In honor of my brother, Eric, my sister has crafted this custom made American flag pin. This pin is now for sale for $12.50 (includes shipping and handling). All proceeds will go to Eric’s Memorial Fund. If you would like to purchase a pin, please contact Nora at nvaldepenas@hotmail.com

Poems for Memorial Day

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
- Mary Frye (1932)
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow;
I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain;
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush;
I am in the graceful rush.

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.

I am the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.

Scholarship Funds

A couple of scholarship funds have been set up in Eric's name - one at his high school and the other at UMass where he had been a student. Please help us keep his memory alive by contributing to these funds. They will help students at both institutions who demonstrate the same values Eric held so dear: honor, duty, respect.

L/Cpl Eric P. Valdepeñas Memorial Scholarship Fund
Bishop Henricken High School
2615 Warwick Avenue
Warwick, RI 02889

Lance Corporal Eric Paul Valdepenas Scholarship
Isenberg School of Management
University of Massachusetts Amherst
121 Presidents Drive
Amherst, MA 01003-9310

Checks should be made payable to UMASS Amherst, but please designate the Lcpl Eric Paul Valdepenas Scholarship Fund on the memo line.

Dance Eclectic 28 - 29 April 2007

Dance Eclectic at George School

Friends,
I've copied the Director's Notes from Barb Kibler, the dance instructor at George School, for the 2007 Dance Eclectic performance. She did a tremendous job putting the show together and she should be congratulated for a wonderful show.


"Director's Notes on 'Once We Were Children'"
The war in Iraq was brought to our George School doorstep this past September with the death in Al Anbar Province of Marine Lance Corporal Eric Valdepeñas, youngest brother of my friend and colleague, Edna Valdepeñas. This was the catalyst for the piece "Once We Were Children".

Less than 1/2 of 1% of Americans are actively engaged in this war. Most of us go about our lives and don't have to feel any impact from war. This dance was created to make us remember and feel and think about the people from all sides of conflicts who suffer when nations war. I chose to choreograph it in a backwards timeline to acknowledge the richness and joy of lives lost far too young and to emphasize the commonalities among people regardless of what side they fight on.