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Vivian
Posted on 2024-07-10
What a year
By Vivian Heyl
What a year this has been. Looking back it seems to have been one earthshaking event following another with very little respite in between. Starting in January with “Arab Spring” which began with Egyptian citizens protesting in Tahir Square and the eventual ouster of President Hosni Mubarat, cries for freedom from tyranny spread rapidly to other countries as the year progressed.
In March Japan experienced a magnitude 9 earthquake, one of the most devastating and powerful earthquakes on record. The quake generated 133-feet-high tsunami waves that laid waste to most of the eastern coastal region. In addition the tsunami also caused meltdowns in three reactors, which resulted in contamination to surrounding land and sea areas. Nearly 16,000 people died in the disaster, thousands were injured and thousands are still missing.
Navy Seals took the life of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in May. Bin Laden’s death was pronounced a closure for all those who were affected by the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
In early August the debt ceiling crisis arrived. Though it had been knocking on our door for several years it still hit with a force that sent us reeling. From foreclosures to bailouts of those too big to fail corporations our economy tanked with such force that the reverberations traveled the globe and the resulting chaos is still sending shockwaves of economic distress around the world.
The Occupy Wall Street movement began quietly in September but as the movement grew those who were occupying and those who were against the occupation became more and more vocal.
The end of the Iraq War has been very quiet. Fears are great that Iraq will descend into civil warfare between the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
In December as thousands of military personnel travel home there is both joy and fear. The anxiety of reentering a job market that is sluggish at best is yet another challenge these tired warriors must face.
The recent death of Kim Jong Il, who has ruled North Korea for the last 17 years, has brought more uncertainty to a world that seems to be forever teetering on an uncertain precipice. Governments wait anxiously to see how this latest turn of events plays out on the both economic and political fronts with hopes that tensions will not escalate once again.
Is there any good news then? Well yes, there is.
A lack of tolerance for inequality has become a dominant theme around the globe. There is a small burgeoning hope that oppression, tyranny, persecution and corruption can be conquered.
Global markets are showing signs of recovery. It’s too soon to shout from the rooftops, but there is some hope that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train.
U.S. unemployment rates are falling with the sharpest decline reported in November when the jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent.
Nine months after the devastating events in Japan the landscape looks barren along the eastern coastline. Much of the debris has been removed and there is a sense that recovery and progress is being made.
Our soldiers have taken down the U.S. flag in Iraq and brought it home. After nine years of war, it’s over. There has been no fanfare, no parades, no bands playing, yet even in the quietness there is a sense of joy in having them back.
This is a year many will not regret seeing end, though others will celebrate victories and newfound freedoms. How we measure it depends on the yardstick used.
December 31 will come and a new year will begin at midnight with all the hopes and fears of an unknown future. Let our hearts be glad that we have the chance to make it wonderful.
---
Originally published in The Times Dispatch on December 21, 2011.
by Vivian Heyl 1950-2024
Vivian Running Sound At Blues Fest
Vivian was editor at Delta Boogie since we started the site in 1996. She wrote almost all of our Delta Musicians section, the most popular area on Delta Boogie. She also wrote anything else on Delta Boogie that doesn't have a byline.
She also worked for the Times Dispatch in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, where she contributed many features and some reporting. Her work at the Times Dispatch regularly won awards from the Arkansas Press Association.
Writing was her passion. She wrote for her whole life. Much of it we still have in computer files. I am posting her work here as I find it.
by Larry Heyl
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Gretchen says:
Today we celebrate Vivian Heyl. Mom, Grandma, Viv. Whatever name you knew her by, I'm sure at some point in time she used her gift of nurturing on you. She was indeed a nurturer - of the mind, body and spirit. Her words of encouragement could only be outdone by her quick wit and, when needed, sharp tongue. She loved unconditionally, but she had no problem calling you on your crap. She welcomed ALL to her family - and about the only thing that would get you unwelcome was making someone else feel that way. Today we celebrate the life she lived, the example she set and the love she shared.
Many have asked what they can do for the family or in memory of Mom - I offer these suggestions:
Play a game with your family. There is nothing that would be a better gift than to share joy with your family and in memory of Mom.
Read a book (it can have pictures). Mom loved to go on adventures in books and she led us kids down the same path.
Encourage a kid (preferably one who no else even seems to notice). I promise that is the one Mom would spot first and immediately bring into the fold.
We would also love to hear your stories about Mom. We would love anyone who would like to share stories or memories to do so in the comment thread. Maybe you have a story where you realized, possibly even years later, that you had been molded by a momma's love in the form of Vivian Heyl.
If you would like to make a memorial gift, please consider the children and youth fund at Brookland UMC or the friends of the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, the Lawrence County Library or your local library.
Lastly, just keep loving us! We are sad, but we are blessed.
Add your words to the comments thread:
Words and Comments
Delta Boogie Newsletter/Gamer+ News - May 2024 - This One's For Vivian
https://gamerplus.org/@hairylarry/pages/1714661546292
My wife Vivian was the editor of Delta Boogie and a regular contributor to Gamer+. She helped me with everything I did including Blues Fest for 25 years, The Bandshell Project, Jonesboro Computer Services, The Jonesboro User Group, and so much more. I don't know what I'll do without her.
On April 18, 2024, Vivian passed on.
She was a writer all her life and I am collecting her writings here.
https://deltaboogie.net/words
She worked at The Times Dispatch in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, for years. Her features regularly won Awards from the Arkansas Press Association.
She wrote almost all of Delta Musicians, the most popular section on Delta Boogie, where she provided Delta Bluesmen with a place on the internet back in the nineties. She also wrote all of the articles on Delta Boogie that do not have a byline.
She played and ran fantasy RPGs with dice and miniatures at ASU Beebe in the early seventies before D&D was published.
We home schooled our children and she saw their love of D&D as an educational opportunity for reading, writing, history, the arts, and, of course, math.
She loved music and games and she raised a family of musicians and gamers.
We have five children and seven grandchildren. I had two boys before we married and she loved them like her own.
She saved my life and she gave me a good life. I love her still and always.
For her, I thank you all, for your continued support of Delta Boogie, Gamer+, Delta music, NEA gaming and whatever else it is that you do to make the world a little bit better.
Please take a minute and say a prayer.
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
Comment thread here.