January 17 was a different type of MLK Day. The normal day off at work was canceled in order to catch up on the many appointments missed during the snow days the week before. And I think it was a good choice; surely providing affordable healthcare to those who lack insurance and resources is a great way to serve.
Last night, my newest neighbors hosted a dinner planned while we were sledding with neighbors the week before. It was a wonderful gathering of long-time neighbors and new, young and old, black and white. We shared a simple meal, and the olders ones among us told stories of their experience during integration and the civil rights movement. One lady told us Dr. King had once dated her husband's niece when they were in high school!
While the older ones told us stories of having to give up a trolley seat to any white person who entered the car or standing in the rain at a bus stop waiting for a white women to walk all the way down the block and get on the bus first, it seemed to me that they were exercising a gracious restraint in not telling those of us in the room who were white more painful things that they had experienced.
It was a special and humbling thing for me to share this meal with my neighbors. I was reminded of how much I have to learn and how worthwhile it is to build relationships that bring down the barriers between us all.
"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals." Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Snow!!
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| My Christmas tree gets a second life. |
It also provided some equal opportunity socializing as we all scrounged for items likely to make a decent sled. (for the record, it was the trash can lid that worked the best).
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| Snowballs |
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| sled dogs |
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| trash can lid sledding |
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| Daisy doesn't love the ice! |
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