
Choir
and congregation enjoy Christmas singing at
St
Nicholas' Church, Middleton |
U3A Choir, The Larks Ascending, singing a programme of Christmas
music |
Soloist Enid Goddard |
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***Lifestyle
Christmas Lunch
Christmas begins
at Lifestyle Group!
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***Digital
Camera Club Christmas Party
Members of the Digital Camera Club enjoyed coffee and mince pies,
picture quizzes and the usual photo competition at their Christmas
party.
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***Women
and Jazz
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U3A
members from all over Sussex came together just before Christmas
to listen to a talk
and concert on the theme of 'Women in Jazz'.
The
study day was organised by SURA; click
www.sura.org.uk for interesting days out
in 2010. |
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Thoughts
at the beginning of a new year
Not a joke this time, but surely many
of us in Arun U3A will identify with the sentiments here.
Best wishes for 2010 to all our members
and friends!
Old Age, I decided, is a gift.
I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have
always wanted to be.
Oh,
not my body! I sometimes
despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging
butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my
mirror (who looks like my mother/father!), but I don't agonize over
those things for long.
I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving
family for less grey hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've
become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become
my own friend.
I don't chide myself
for eating that extra cookie, or
for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I
didn't need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. I am entitled to
a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
I have seen too many dear friends
leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom
that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer
until 4 am and sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself to those
wonderful tunes of the 60 &
70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost
love .. I will.
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a
bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose
to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will
get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is
just as well forgotten. And I
eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken... How can your heart
not break when you lose a loved one,
or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets
hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and
understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and
sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning
grey, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep
grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have
died before their hair could turn silver.
As you get older, it is easier to be
positive. You care less about what other
people think. I don't
question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free.
I like the person I have become. I am not going to live
forever, but while I am still here,
I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying
about what will be... And I shall eat dessert every single day. ( If
I feel like it).
With thanks to the friend who emailed this to me.
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