This Sunday begins the third week in the Season of Advent … the week of joy … and a story that is true.

The baby was given two names at birth. Gene (her father was expecting a boy) and Dolores. And so began the life of Gene Dolores.

Raised in poverty, Gene Dolores had to leave school at twelve to work and help support her family.  Serious health issues plagued her life, as did many tragedies. It would have been easy for her to dwell on her misfortunes and live her life according to her middle name (Dolores), the root of which means ‘sorrow’ … not the greatest of names for a sweet little baby girl.

We all know that there are times when life intervenes in our lives, happiness seems evasive and negativity overwhelms.  But even in those moments, joy is there for us … to choose.  Even in these difficult times in the middle of the Season of Advent whose theme is JOY!

So back to the story of little Gene Dolores. And yes, this is a real story about a real person. As the years passed, in spite of a life of poverty, tragedy and ill health, Gene Dolores learned that unlike happiness (a feeling), joy was a choice (a decision).

Gene Dolores chose to live a life of joy and as she did, she slowly began to discover sadness and depression lifting at times, and her life changing slowly.   

A very gifted dancer, a wonderful opportunity came her way when she was seventeen: an invitation to be on Broadway in New York City and dance with Broadway and movie star at the time – Ray Bolger.  Bolger delighted in working with Gene Dolores and recognized a special “joy-within” her and began to call her “Joy.”  It was a name she later adopted for the rest of her life.
  
I never met Gene Dolores. 
I did meet Joy.
She was my mother.

Here we are, half-way to Christmas and yet, with so many dealing with reminders of the fragility of life … war, illness, sadness, grief, fear, depression, devastation, destruction, death, homelessness, addiction, political haranguing and more, it’s not surprising that many ask … “Joy? How can there be joy?”

Perhaps the poem by the little girl who began life as Gene Dolores who had changed her name to Joy yet continued to struggle with deep sadness, ill health and feelings of despair, when she wrote this on her 70th birthday, can encourage us all:
“Even though, at times,
it would appear I have almost nothing to be joyful about
and feel full of despair
as I begin to count my blessings
and feel grateful to God for even the smallest one
joy begins to permeate my being
and fill my heart.

It grows so quickly!
Even the troubles I am experiencing
have little power to depress or overwhelm me.
It is like a magic spring!
Always bubbling beneath the surface.
All it takes to make it appear and flood my being
is a conscious love for my Creator and a deep sense of gratitude
for permitting me to catch even the smallest glimpse of this wonderful JOY divine. <author: Joy Mack, June 10, 1985)

There are people in our own families, neighbourhoods, world who are in danger, are homeless, dealing with grief, addiction, deep stress, fearful of what tomorrow may bring. Some of those are known to us. Some are unknown to us. They experience little, or no, joy. On this Third Sunday of Advent – “Joy” Sunday – may we think of them.

In that ‘thinking of them’, in those prayers, in those thoughts, may their spirit know they are not alone. And may they be given the courage they need to survive, to endure, to carry on and to experience “a glimpse of the Joy divine.”

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AN ASIDE: The photo (scroll down) of my mother, Joy Mack, and Hollywood movie and Broadway star Ray Bolger, together on the Broadway stage at the end of their dance show Mr. Bolger’s words on the back of the photo read:
To “Joy,  Here’s hoping I’m not too presumptuous.  Best always.  Ray Bolger“. It’s really blurry – but a treasure for our family.

Mr. Bolger’s “presumption” to call Gene Dolores ‘Joy’, began Mom’s journey from ‘sorrow’ (‘Dolores’) to ‘Joy.’  It was not something that came easily to her, but as she learned about gratitude and began to refocus her life on her blessings, her final years found her to be a woman of much joy, befitting her ‘chosen’ name.

As for the little card – I loved making it and nestling it in the midst of the lights of the Christmas tree for me to see each day during the four weeks of the Season of Advent last year as a reminder of the four-fold Advent themes: peace, hope, joy, love.

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May this, the Third Sunday of Advent, bring joy your way in gentle, unexpected and blessed ways.
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© June Maffin
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