Oooooooooh!
Fright is pervasive.
Terror stalks us in the news…
horror night and day.
Halloween has lost its bite.
Find something to celebrate!
Oooooooooh..!
Author / Cheryl Batavia
Book Review by Rosaliene Bacchus, Life on the Blue Planet
Thank you, Rosaliene!
It is an honor to be featured on Rosaliene Bacchus’s poetry corner. Her review focuses on poems related to values that mean a lot to me.
Sharing Our Lives
Sharing Our Lives
Together,
we face challenges
hand-in-hand.
We share
ordinary days…
laughter, smiles.
Gratefully,
I celebrate your
birth today.
One more precious year
sharing life with you.
Copyright© 2026 by Cheryl Batavia
Happy 78th Birthday, Robert! 🌹
Since May, I have been dealing with multiple health issues. Robert has been taking care of me, even though he is also experiencing health challenges. I like to think we are taking care of each other, but the truth is, he has been doing more for me this time around.
Thank you, Robert, for your wisdom, your humor, and your kindness. Thank you for always being there for me.
Happy Birthday and many more! ❤️
Love,
Cheryl
Empathy & Legacy; Backstory
Empathy & Legacy
Experience enlightens over years.
Our pain reveals our vulnerability.
Our empathy grows as others shed tears;
All members of the human family.
Recognition of our mortality
brings empathy for those we’ll leave behind.
We struggle to ensure our legacy,
remembered as accomplished, wise, and kind.
Advice may be ignored by those we love
who choose to make their own mistakes, their way.
Confronting consequences later proves
the wisdom of kind warnings made today.
It’s futile overthinking legacy.
We live our values; they tell our story!
Backstory
Approaching Age 77: Reflections on the Meaning of Life
A comment on a recent post, “Approaching Age 77: Reflections on the Meaning of Life” caused me to dig a little deeper. Laura Bruno Lily commented …”I am especially attuned to your poems, ‘Empathy’ and ‘Legacy’ in this moment.”As I wrote a response, my comment got longer and longer until it grew into this post. Thank you, Laura!
Over the last few years I have found myself becoming increasingly empathetic. At the same time, I realized that I have unwittingly been insensitive to others in the past. I guess that is the uncomfortable aspect of getting wiser as you age.
I remember, at the beginning of the Independent Living Movement, watching the news and seeing people demonstrating in Washington, DC for their civil rights. As a young working mother struggling in the workplace, I wondered why in the world they were so eager to work!
About a decade later, I moved to DC and became a 24/7 live-in caregiver for Drew Batavia, a young quadriplegic attorney who was active in the Independent Living Movement. I was there beside him every step of the way, traveling with him to conferences and speaking engagements domestically and internationally, documenting inaccessabe street crossings and businesses all over DC, proofreading articles and books.
Most of those years I was a fulltime student, and later, a fulltime teacher. After I became a teacher, I always continued to care for Drew on nights and weekends to give us a private life.
Seven years after meeting, we married, moved to Miami Beach, and adopted a Russian brother and sister. Drew and I shared eighteen years together before Drew died at the age of forty-two.
Concern with legacy is a recognition of our mortality, but recognition of mortality also results in increasing empathy for those we may leave behind.We wish to shield them from making some of the same mistakes we have made, knowing full well that we must all make our own mistakes and learn from them. Still, it’s always worth a try!
I remember my grandfather, when I was in high school. He took me to practice driving in a parking lot in his huge, ten-year-old, metallic baby blue Cadillac. Wanting to protect me from making mistakes, he shared some of his regrets. I cherish those precious times spent with Grandpa, but ultimately, I still had to make my own mistakes.
If you can benefit from the mistakes of others, especially when you are young, I think you are pretty smart! I also believe you are truly exceptional!
Copyright© 2026 by Cheryl Batavia
Please share in the comments. What values are most important to you right now ?
Happy 250th Birthday, USA! July 4, 2026
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men (and women) are created equal,
and are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights…
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!
__ Declaration of Independence.
Photo of the Statue of Liberty by Chris Linnet from Unsplash.
Photo of a bald eagle, USA’s national bird, by Joseph Corl from Unsplash.
Uncle Sam in a 4th of July parade. Photo by Sam Gallin from Unsplash.
Photo by Daniel Olah from Unsplash.
Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
A Salute to Democracies Worldwide!
Approaching Age 77: Reflections on the Meaning of Life
What is a Meaningful Life?
The answer to this essential question is unique to each person. Our values may be fairly simple and straightforward, but the details, the way values are lived, are complex and infinitely varied!
Approaching my seventy-seventh birthday next month, I wrote poems about the values that are most meaningful to me. Reaffirming my values was a valuable exercise for me. I try, with varying degrees of success or failure, to live by these values; the details are different every day!
A Meaningful Life
Integrity
Following conscience,
an ethical path through life…
Finding peace of mind.
Empathy
Loving our neighbors.
Living by the Golden Rule…
one human family.
Mindfulness
Exploring our world.
Gratitude for life’s blessings…
at one with nature.
Purpose
Potential fulfilled.
Making Earth a better place…
a meaningful life.
Legacy
Experience shared
with future generations,
Encouraging words.
Copyright© 2026 by Cheryl Batavia
Jade’s Broken Bridge, a Novel by Michele Lee Sefton, Book Review
Book Review by Cheryl Batavia
Michele Lee Sefton
myinspiredlife.com
Up, Up and Away, One More Adventure, May 19, 2026
It was the rest day at the end of the road trip with my daughters. We had planned a trip to the beach, but Katey wanted to sleep in. Cheryl was worn out!
Ellen went to the beach by herself and found an opportunity for just one more adventure… parasailing. Ellen sent me these photos of her great adventure to share on my blog. I hope you enjoy them. I know I did!
A Confession
Thank you, Ellen & Katey!
Do I regret going on the trip?
No way! I wouldn’t have missed it!
For Ellen with Love
Life with empathy…
mindful, purposeful, content.
Moments of pure joy!
A spirit of adventure,
not a single moment lost!
Copyright© 2026 by Cheryl Batavia
Photo Highlights from our Road Trip, 2026
Relaxing Rest Stop
Feeding Tarpon Before Breakfast
Walking around Theater of the Sea
Theater of the Sea also has sharks, crocodiles, tortoises and other animals.
Everglades National Park Boat Tours
The Starlight boat tour included a spectacular sunset, stars, and bioluminescent seaweed. Fish in the boat wake were eating seaweed, an exciting sight. A very informative presentation. Our guide, who developed this popular new boat tour, was knowledgeable about the various constellatioons we saw and the mythological stories about them. She also told us about the history of the area. Coot’s Bay was named for the ducks that used to live there before engineering projects turned it to saltwater.
Everglades National Park is still home to the Micosukee tribe of Native Americans. Their villages, airboats rides, and restaurants are scattered throughout the Park.
Robert is Here Zoo & Farm Stand
A Big Thank You to Katey & Ellen for providing the photos!
Thank You, Katey
Caring and kind,
when Katey says she loves you,
you know she means it!
When Katey says she loves you,
you know it, ’cause she shows it!
Copyright© 2026 by Cheryl Batavia
Dolphins & Humans, A History of Friendship
A dolphin show at Theater of the Sea. Photos by Ellen Maher and Katey Batavia.
Dolphins & Humans,
a History of Friendship
It is a deeply moving experience interacting with dolphins. They have been friends of humans for thousands of years, following ships and coming to beaches to swim with people. They have also been known to protect human swimmers from sharks.
Like horses and dogs, dolphins can be trained to work as therapy animals for disabled people. My late husband, who was a quadriplegic, gave his family a Christmas present of swimming with dolphins in Key Largo. The facility used revenues from dolphin swims to support dolphin programs for disabled children.
The dolphins in Key Largo swam freely in the ocean and voluntarily returned to their cove when they were scheduled to work. Sadly, the government eventually forced the facility to confine the dolphins to the cove. Since dolphins are marine mammals, there were concerns that human diseases might spread to wild dolphins.
Bottle-nosed dolphins, California sea lions and seals, and beluga whales in military marine mammal programs rescue lost personnel and recover sunken equipment. They protect harbors and naval vessels. Using their ecolocation abilities, dolphins excel at discovering mines, dropping weighted buoys near the mines to mark the location. These are defensive missions. There have been rumors of military marine mammals being used in offensive missions. Environmentalists are concerned that this practice could put entire populations of these animals at risk.
At a Venice, Florida jetty, groups of wild dolphins often come and perform just for the applause. Robert and I once watched a group of five or six dolphins put on a fifteen-minute show at the jetty.
A trainer at Theater of the Sea said she had previously worked with a dolphin who was sixty-eight years old. Dolphins may live close to 100 years. Theater of the Sea dolphins swim in a large natural body of water with many small fish in the shallows, so there are probably lots of fish to eat. The trainer said that dolphins at Theater of the Sea are never coerced to perform, but choose to interact with people and love their jobs.
While dogs are said to be “man’s best friend” on land, dolphins may be humans’ best friend at sea.
* Information on military marine mammals is from AI Overview and comes from Wikipedia and CNN.
AdobeStock_187888362
__From Life in Inspiring Places
Copyright© 2026 by Cheryl Batavia
