poems etc.

[ThetaDancer]

I haven't posted in a loooooong time, but I've always been able to get great ideas and suggestions from the women on this forum, so I'd thought I'd give this a try...

One of my summer projects is making a scrapbook for my Pledge Daughter. I was wondering if any of you have quotes or poems about sisterhood, what it means to be in a sorority, etc.

Thanks for your help!

[Janerz222]

I like this one (tho' I find the grammar a little troubling). . .

"True faith and courage are like a kite - an opposing wind raises it higher"

We found it and used it a lot when the Alumnae Committee was working on the big changes to the alumnae program in 2000-2002.

It seems every chapter (including alumnae) will eventually have some heated times. This one is a good reminder that different ideas and disagreement aren't always bad for a group.

great thread idea!

[bluefish81]

I like that quote a lot. As soon as I find the book that my pledge mom gave to me, I will post some stuff. It's filled with lots of good poems and such. :)

[sarahgrace]

Ok, I just pulled out my poem book from my big sis. Here's some of my favorite quotes (they're not all about sisterhood and sororities, but sort of life lesson stuff):

"The supreme achievement is to win freedom to become yourself."

"Never esteem anything as an advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect."

Friendship is really a matter of time, the time it takes you to do a thoughtful and generous favor that wasn't expected of you, the time it takes to just answer a call, to let someone know that you are there. Friendship is really a matter of time...the time you take when you care."

May your dreams never disappear with age,
but may they continue to be as alive and beautiful as you,
with the knowledge that they will someday come true.

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship.
It is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when she discovers that someone else believes in her and is willing to trust her.

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

When it hurts to look back and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you, and your best friend will be there.

[hoover815]

I don't remember where this came from, but it's one of my favorites:

For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands.

[UCFStefanie]

Here are two great poems taken from my sisters away messages :) Got to Love them


"DATE A THETA"
When my son first left for college,
his dad gave him advice for life:
you can date each and every Kappa
But bring home a THETA for a wife.

You can party with the Tri-Delts,
and it's fine to date a Zeta,
but when it's time to marry,
be sure to find a THETA

Chi O's can be on your agenda,
and Pi Phi's are fun for a date,
but never, ever forget
that you'll want a THETA as your mate.

We want you to enjoy your college years and give
all the sororities a spin.
But never buy a ring unless KAPPA ALPHA
THETA is on her pin.

During your four years of college, you'll go from
one house to another,
but take the advice of your smiling ol'dad and bring
home a THETA to your mother.


WHY A SORORITY?
People ask why I am in a sorority
and I try to explain all the things a sorority is that they cannot see.

A sorority is more than letters
on a sweatshirt, I say. More than traditional songs, a golden pin, rituals, an obligation, or a way of life.

A sorority is learning about people,

A sorority is giving without expecting a return.

A sorority is earning respect from others, as well as for yourself.

A sorority will not solve all your problems. But I have made good friends and found confidence there,
to help me take life one step
at a time.

[KATwoman]

This one is nice. I have some more if you need them.


What is Theta?

Kites that soar forever upward,
Aims which tug toward noble highs,
Pansies for remembrance always,
Pride a century justifies,
All this and more is Theta!

Alliance born of sisters sharing,
Love unending through the years,
Precious ritual charged with meaning,
Hands held fast through joy and tears,
All this and more is Theta!

Twin stars' light dispelling darkness,
Hearts that care and thus enfold,
Enduring weld of chain-linked friendships,
Treasured thoughts of black and gold,
All this, but so much more is Theta!

-- Martha Coddington, Gamma chapter

[KATwoman]

Here are a couple more poems for you-

The shared moments brought smiles, laughter, a few tears and, at last, a sense of contentment. For slowly, from our treasured memories a kindred bond began to emerge. That's how it is with people sometimes. When you least expect it, a common thread - golden, at that- begins to weave together the fabric of friendship. - Mary K. Shanley

Theta: There is destiny that makes us sisters, no one goes her way alone. All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own.

KATwoman

[sarahgrace]

"For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands."

These are the last few lines of the poem "Goblin Market" (http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem1753.html) by Christina Rossetti. I read it in my lit by women class a few semesters ago.

[ThetaPrincess24]

"When men fail, sisters prevail!"

"Someone once said that we would look back on the times we cried and laugh, but no one told us that we would look back on the times we laughed and cry."


Taken from the Gamma chapter at Butler University website

[ThetaPrincess24]

Sisters share a closeness no one else can understand...
A sister's always there to give a hug or lend a hand.
Sisters are the best friends in the whole wide world, it's true...
And that friendship is a blessing that lasts a lifetime through.

~Unknown author


"Like twin stars in the night, Thetas shine forever bright!"

"There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy. Freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show their true feelings. The freedom to simply be themselves"

They are the family we choose to surround us, the sisters bound by love instead of blood. They know when we are lonely, and appear without being called. When we feel lost, they provide a living map to what comes next; when we doubt everything about ourselves, they remind us who we are. ~ Barbara Alpert

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country. ~Anais Nin

* True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher. ~John Petit-Senn

* Don't ignore the small things -- the kite flies because of its tail. ~Hawaiian Proverb *

A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind. ~Lewis Mumford *

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. ~Anais Nin *

Sisterhood is genuine. It is making memories. It is sharing dreams. It is sacred. It is real. It is sincere. *

Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about. *

Sisters are for sharing laughter and wiping tears.*

* A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.

* When I find myself fading, I close my eyes and realize my friends are my energy. *

The best thing about having a sister was that I always had a friend. ~Cali Rae Turner

* Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends. *

[undtheta2000]

A poem/ saying close to my heart- On my initiation pillowcase from my big sis. The poem was passed down in my family, and continues to be so as I noticed it this fall at initiation. :)

Dance like nobody's watching
Sing like nobody's listening
Love like you can't be hurt
Live like it's heaven on Earth

[ThetaPrincess24]

I have just purchased a copy of We who Wear Kites Volume I (i found Volume II but i cant afford that one right now but I may splurge and buy it anyway with my next paycheck if still available), and decided to show my husband my Sixty Years in Kappa Alpha Theta book (courtesy of Patti and still many thanks to her!). When i was showing him some pictures in it, i came across a page with this poem I'd like to share:


A cup of Theta memories I hold,
Stored in our hearts through many passing years,
A wine it isof very sun-rise gold,
Distilled of love, of laughter and of tears.
Fragrant of youth its fresh aromas rise,
Of girlhood dreams, where Friendship wears a guise
More regal e'en that Love, yet will essay
The little homely tasks of every day.
And in its glowing depths I seem to see
How many faces! With unshadowed eyes
That since have looked on sorrows' mystery
Or smiled at death beneath far alien skies.
A cup of Theta memories I hold,
A wine of youth, of very sun-rise gold.

Clara Lynn Fitch, Kappa Chapter

[DominoTheta]

Found some quotes that were passed along in our family. I beg for your forgiveness in advance for the typos I'm going to make trying to copy these out of a scrapbook.


<> You will make all kinds of mistakes, but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.(Winston Churchill)

<>After awhile you learn that what you really are is all the experiences and all the thoughts you've ever had and all the people that have touched your life, however briefly. (Jennifer L. Nelson)

<>The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky
No higher than the soul is high.
(Edna St. Vincent Malloy)

<>The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards. (Paul W. "Bear" Bryant)

<>The burning of a little straw may hide the stars, but the stars will outlast the smoke. (Voltaire)

<>We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.

<>It isn't your circumstances, but the way you respond to those circumstances that determines the condition of your life. (Fred Wolfe)

<>And then he thinks he knows the hills where his life rose and the sea where it goes. (Matthew Arnold)

<>The best way to predict the future is to create it.

<>Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. (Napoleon Hill)

<>The heart is happiest when it beats for others.

<>Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for others. (Henry David Thoreau)

AND...my personal all-time FAVORITE quote...

What we are doing is just a drop in the ocean, but if that drop were not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. (Mother Teresa)

[ThetaPrincess24]

I came across this one in the We Who Wear Kites Volume II:


Today I understood
How life could exist,
Every possible way
Through trust and security
And true love never failed me.
Long awaited joys overcame me, and
Out of sisters' hearts came my hope
Vanishing not for even an instant, but
Established for a lifetime.

[ThetaDancer]

Oh I really like the ThetaLove one above.
This thread makes me happy everytime I read it!

[ThetaPrincess24]

I got this in an email and I thought I'd share it :)


What is Theta?

Kites that soar forever upward,
Aims which tug toward noble highs,
Pansies for remembrance always,
Pride a century justifies,
All this and more is Theta!

Alliance born of sisters sharing,
Love unending through the years,
Precious ritual charged with meaning,
Hands held fast through joy and tears,
All this and more is Theta!

Twin stars' light dispelling darkness,
Hearts that care and thus enfold,
Enduring wall of chain-linked friendships,
Treasured thoughts of black and gold,
All this, but so much more is Theta!