The good is right in front of us
Writing a column when the dark and dreary days of almost winter bring with them the blues is a challenge.
I’m a "glass full" kind of gal by nature, finding myself wearied and worried over the bad news that cycles 24/7 — death, destruction, rhetoric. Seeing the genuine need in our communities can also be overwhelming. Then there’s the weather forecast for another rain and wind storm today, so quick on the heels of the last that took a huge toll. I’m wistful for winters in recent past years where snowfall was the norm.
But for today I vow to put on the rose-colored glasses and remember that we don’t need binoculars to see the good. It’s not in the distance — it’s right in front of us. We hear of so many people and organizations who go the extra mile to bring Christmas joy to others. It’s one of the things I love most about our communities.
In 1985, a single mother of three had returned home to Idaho after leaving an abusive marriage, hoping to start a new life. The rent on their four-plex apartment was $325 a month and the mother worked swing shift as a desk clerk, earning $4.50 per hour. The two oldest children were teenagers and took responsibility for themselves and their younger sister while their mother was at work. There were few extras but the family was dressed in clean, warm clothes with a roof over their heads, an abundance of love and hope for better times to come.
They weren’t hungry, they weren’t homeless and they weren’t alone. But their under $10,000 a year annual income for a family of four was poverty level. A few days before Christmas a basket of food and small gifts appeared on the doorstep. The mother at first was embarrassed that despite her best efforts someone out there knew their financial situation was grim. Pride brought resentment for the “handout” but the children thought it was marvelous that someone was thinking of them. It was a thoughtful gesture at a bleak time.
The stranger who reached out to me and my daughters back then knew the meaning of Christmas, even as I’d lost sight of it in the struggle to provide for my family. We never knew if the basket filled with food and love came from the Needy Family Fund, a church or a neighbor but it didn’t matter then nor does it now. What’s important is to reach out to others, not to judge the reasons for their situation. Don’t give out of guilt or pity, but from the place in your heart that holds compassion for your fellow man.
In the three decades since that uncertain time for me and my daughters, I’ve been blessed tenfold. Better times did indeed arrive and I’ve been able to pay it forward as have my now-grown daughters. To everything there is a season — be this our season to give or to receive — we, too, are blessed.
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Another tip of Santa’s hat to the good people who live in the Highlands neighborhood in Post Falls. For over a decade they’ve held a golf cart parade for the holidays and in 2009 added a food drive to the activity. This year they raised $1,260 in cash and 1,402 pounds of non-perishables for the food bank even though it was a rainy parade day!
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A very special welcome home to Kado Miller! Your long journey is just the beginning of a wonderful new life.
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Happy birthday today to Tammie Peacock, Cecilia Fehling, Cheri Banta, Melissa Williams (30!) and Cindy Jarnagin and tomorrow to Dick Wandrocke, Shannon Clark, Richard Carlson and Donna Cushman.
On Friday, Christina Petit (40!), Stephanie Hunter (40!), Jennifer Keefe, Katrina Mayer, Kym Hamby, Shawn Gunn, Leigh Sales and Aleta English take another trip around the sun.
Twelve is the lucky number for Alexis Davis, Sialas Tripp, Dr. Mary Sanderson, Amy Alderman, John Austin (60!), Mary Finley, Teresa Capone, Mark Orlowski, Konrad Hochhalter, Monte Miller, Richard Stevenette, Colleen Williams, Dave Sayers (60!), Lynn Knapp and Jessica White for their 12/12 birthdays.
Catherine Jacobson (90!), Brian Golly, Kim Buer and Denise Higgs mark their birthdays on the 13th.
On Monday my BFF Anna Pierce aka Patty Duke will put on her party hat, joined by Eve Knudtsen, Sybil McCormack, Sandy Clemons, Amber Briles, John Medlock, Vicki Peoples, Karen Kastning and James Forster.
On Tuesday, Kerri Wilfong, Susan Schneidmiller, Brenda Young, Anne Marie Toothaker, Travis Gardner and Austin Wuest are celebrating.
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Post Script: If you want to feel rich, just count all of the gifts you have that money can’t buy.
Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.