Muriel Blackwell

Muriel Blackwell died this weekend. She was a dedicated teacher to pre-school children, a poet, a linguist, a lady with a magnificient sense of humor, a delightful person to be with on a long journey.

I went to her funeral because we had an experience several years ago that neither of us every forgot. We were teaching religious conferences in Vancouver, Canada, at a retreat center. She taught the pre-school teachers and I taught the adults. It was a long journey to get there and we had shipped all of our materials early. Unfortunately, none of our materials arrived, resulting in us having to do the conferences without our usual materials.

Fortunately, we got by, but we learned a new word that described our difficulties. It seems that in the British Commonwealth that they have the perfect word to describe our dilemma, the word was KERFUFFLE.

So, it became a byword for Muriel and I. Whenever we met we always asked, "Are you kerfuffled?" According to various dictionaries kerfuffled is an Irish Word meaning becoming disheveled, or further it means confusion or disorder. But to us it was the absolute perfect word for describing our condition. So the next time you find yourself without the proper word to say, you might just be KERFUFFLED !

From your kerfuffled friend,

Bro. Dan