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ONE OF MOTHER’S CHRISTMAS LETTERS
12-18-09
I have spent days thinking about what I want to
give to my readers during this holy season of love and giving. Reading
the December pages in my personal journal, I came across my mother’s
Christmas letter of 1987, two years before she departed this earthly
part of her life. So I decided to give you my mother.
Even 20 years after her death, it is still strange to speak of her in
the past tense. To me, she has never died. She remains as real today as
the day she went away.
One thing that keeps her real is the trail of letters and notes stored
in my journal. Like this one: “I enjoyed so much going with you Sunday
before last to see the Amnicola Marsh. How strangely beautiful it is!” I
remember that day perfectly. At that time there was a walkway just over
the surface of the marsh and a small shack at the end so people could
hide and watch the winter birds coming through.
Mother always walked with awe around nature. She was speechless and
quiet throughout the marsh experience, like she was one time in Florida
when she stood high above the rocks where the mist from the crashing
waves mingled with the tears streaming down her face. She said, “Be very
still, Roy. The Great Spirit is here.”
Nothing will cut through a child’s fears and doubts like seeing a parent
in the throes of deep, passionate reverence and awe. You realize that
the spiritual part of life is indeed the most real.
Her deep contact with nature was the gift of her Cherokee grandfather
who would walk through the woods with her sitting on his shoulders, her
eyes full of wonder. He brought nature to life for her and it remained a
living, breathing thing to her all of her life. She said, “He loved me
and shared beautiful truths with me. He didn’t think a child was dumb.
He called us ‘little people.’” She once told me, “Grandfather said the
best way to teach little people respect for their elders is to treat
little people with respect.”
Some words from this Christmas letter gave me guidance and courage the
years I was county executive: “God never made man a worm to be picked to
pieces by useless annoying blackbirds. I believe in the possible at all
times and it is possible now.”
Every year when I re-read this Christmas letter from her, it gets my
Christmas priorities right. She said, “I am more joyous over your love
and kindness than any other characteristic you have shown to me. God
demands that we love people and it is so easy to do when Christ lives in
our hearts. Thank you for the lovely book. I kissed and kissed it.
Sharing what we have with everyone at Christmas and making them feel
important and loved is my way. For your father and me, the important
thing is how you children all give yourselves to us.”
If you are seeking a memorable Christmas, accept the gifts my mother
offers -- reverence for all the holy things, respect for the little
people, a belief in good things happening now, and giving yourself to
everyone you love.
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