The Season of Giving

When my children were young, the most important aspect of the Christmas season that I wished them to learn was the meaning behind it.  Of course, they knew the story of the birth of Christ from the time they were very small. I tried to teach them one important fact: Christmas is for giving, not receiving.

An important lesson many adults forget while raising children is that they don't learn what you tell them.  What sticks the most is what you show them.

You may tell them to be polite to everyone they encounter, but when they see you being rude to a sales representative, what lesson will they actually remember?  Therefore, I always felt it was important to involve them in the giving aspect of the season.  We shopped for and delivered gifts to needy families through our church youth group. They dropped money into Salvation Army buckets. We picked out gifts for Toys for Tots together.

Throughout December, we would use an Advent Calendar to count down the days.  Each morning they took turns pulling a tiny ornament out of the calendar pocket and placing it on the calendar's tree.  They also pulled out a tiny slip of paper.  On that paper listed a deed they must accomplish that day.  "Say a kind word to someone who needs it" or "help someone carry something today."  I wanted them to understand that a person does not need money to make a difference in the world.  Only a bit of kindness.

This year when I purchased our usual holiday dog treats at our local pet store, the treats I usually buy were on sale: buy one, get one for half price.  Certainly, my dog does not need two bags of treats.  So I placed the extra bag in the bin next to the door for donations to the local Humane Society chapter.  Perhaps some homeless dogs would enjoy Christmas treats, too.

This got me thinking back to the Advent Calendar and the days of doing a good deed each day, and how little it would have to cost.  I made it my goal to do an act of kindness every day leading up to Christmas.

One day, I helped an elderly woman locate the powdered milk in the grocery aisle after watching her walk up and down several times.  I placed a basket of granola bars and packaged crackers on our front porch with a note for delivery people, who work long hours this time of year, to help themselves.  While walking my dog, I picked up my neighbor's trash can that had blown over and put the spilled rubbish back inside.

None of this took much time or money, but I would like to think it helped make someone's day better, and the world just a bit kinder. And I am happy to report I was able to reach my goal of one small kindness per day. And I hope to continue it long past this Christmas season.

In a world where it seems like anger and bitterness rule, a kind word or small deed can make a difference. In the words of St. Francis and his Prayer of Peace, where there is hatred, sow love.  Where there is sadness, joy.  Where there is darkness, light.

May love, joy, and light also find you this holiday season.  Merry Christmas.

Rings

It begins with a ring.

A former co-worker recently announced on social media that she became engaged.  With that announcement, she posted a picture of the nice, big diamond that now sits on her finger.

I am overjoyed for her and wish her all the best on this journey she is about to begin.  It got me thinking, however, about the significance of rings. And not just the ones we wear.

A ring is a symbol of eternity.  It has no end or beginning and just continues on endlessly.  Thus, it is the perfect symbol for a promise to always love and cherish. During the upcoming holiday season, we are bound to see at least a few people we know showing off new rings.

An engagement ring is just a beginning, to be followed by a pair of wedding rings that symbolize the commitment by both partners.  As time goes on, in my opinion, rings worn as jewelry take on a lesser significance.  Eventually, life and love become less about the rings on our fingers.

What takes on more significance are the rings that surround us, whether we recognize them or not. It's these circles, those endless rings, that eventually matter more.

It is the ring of your spouse or partner, and perhaps children that envelope you.  The rings that toddlers seem to endlessly run around us.  The seemingly endless circle of sports, school activities, and volunteer commitments.  Most of us also have a circle of friends, along with our children's friends, that surround and bolster us. The people who make up those circles may change and grow over the years as our family changes and grows.

There is a loop of holidays throughout the calendar year that we celebrate.   We have a circle of family members who help us commemorate the good times and support us during bad times. As the years go by, your family may grow as children marry and begin to bring in babies of their own, and the circle expands.

There is also the ring represented as the circle of life, as babies are born and elderly relatives pass away. Even our beloved pets leave a trace. Those who leave us are never really gone but surround us in a ring that encircles our hearts and remains with us always.

In a way, we are like trees.  The growth of a tree is represented by the number of rings it holds inside.  Our rings are not visible, inside or out.  Yet they grow and expand with the years of our lives.

Most of us can't afford a big, expensive ring when we are young and beginning a life together.  At some point, larger and more elaborate anniversary rings have begun to grace the fingers of many of my friends.
 
But I am fine with the same rings I have always worn. Because the rings which I now possess are far more priceless than any diamond.

It's these rings that have grown from that one promise that I proudly display these days. And always will.

Look for the Helpers

The morning started out fine.  Until the morning news show was interrupted by a Senate hearing on the latest chaos in Washington.  I lasted about 10 minutes and decided it was a good time to walk the dog.

As fate would have it, however, the day got worse.  Chloe at one point tried to bolt into a ditch in front of a neighbor's house.  As I pulled her back I looked into the ditch.  There was a black squirrel laying near the drainage pipe.  It was able to move it's head and front legs, but its back legs were frozen.  Apparently, it had been hit by a car and was partially paralyzed. 

As I watched the poor thing struggle and tried to figure out what to do, I almost started to cry.  With the incredible amount of disturbing news in the world coupled with the helplessness of this poor creature right in front of me, there felt like an incredible weight was on top of me.

Then an odd thought popped into my head. It was Mr. Rogers.

A few years back in the the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, I had heard a quote from The Mr. Roger's Parenting Book about how to help children cope with frightening situations: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.'"

As an adult, we would all like to imagine ourselves as the "helpers."  In any disaster, there will be those who run away (or stand there and film the unfolding tragedy on their phone) and some who are frozen with fear, confusion or horror.  But there will always be those selfless people who charge head-on into the chaos. Often these people are firefighters, police or EMTs.  But on many occasions, they are ordinary citizens who leap into action without a second thought.

Right now, I was not a helper.  I was frozen in a world that was overwhelming on both a large and a small scale. With no "helpers" in sight.

After about a minute, I realized I could indeed be a helper for that poor squirrel. I called the non-emergency number for our township police department and explained the situation to the dispatcher who answered.  She had me give the address of the house and a detailed description of where the squirrel was located and assured me she would contact Animal Control to take care of it.

But the reality remains that there really is no good advice for adults when we face situations that seem, on a national or global scale, overwhelming.  And much of the news today is certainly overwhelming.  Sure, it is possible to tackle the problem on a small scale. Volunteer. Get out and vote.  Do your part to make the change you want to see.  But in the moment that the entire world seems to be out of control and the only people running in are trying to make the situation worse, where do you find the helpers?

But this is where the definition of "helper" can be expanded.  Sure, "helpers" are people who jump in and render aid.  But they are also incredible examples of selflessness and humanity.  And despite the current political culture and the endless stream of bad news, there are still plenty of those in the world.

A quick internet search will reveal thousands of them.  How many times do we see those people who--in the wake of hurricanes and massive floods--hitch up their fishing boats and drive hours to help rescue both people and animals who are stranded?  And I am certain no one is asking about the race, religion, sexual orientation or political affiliation of either the rescuers or the victims they help.

I read a story just yesterday about a couple whose dog escaped from a hotel while they were on vacation and disappeared.  The woman in the story quit her job in an effort to find her dog.  And she was aided by an entire community who were essentially strangers to her.  The hotel owner distributed "Lost Dog" flyers and fielded calls.  Farmers allowed her to search their property and put out live traps.  A local couple gave her a place to stay free of charge.  And many people in the community would go out with her, day after day, while she searched.  When the dog was found 57 days after she disappeared, it was with the help of a woman who saw a dog matching the description wandering through her backyard. The video of the dog returning home, recognizing her driveway and seeing the woman's husband for the first time in almost two months is priceless. The dog's exuberance as it yips, bounds around the car excitedly and wags its tail is enough to make you laugh and cry at the same time.

Just this morning, I saw a story of a 10-year-old girl with spina bifida who was unable to attend a class field trip to locate fossils because the area was not wheelchair accessible.  When the girl's mother obtained a harness that could be strapped onto the back of an adult in which she could ride, one of the girl's teachers offered to carry her on his back.  This young girl was able to join her classmates to search for fossils because of the dedication of one of her teachers. If a story like that doesn't restore your faith in humanity, nothing will.

The fact is that there are some situations in which even adults can feel overwhelmed and frightened.  It's not always possible to be a "helper." Sometimes even grown-ups need to look for them.  But they are there.  When the world seems to be falling apart, there is a story out there about those people who are going above and beyond simply to put a small corner of it back together.  And restore our faith in each other in the process.

There is hope for us after all.

So from now on, when I am faced with a world that seems out of control, I will take Mr. Rogers' advice.

Look for the helpers.  They will always be there.

Finding a Broken Branch of a Family Tree

About a year ago, I began doing genealogy research after taking an Ancestry DNA test.  The results of the test itself were fairly predictable. The surprises I have found lay within the branches of my family tree. More specifically, one I never really knew was there.

I knew that my maternal grandmother, Irene Hropovich, had divorced my grandfather when my mother was only a baby.  For most of my life, I did not even know this man's name.  It was a topic that was not discussed in my family.  All I knew is that he was an alcoholic who, after the divorce, moved to New York and died sometime in the 1970s.

Research on my family tree, however, began opening doors that had been shut by vague answers for decades.  I learned his name was Louis Wildner, not "Lewis" as I had believed.  I learned the name of both his parents and that his family had immigrated from near the border of Germany and Austria (they list both locations on various documents).

Last week I came across the death certificate of my great grandfather, also named Louis Wildner, and learned that he had died about a year after I was born.  I also learned he had lived in Johnstown, PA, the same town in which I was raised. Then I located the obituary from my great grandmother.  And my heart sank.

She too had lived in Johnstown.  And she had died in 1984 when I was in college.

My great grandmother had lived in my hometown and died when I was 19 years old.  And I never even knew her name.

Over the years, I heard very little about my grandfather, although family members would let small details slip through now and again.  The only mention my grandmother ever made of her ex-husband in my presence was a comment that he stole her wedding rings and sold them, presumably for alcohol.  And another relative once let slip that when my grandfather Louis had passed away in 1970, New York authorities tracked down my mother several years later to give her his insurance money, as she was his only heir.

The discovery of the missing branch of my family tree has not given me any true answers, only more questions.  What happened between my grandparents that was so awful that his name was never even spoken within the family?  And why had his family, who must have known the whereabouts of my mother and that she had a family of her own, never even attempted to make contact with us, especially after my own father died in 1977? Or even when we became adults?

This is a mystery which I am looking to solve.  The only problem is, most of the individuals with direct knowledge of the story are long gone. And my mother over the years has revealed very little about her own father.  The only time I heard her volunteer anything about him was when she told me that he apparently used to write her letters when she was a little girl, but her mother would intercept them and burn them. As to how she found this out, I have no idea.  She has otherwise been reluctant to talk about this branch of her family.  Either she truly does not know, or simply does not care to find out.

My only recourse is to go to those who are living--siblings, aunts and even my mother herself--to try and construct the story.  These are the branches that remain of the family tree through which I must search.  It is the beginning of the story, and I hope I will be able to find an ending that will at least answer the questions of why this particular branch has been completely severed. It's a journey I hope to chronicle here.

When shaking up your family tree, you may be surprised what falls out.