Matilda | Poem about a Witch

Matilda

By MJ Purk

From the time she was a wee one Matilda's mum would sing,

Some days it was lyrical brilliance and others it should have been left for the rubbish bin.

Songs flowed through her very veins and rose up her throat and out her mouth - like cupcakes in an oven

Jeanette Wummel's Roots of Design Drawtober
Colored by MJ Purk

Matilda was so proud to not only be born into a strong female family but also a good witch Springtime coven

Matilda's mum always claimed that she was named after a famous song about witches
But Matilda's Gram was quick to point out that Matilda's mum was infamous for being creative with lyrics 

From "Purple People Eater" being "1 thighed, 2 corns, crying  Purple People Eater" to anything that her mum could turn and make the words fit her needs lyrically

 From the moment of her birth, Matilda's mum insisted that she had to be named after an old Witchcraft Carole 

Gram was thinking of "I Put a Spell on You" or "Mystic's Dream" or perhaps even "Sylvan" in honor of their family patriarch, Sylvan Harold

But Matilda's mum wanted nothing so predictable and went for something unique and memorable.

Upon her birth, Matilda's mum began to sing loud and strong 

"Watt!, Zing!, Matilda!,  Watt!, Zing!, Matilda!"

For years Matilda herself sang it the way her mum did. 

Now at the mature age of 7, Matilda decided to read up on her namesake song.

After hours of searching, Matilda came to the conclusion that some things you carry with you your whole life long.

Matilda's mum believed that "Waltzing Matilda" was a tribute to a talented witch and altered it to " Watt!, Zing!, Matilda!".

Happy Sunny Day | Fictional Short Story

This is Sunny. Okay actually her full name is Surya Eliana Cyrus ... all of which means sun, hence the nickname Sunny. She is a free-spirited girl who has a passion for playing outdoors, catching butterflies during the day and lighting bugs at night. Sunny is not quite old enough for school but she is, as her Nana always says, "smart as a whip" and "one tough

Surya Eliana Cyrus
aka Sunny

cookie". Sunny isn't quite sure how you know if a whip is smart since she has yet to find one that could answer any questions. As for the tough cookie thing, she's not really certain about that because she much prefers warm, soft cookies over tough old cookies. Her Nana says that they are compliments but Sunny still isn't completely sure. She loves learning new things especially when she and Nana take one of Great Grandma Gwendolyn's really old quilts into the backyard and spread it out wide, so there is plenty of room for Sunny and seven of her favorite toys, under the old willow tree and a BIG pile of books. Sometimes they will just read and read the entire day and Sunny will wake up as her PePaw is carrying her into the house just in time for supper and then a bath before getting in her favorite nighty pajamas that Great Grandma Gwendolyn made special just for her. Her nighty is extra special because it is made from a bunch of the jammies Sunny wore as a baby. Her Nana will tuck her into bed and Sunny will choose a square of fabric and Nana will tell her a story about when Sunny was a baby and what she did in those jammies. Most of the stories are happy or even silly and make Sunny laugh and laugh. Other times the stories make Sunny sad because her Mommy is part of the story. Sunny doesn't have many memories of her Mommy because one afternoon Mommy told Nana that she "needed to go for a drive" ... something Sunny has never understood but Nana just says it's one of those things grown-ups say. That was 4 years, 2 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days ago and Sunny figures that her Mommy must still be driving and someday she will turn around and come back to Sunny. In the meantime Sunny plans to enjoy storytime with Nana, catching butterflies,  and having tea parties with her favorite stuffed animals.

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Attitude of Gratitude - The Cure

Written as a Facebook status on May 25, 2019.

There has been some incredible news in the SMA Community that came out this week. I think, my Aunt Maureen has said it best, "Science rocks!!"
Yesterday, after hearing about the "cure" for 31 years, it is finally coming true.  Of course, it is 30 years too late for Emma and for me too. I have been blessed to be able to witness the effects of gene therapy first hand and I must say that it is like seeing a miracle every single time, Unfortunately, the old adage, miracles happen every day, came true too late for so many families. In most situations, I aim to be the optimist and for the most part, that is the case with gene therapy and its approval. However, my heart hurts, aches, for so many families, the parents, and siblings who never got to witness their children grow up. My Emma, my sister, passed away 27 years ago this year, for others, it has been even longer, and for still others, it has (only) been a week. In this case, despite what I grew up knowing, life is not fair (sorry to my grandpas). I don't say that lightly as fairness is not something I have ever chosen to focus upon, but in this case, I will make an exception. It is not fair, that Logan will  never dance at his wedding; it is not fair that Andy will never protect his little sister from a heavy down thunderstorm; it is not fair that Jerika will never get to hold her firstborn child; and it is not fair that Emily will never have a ballet recital. there are so many that I could go on for pages, but please know that I think of them always. I don't want to be the downer on this incredible news but I promised, long ago, to never forget, that I don't break my promises. I guess my message is;  be grateful for what you have, to those who came before you and to those who didn't make it. We are the survivors, we are the lucky ones. We have battled every day to survive and we made it. We aren't sure how much it will help us, yet, but we are here, we made it without a magic "pill". Don't tell us that we don't understand, we have seen everything and have witnessed everything. Just be grateful and have an attitude of gratitude! 

Starting Over Storyteller

As a child I lived for the days that Brenda would pull out the journal prompts book and I got to just write about whatever the prompt suggested. I have tons and tons of stories that I wrote using the prompts and others that just popped into my 8-year-old mind. Anyway, I am trying to get back into writing again and since I love to color now I was inspired by one of the pages that I recently colored. The story is just in its very beginning stages but I didn't want to lose it so I figured that this would be a safe place to keep it until I am ready to write more or find a better different venue for my fictional writing since this is generally what I use for my real life experiences and thoughts on things going on around me. If you don't want to read this fictitious children's story, don't worry, I won't know if you stop here, or decide that you want to read it later, or hope that I will hurry up and write more (let me know) ... Hopefully, you will enjoy this (or not, if it's not your thing).
PS I am thinking about how to redesign the look of the blog since the way I originally formatted is no longer a workable way to use it. It will be a good project for the upcoming winter season that will keep me indoors because I have a malfunctioning internal thermostat and I like to avoid the plethora of germs that abound during what the medical profession likes to call "cold and flu season"... but, as usual, I digress ... On to the beginning of a story ...

Tully, short for Tulloch, was a traveling turtle on the coast of the fairy village of Sandalwood. Tully like his father before him and his father before him was a traveling turtle with the Turtles of Tacoma Travels or TTT. From the time his shell was big enough to carry a single fairy cottage Tully began to travel up and down the coast of Fairifield, one of the largest territories in what most humans referred to as an imaginary place of Once Upon A Timeland, alongside his father, Tullerver, in the beginning. The first cottage built on Tully's shell was small and red and only big enough to hold one normal size fairy or possibly two-pint sized fairies but those are very rare. As Tully grew so did his shell and the number of homes on his shell until he reached the maximum allowed, four, and two ladybugs. Tully had worked closely with the tiny home builders to ensure that he had a wide variety of vacation options for fairies looking to travel with him. His favorite was still the little red house that had been moved to his head. It was rented the most often by three (and a half) generations of female fairies. Because the home was so small they rarely ever stayed there together. What they did that Tully absolutely loved was to stay there one after the other and leave maps and scavenger hunt clues for the next one. They communicated that way for years with each other, sometimes asking Tully to take the next one on special excursions that no one else knew about.

 To be continued ...

Remembering Jordan

At this very moment, two of my friends are preparing to lay their forever 4-year-old daughter to rest. This should never be the case. 2017 has been a particularly difficult year for many of my closest friends. Too many of them have had to say goodbye to their children in spite of the fact that for the first time in history there is a viable treatment for SMA. It is not right and it will never be okay for a parent to have to bury a child regardless of the cause. Today my heart is heavy for Jerry and Brieen as they say their final goodbye, here on earth, to their sweet daughter Jordan. Jordan will be remembered as one tough cookie, brimming over with sass, a smile that could melt the hardest of hearts, and eyes that shone brighter than the brightest star in the sky. Her time was short but her mission was clear; change what is known about SMA. She brought hope to this world and even though she may be gone her mission of hope will live on in the hearts of hundreds, if not thousands, of people who knew of this little spitfire. Jordan, you have touched my heart and will live on as I promise that you will never be forgotten...not by me, not by Brenda, not by the nurses, RTs, PCAs, OTs, PTs, doctors, and on and on at Nationwide Children's, and really anyone who was ever blessed enough to really know you and your incredible parents... You will live on in the hearts and minds of so many people Jordan. Keep sending us ❄️snowflakes❄️, okay 👑sweet princess👑?

Never Lose Courage

Today is the last day of August and for people who are not directly impacted by Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), it is the end of SMA Awareness Month. Today is the last day of newsfeeds filled with facts, photos, fundraisers, and post with pleas for "outsiders" to take notice of the world of we live in 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. SMA Families live with the knowledge that every day is an important day. There are no guarantees in life and even fewer when you have a life impacted, daily, by the restrictions of a label of a "terminal illness". It's important to recognize that life, no matter who you are or what you do, is terminal. We are all destined to live a life that will, ultimately, end in death. It is a fact and it may seem incredibly callous to be so blunt on such a sensitive subject. That is not, however, what we want people to focus on. We must remember that the important thing to focus on is the time between the day we are born to the moment we draw our last breath. This is never truer than when you, possibly, have an accelerated time table of the "in between" which is what many individuals with diagnosed with SMA are told they face. Whether or not that is true is, often times, the subject of heated debates that never truly cease with a definitive agreement on what "the truth" is. This is largely due to the fact that it is all up to the individual. It comes down to whether one chooses to focus on the quantity of time or the quality of time. That choice, of what to focus on, quality or quantity, can and, often times, does change depending on the situation, the day, the hour or the moment.

So as the month of August draws to a close, we ask that as you go about your day and the days ahead you make a conscious choice to never lose courage in the face of the fact that someday it will come to end. Make the most of your time in between. It will take an insane amount of courage to take the day as it comes. It will take courage to focus on whatever you choose, whether it be quantity or quality, and do so unwaveringly. Life takes a level courage that is unmatched. Having the courage to live in the life you have been handled is the most courageous thing that anyone will ever have to do. Courage is a choice and it is a choice that must be made repeatedly throughout a lifetime and, sometimes, one that must be made repeatedly in the span of a day. It is a solitary choice that individuals must make on their own. The choice to have courage or not is one that will impact others. It is not an easy choice but rather the opposite, maybe the most difficult. Whatever you choose in other aspects of your life, the choice of courage will undoubtedly make all the difference. Choose to Have Courage and Never Ever Lose It!

Eleven Years

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11 years is a long time to do anything. 11 years has a way of making something ordinary turn into a tradition. 11 years changes a person, a place, and all of the things that make certain things important. In 11 years you get comfortable with how it feels to do the same thing on a certain day with certain people. And then out of nowhere that thing that you have done for longer than just about anything you can remember is snatched away. It wasn't like you didn't see it coming but you kept your blinders on and refused to look behind because if you did you were certain that mere sight of the change would shatter

your already fragile heart. Now you know you can't go back, the past is gone and the future is much too far away for you to clearly make out what it will be. You can only see what is happening right now and even though your heart is aching deep down in your chest you force yourself to face forward and to look only at what is beside you. Beside you, you find only one thing; your box of memories of the last 11 years. In order for you to move forward, for your shattered heart to heal, you must, at least for now, pack away the box. It will be easier to move forward if you don't cling to the box of memories. The box is heavy and will cut into your tender flesh, making the change leave visible scars for the world to see. So you put the box away on a tall shelf and pushed to the back where for now it cannot hurt you. You turn away from the shelf and wipe away the tears you didn't even know you were crying. You close your eyes, allowing yourself only one moment, and take a deep breath. You open your eyes and allow a smile to grace your face as think of all of the wonderful things that are awaiting you in the still too blurry future. You may have a broken heart but you know that it will heal, given time. You know this because it has happened before and it will happen again, whether or not you're prepared matters little. Your face has dried from your earlier tears and your smile has become more real than it was before. You realize that the world around you is continuing and outside your window, the sun is shining. Yes, 11 years is a very long time and it is not easy to embrace the change. But moving on and changing is necessary so you go outside and feel the warmth on your skin and suddenly you realize it is all going to be okay.