In Memory of Angela, Who Knew All the Milking Songs

Feb 10, 2021 | News, Newsletter

Dear Friends of The Sunny Center,

Recently, we lost a dear friend and devoted volunteer. Angela helped us here at the Sunny Healing Center in Ireland. I wrote a small piece to memorialize her, because she did so much to make our lives easier and help us create a beautiful healing space for Exonerees to heal from the trauma of wrongful conviction and incarceration.

You can read it below. We’ve included photos that Angela took when visiting us. Please take a moment to think of Angela. If you’d like to help us continue our mission that Angela spent so much time helping to move forward, please consider a donation to The Sunny Center.

Angela

You never know when Angela will appear to me these days. In the scent left behind on the guest bed where she would stay when she minded the cats and dogs and hens and the house. Goat cheese reminds me of Angela. She learned how to milk and knew each one’s milking song.

We both had a Barney. Angela’s son and my dog, Barney. My Barney would get so excited when friend Angela would come because he knew she would take him on long walks up the mountain and down to the lake. She knew him all his life and, she said, in his old age he had become a really good companion dog.

My oversized knit sweater reminds me of Angela. My waterproofs remind me of Angela, too. She used to use them on rainy days when she was minding the house and all the animals for us. Have to go out and take care of the hens no matter what the weather. And she did, too.

Angela was our friend. Angela was part of our family. In many ways, Angela is still part of the family.

Angela was many things to many people. She had an amazing life as an activist and an artist and an adventurer. But, to us, Angela was a good, kind, reliable, caring and gentle soul and became a dear friend and part of our family.

Angela was special. We always had a hug and a kiss when she arrived and before she left. And that’s how she will be remembered in our house.

Love you, Angela! And thank you, Beatrice and Barney, for sharing your mum with us.

XOXOXO
All our love, Sunny and Peter


You Can Help Exonerees

Support an Exoneree directly by purchasing a needed item for them!

Click here to go to Paul’s wish list.
Click here to go to Danny’s wish list.
Click here to go to Joseph’s wish list.

Thank you so much for your support! And don’t forget, you can purchase through smile.amazon.com and select The Sunny Center Foundation USA, Inc. as your charity of choice.


Support for Exonerees

If you are an Exoneree who needs someone to talk to, or needs help in some way, contact us. Even though we are not yet allowed to travel or bring others to us, we can connect over the phone or online.

Peace and Love,

Sunny and Peter

Remembering Peter

My dear Peter is gone.
We sang him home on the last day of the year, gathered around his bedside as we had done for so many days before.

‘Send them green.’ A special message from a Sunny Center supporter!

“I had the wonderful opportunity to be a guest at the Sunny Center this past July. My first trip to Ireland, it always is a magical moment to visit friends who live overseas…”

Exonerees are succeeding, thanks to you!

Helping people exonerated of crimes they did not commit, setting them back on the path to a fulfilling life, is a monumental task that we depend on the dedication of volunteers, both near and far, to achieve.

Even in summer, the work doesn’t stop

We’re in midsummer now, with its long days that stretch until 11 in the evening here in Ireland. It’s a busy time for everyone and everything.

The power of art to heal and renew

Did you know that Peter was a woodworker and an artist? He created so many things. But more importantly, he taught those skills to other Exonerees when they visited the Center.

Looking for green shoots

Photo by Samantha Bookman. Peter and I chose to situate the Sunny Healing Center here in this beautiful location in the west of Ireland. A newcomer may at first see only a barren, rocky, windswept landscape. But, put your hand on the earth here, and you can feel the...

A message from Sunny about Peter

The time has come to say farewell to our dear Peter, who is in the process of transitioning from this body and this plane.

Finding Peace, Joy and Hope

The events in Ukraine over the past several days have been ever-present in all of our lives through the daily news and constant social media. These times can be especially difficult for Exonerees because of the traumas they are working to overcome.

Love Is Always the Answer

Winter is always a little bit quieter than the rest of the year. After a long day spent maintaining the Sunny Healing Center and getting it ready for visitors, it’s time for us to cuddle up with the kittens and, of course, Barney, on chilly winter evenings with a warm fire in the hearth.

A Happy, Healthy and Healing New Year to All

Love has no barriers and no limits. And neither does our gratitude for your continuing support and friendship. Know that you are never alone, because you are part of our family.

Happy Holidays to Our Friends Near and Far!

These are extraordinary times. And you’ve all been extraordinary supporters. Thanks to you, we’ve been able to keep helping Exonerees in the midst of a global emergency.