When the Challenge is Loving Enough…
April 2009
Supreme President’s Report
A poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 – 1919):
Are You Loving Enough?
Are you loving enough? There is some one dear,
Some one you hold as the dearest of all
In the holiest shrine of your heart.
Are you making it known? Is the truth of it clear
To the one you love? If death’s quick call
Should suddenly tear you apart,
Leaving no time for a long farewell,
Would you feel you had nothing to tell-
Nothing you wished you had said before
The closing of that dark door?
Are you loving enough? The swift years fly-
Oh, faster and faster they hurry away,
And each one carries its dead.
The good deed left for the by and by,
The word to be uttered another day,
May never be done or said.
Let the love word sound in the listening ear,
Nor wait to speak it above a bier.
Oh the time for telling your love is brief,
But long, long, long is the time for grief.
Are you loving enough?
When April showers you not with inclement weather but with friends and family that resonate and glow with such true love for our overall goal as a society of insuring and helping and promoting cultural endeavors and a life of wellness regardless of income it just blows my mind and renews my faith in humanity.
Another month of Bay Area travels to tease my passions into moving here permanently. Every time I travel with my Ava (not including that one treacherous storm laden trip complete with highway patrol escort through the snowy Grapevine to Fremont’s well-designed Official Visit) I am not only on time, but usually early (my Ava is always right so it would be advantageous if I would always do what she instructs). We arrived in Mountain View (My Ava, my sister and State Youth President Mary and I) to a large crowd of friends in a hall adjacent to an extremely multi-cultural and modern church vestibule; the walls were home to several framed Our Fathers in almost every recognizable language, including Portuguese. This was a special weekend being that it was my Ava’s Birthday weekend sandwiched between Mountain View and San Jose. With Monterey’s visit being re-scheduled, we celebrated the special day by visiting with the Braun and Puppo family of San Leandro.
Well rested from a day of San Leandro sight-seeing over memorable spots in our U.P.E.C. history in San Leandro (Root Park; the empty cement over-looking the marina where the Blue Dolphin Restaurant used to be, etc…) it was off to San Jose to spend Palm Sunday going to mass at the striking Portuguese National Church (Five Wounds Catholic Church) and then to lunch where the Portuguese restaurant could barely hold the jovial and spirited visitors who traveled near and far to be hosted by Past Supreme President Joe C. Rosa and his magnificent family and council members. As with all the visits, the food and fraternalism makes for lively conversation all the way back home.
Council #15 San Francisco –by Natalie Batista
They say Love begins at Home; That’s true
I have a Mother, Father, Sisters and a Brother who
Have Loved me for 29 years;
They have circled me with warmth-
Allowed me to explore new worlds-
Helped me to conquer my fears-
A Nurturing family’s love I have known
Making it easy to call San Francisco my Second Home
I am Blessed
I am Grateful
To have been Constantly able
To share many an early morning breakfast at Connie Cordero’s table
We would eat, shop, laugh and cry
Share intimate sides of life gone by
Accompanied by friends Vilma and Joe,
They were always excited for every softball game and every show
I was a Proud U.P.E.C. Portuguese Girl at San Francisco State
Indebted to my families who have made my life so Great
(The Cordero’s, the Soares’, the Brauns, the Puppo’s, the Stockton’s, and the Eisenberg’s)
The Eisenberg’s – Laura, my best friend
We met playing ball
Her whole family adopted me (they’re Jewish; not Portuguese at all)!
My Second Home is San Francisco
And no one, no other city can replace what it feels like for me
The U.P.E.C. members are a tribute to the honesty and generosity of Constance Cordero
My very first tour guide of the Embarcadero
Here in SF among different cultures, races, creeds
I ran on the beach
I drank the ocean breeze
And I can never come close to expressing my gratitude.
I do not need a map to get here (though some might disagree)
My Heart will Always know how to get here
Here My Heart is Always Free
Here My Heart is Home
What Better Place is there to Be?
In honor of Constance Cordero – my dear, dear friend who embodied Unity, Charity and Protection every day of her life
San Francisco never leaves my mind or heart. Across the bridge the very next day was another chance to see if I could even begin to express my love and thanksgiving to another gathering of Bay Area Godsends – Council #1, San Leandro. “U.P.E.C. #1” was sprinkled perfectly in cinnamon on the homemade Portuguese rice pudding, and that was about as ideal a slogan as any. The illustrious matriarch Maria Cabral and the celebrated Line Officer Eduard A. Braun were an emcee masterpiece. The evening included a star-studded line up of Mayors and former Mayors, as well as U.P.E.C.’s very first State Youth President Ron Vieira (who is a tremendous dance partner)! Council #1 proved to be tireless as well as timeless, raffling off prizes and dancing into the very early morning.
The party continued as we moved on to the Stockton Ballroom to be hugged (literally the best ever; hugs on cue) by Council #24. President Joaquin and Queen Contestant Brittney Aceves conducted a first-rate, first-class event, complete with the city’s famous asparagus. The size of the crowd was impressive and their ability to harmonize the anthems and God Bless America even more so (though I know everyone misses Vanessa’s singing voice, I appreciate no one throwing any leftovers at my high note attempts).
Due to my first cousin’s wedding, I was unable to attend Monterey’s visit, which was something I was looking forward too, as the scenery alone warrants a vacation feel, the fact that one of their members Miss Katie Woods is a Supreme Line Officer, and the city is also home to one of my favorite CSU campuses to visit, Cal State Monterey Bay (boasting a playoff bound softball team – Go Otters). Thankfully, Supreme Vice-President Marie B. Kelly did the honors of visiting with Monterey.
As Supreme Vice-President, Marie B. Kelly knows how to represent the U.P.E.C. with honor and class on the road as well as at home. To be able to visit with Modesto’s council in a city where so many convention memories have been created was a joy. It is with awe-inspiring satisfaction that I continually witness one of my own peers and Modesto’s own poster girl for determination and strength, Marie’s daughter Dr. Monique Vallance, pursue and achieve all of what life has to offer. As a PhD holder in Portuguese History, the Vice-President of the Next Generation of Portuguese Leaders, a college professor and a new mom, she is a role-model for all young women. I applaud Modesto for embracing progressive, forward-thinking youth movements and powerful women who can do it all, be it your taxes or the history of our Kings and Queens.
It is with immense enthusiasm that I prepare for May, and for the fast-approaching Special Convention Father’s Day Weekend in Northern California, and of course the 2009 Convention in Palm Springs, Ca. Looking forward to seeing all of you very soon as friends, members of this remarkable Society and as Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I am,
Fraternally Yours,
Natalie M. L. Batista
U.P.E.C. Supreme President
2008 - 2009
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