Newsletter February 2026 Volume 188
Hello there!
I went to a vigil last week organized by the Massachusetts Nursing Association for Alex Pretti, the nurse who was murdered by ICE.
It was at the VA hospital in Leeds and it was beautiful. So many people came together on really short notice. They put the flyer out the day before and there was a hundred of us in the dark cold by the side of the road at the entrance to the facility by 7:30p the next day.
It was a good showing on a very cold night to honor the memory of Alex Pretti, and to honor his role as a nurse, especially as a VA nurse. The chaplain and some veterans spoke about the strength, resilience and compassion of the nurses that cared for them when they worked with the VA.
People read poems, someone sang the new Bruce Springsteen song, people handed out electric candles. The crowd kept growing. People honked driving by. It felt good to hear a blessing and have a moment of silence for Alex and also for our country. People are mourning but also ready for action. Ready to stand up, ready to do what needs to be done to protect their neighbors, their communities and the things that make this state and our country someplace we want to live.
Like many of us, I’ve been doing a lot of crying over the past weeks.
It has been rough.
The things I feared would happen are happening and none of us know what’s coming next.
It’s a challenging way to live.
I know that many of the world has lived like this throughout history and even now in the world many are suffering.
The performers at the vigil shared a song that people are singing in Minnesota and I was surprised how sweet it was. Just singing in a group.
Here is the song:
Hold on.
Hold on
my dear one here comes the dawn.
Easy to learn. Not many words. Here is a link to a video I took with the bright moon shining over us.
I like it because even though we are in a time of darkness and despair, the dawn always comes. And I am hopeful that will mean a dawn of justice and accountability to all and a halt and repairing of all the destruction we are seeing every day, but also the smaller dawn.
The sun rising each morning.
People showing up to feed their neighbors, gathering childcare for children whose parents have been taken
So here is to the dawn coming sooner rather than later and here is to us doing what we can to hold on and hold onto each other during these challenging times.
So hold on for you might mean, not only speaking up, donating money (this is a great place if you want to support Minnesota https://www.standwithminnesota.com/ ) calling your legislators, standing up for justice and humanity in whatever ways are available to you, but also what do you need to hold on?
Taking walks outside, making sure you get good sleep, remembering to take deep breaths, finding ways to laugh, enjoying art that inspires you or takes you out of your own brain, crying – of course dancing! And of course, singing.
I was surprised how much better I felt after singing at the vigil.
Be kind to yourself and the people around you.
This is a very difficult time.
But hold on.
Hold onto the things that keep you steady and hold onto each other.
Also, today is Imbolc – the celebration of the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox!
Even though it has been so cold, the days are getting longer. The mornings are brightening up when on my way to work at 6:30 and yesterday we took a walk and it was still a beautiful light pink at 5:30!
That is some definite shifting from deep dark midwinter
I also have been hearing the House Finch singing like crazy and even heard the chickadee’s spring call, which alarmed me because I am not quite ready for the quiet hibernation/sit in front of the woodstove part of winter to be over!
Which surprised me.
Imbolc is the ancient Celtic festival to celebrate the quickening of the plant roots and seeds, deep underground and the birth of new lambs. It is also the celebration of the Goddess Bridgit – a Goddess of fire, inspiration and transformation.
We are celebrating a time of shift and a change towards more light. We celebrate and acknowledge the beauty of the darkness while we are also moving towards the light again in this dependable natural cycle that underpins our lives.
My plants are starting to grow and stretch toward the light.
And may this coming of light bring illumination, truth, and justice to the crimes and cruelties that have been hidden from sight and may we all work together to find ways to create a more just and beautiful world.
I’ve canceled February’s Full Moon Circle because I have a commitment in NYC but I am looking forward to engaging with you and the Full Moon Circle at Sanctuary on Friday March 6th 7pm.
