I have a memory burned in to my head from when I was 3 going on 4 . I was sitting on the floor in front of a black & white tv. It was November 22, 1963. President John F. Kennedy had just been assassinated. I was wearing a frilly dress, white ankle socks & shoes, legs splayed out. I was a bit dressed up so we may have been at my grandparents. I sat glued & fixated on the images, Mrs. Kennedy in her beautiful outfit splattered with blood & brain frantically trying to climb out of the car.
I was a child of the ‘60’s. I was a very intuitive Virgo (analytical, always asking “why?”) on the cusp with Libra (humanitarian, the scales of justice) , and acutely aware of issues that my blue collar family argued about or benefitted from. World War II touched my immigrant family profoundly and my Mother was absolutely certain that my brother be ready to leave for Canada to stay with relatives if his draft number came up. The 1960’s in America was a period of great tragedy, great corporate & political corruption to try to stop great political actions towards equality & civil rights. There was great emotion & angst bubbling up from America’s youngest citizens as our boys were being forcibly sent off to a war some knew nothing about, and many of them knew was a lie and wanted no part of . It was also an amazing period for organic growth in music of substance (without artificial sounds from apps ) we may never see again.
So as I grew into my pre-teens I became an advocate for Peace. I gravitated toward every humanitarian musician & band that spoke out and I picked up the guitar, or rather I stole one from my brothers closet when no one was home because being a girl I wasn’t allowed to have lessons let alone a guitar. At the local Parks & Recreation building was a real hippie from the 60’s named Karen Piedici. She was a boisterous, hip hugging jeans wearing, Teryton smoking American Italian closeted member of the LGBTQ community. Closeted because in reality, she would’ve been outcast by righteous religious zealots otherwise in those times. Flower power and peace sign stickers all over her van, she played the guitar for us and we sang along to popular tunes all in the key of C or Em with the same 3 or 4 chords.
At around 11, I saved up my allowance and finally, because it was my money, I was allowed to buy my own guitar. I begged Karen and followed her all around almost daily to show me a few chords to get me started. Finally she relented and gave me free lessons and lots of lyric sheets w/ chords at the parks recreation building in the boiler room to keep out the noise & the many kids from 6 - 16 playing there every day. She helped keep many of us off the streets and out of trouble as much as she and the other rec leaders could in those days, for those few hours after school til suppertime.
At 16 I made my first public appearance as a performer and I also started reading Mother Jones, then a kind of underground political magazine first published in 1976. As I researched the behind the scenes machinations of our government they were reporting, I realized how terribly mismanaged & corrupt things really were. There were some very good public servants & politicians with good intentions who fought on, but some were weak & succumbed to the bribes, some didn’t have the skills to fight back against criminals, some were assassinated and others who remained were under constant assault from the financially greedy & power hungry. Those greedy people always seem to have unlimited blood money & be looking to defame do-gooders with the sex scandal of the month which back then wasn’t hard. My response at that time was to be against all things political including wars.
My parents & Italian Grandparents (whose house was literally invaded by the Nazi’s to use as a base during WWII) never wanted to speak of the tragedies of war or what happened in that house. I asked many times. Now after decades of study in spirituality (not religion) and metaphysics I understand that while inner & outer peace & love are the goals, we’re all here at different stages of our journeys and war is a part of the fabric of that journey for some.
Even as a peace advocate part of my journey was to learn martial arts starting at 11yrs young. I trained to find my own inner peace. I taught for decades to help others do the same while growing strong physically so they could defend themselves. We learned that inner peace that leads to hopefully setting an example for outer peace. I was a nightclub bouncer for a while, and a personal bodyguard all to help maintain peace. As an Artist I never could wear a uniform even though I was actually accepted in to the Manhattan Beach, CA police force when I applied to help pay my rent.
As much as I would love to see Peace & unconditional Love around the world, I’ve known that there are times we need to protect ourselves our loved ones and our country. I always emphasized to ALL my students over the decades that they should only fight in self-defense and only use equal force. If I found them doing otherwise they were immediately expelled from the dojo.
As I watch Putin and other dictators kill unashamedly, and attempt to steal land, resources, and even children, I understand and am very grateful for those who fight & have fought the just wars of self-defense to defend humans in need and my ancestors so that I could be here.
As I see American wanna be dictators attempt a coup here in our own backyard, I know from metaphysics and historical fact that the years of American leaders influencing coups in other countries has now brought our collective karma home to roost. I’m grateful everyday for our public servants and politicians with good intentions for the rest of us working on a daily basis to keep us a safe democratic republic… so far.
As for my activities this Memorial Day weekend? As usual, I was feeling great satisfaction & appreciation by keeping the thought of Peace alive. Karen Piedici passed away in 2013 leaving behind such a wonderful legacy of helping Rochester’s youth, many of them now adults, for over 40 years. One of those kids turned adults Sheila Katerli suggested she and I create a Peace Garden in Karens memory. Sheila has moved south and as the Universe and my karma would have it, the Peace garden is now in my hands.
So this weekend a few friends and I, kept Karens memory and the cause of Peace, Equality & Acceptance alive by doing our annual Spring cleaning & planting at The Karen Piedici Memorial Peace Garden in Durand Beach , Rochester, NY. We added some color with our newly painted “Rainbow Rock” symbolizing equality and inclusiveness. I know Karens proudly watching while yelling at us to not worry about it. She never did like too much attention. AT 30ft in diameter, it’s possibly the largest Peace Garden in the World. Until I hear otherwise I’ll maintain that thought. Karens birthday was November 21, 1950. So each year after 1963, she celebrated her day the day before the anniversary of JFK’s assassination. AND I just found out after I finished this post that not only is today Memorial Day, but it also happens to be the 106th Birthday of President John F. Kennedy.
Imagine what a world it would be if we could all just get back to our gardens, hoe and grow.
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PEACE 💜☮️
Deborah