Norwegian Steamer Trunk

Every day of the year there is a very old battered beautiful steamer trunk in my living room.  Tucked inside it are all the Christmas decorations I take out every year to give life to my home late in Advent through the Twelve Days of Christmas.  And when the season of Epiphany opens, I tuck everything back in until next year.

The family story I was told long ago is that it held everything my Norwegian ancestors brought with them to the United States from Norway late in the nineteenth century.   During those same years other ancestors came from Switzerland, Germany and Ireland as family lore tells it. 

Tonight I met with a woman from Liberia who came to the United States as an eight year old under Temporary Protective Status and now faces the September 30th deadline for Deferred Enforced Departure unless Congress passes legislation granting permanent residency or the president signs yet another executive order extending their deferred enforced departure. 

A friend from Eritrea has been here more than ten years, has always been documented and is still working toward the day when she can apply for citizenship. Yet another friend came in 1996 from Cambodia.  She took the citizenship oath three years ago in March.  Each has told their story of leaving war torn countries and coming here to start over in peace. 

Though I do not know how it "really" was for my ancestors, it seems unlikely they faced the personal, financial obstacles that today's migrants face.  Even less unlikely that they worked and waited and struggled for ten or eleven or more than twenty years to earn their citizenship. 

Tonight I am "just thinkin'" about the absolute privilege that is afforded me and countless American citizens because our ancestors left their home countries in search of the promise of freedom of religion, land to farm, and a democracy waiting for them to become productive citizens.  My great-grandfather was elected to the Wisconsin Legislature in 1905 as assemblyman.  Wow, freedom and opportunity came quickly for him and his generation.  It had to be simpler then.  It just had to be. 

Migration is natural.  People and animal migrate from one unsustainable environment in search of a sustainable one.  Governments make it possible for money and goods to cross borders with ease.  Yet we place incredible obstacles in the paths of people who want nothing more than a peaceful sustainable life for themselves and their families.

I just keep thinkin' ... ... ...

About Really Listening

What an incredible week!  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday; interviewed by Academy of the Holy Angels students on Thursday; Conversation with Our Legislators yesterday: 16 legislators and 68 constituents present; and today I was invited to offer the reflection at the Sisters of St. Joseph Bethany Convent. 

It is no surprise civil civic engagement was central in each of these opportunities.  It also is no surprise that the more I listen to others the more I learn - the more I learn the more I know I need to listen more. 

No one person - no single group holds the whole answer to any question.  Individual voices and experiences are important...and the well-being of the many, particularly the marginalized, is also important. 

Carol Zinn, SSJ, (former CSSJ NGO Representative to the United Nations) said in 2007, "Relationship is all there is.  Who we are with each other who we are with the world."  

Very few of us are truly hard of hearing.  Yet, so many of us are "hard of listening."  Count me among the the hard of listening who each day tries harder to listen more intently and justly, especially to those whose perspective is different than mine.  This is the hard and the rewarding work of life...all aspects of life.  I am still listening and learning.  And it is good.

Rejoice, Reclaim, Renew Community

Sponsored by General Mills
United Negro College Fund

The 21st Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center with free breakfasts at five satalite churches in Woodbury, Mahtomedi, Woodbury, St. Paul, West Saint Paul, Duluth and River Falls, Wisconsin.  The program at the Minneapolis Convention Center was simulcast to the other churches.

This year our office attended the breakfast at Our Lady of Guadalupe in West Saint Paul where the placemats were made by children from congregations of the St. Paul Area Council of Churches.  One of those placemats was a collage of words boldly printed amidst flowers:  LOVE; I have a dream; Peace no war;Share the Legacy, Shape the future; Dream from the mountain top as good as anyone; hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that;Couage; Together; no hate (actual colors used by the child).  The wonderful Mexican breakfast was made by women of the church and served by church members!

The Honorable Cory A. Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey was the keynote speaker. His powerful message was rooted in the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which was passed on to him by his parents.  The 2011 Minnesota Legislature opened January 4 and the 112th Congress has been swarn in.  Booker's passion for social change is potent.  He stated that in a democracy every one matters - every day, not just leading up to elections and voting, but standing up and speaking up every day.    


His biography reads in part:  Newarks mission is to set a national standard for urban transformation by marshalling its resources to achieve security, economic abundance, and an environment that is nurturing and empowering for individuals and families; and: Radical transformation of the Newark Police Department under Mayor Booker's leadership, together with the deployment of over 100 surveillance cameras throughout the City, has led to Newark's setting the nationwide pace for crime reduction. 

Each year awards are pesented to Emerging Leaders and Local Legends.  One of the honorees this year is
Rev. Kevin McDonough, pastor at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in the Midway Area was recognized as an Emerging Leader for his work that includes re-opening the school at St. Peter Claver and the ongoing mission of "welcoming people of all races and ethnic backgrounds."

About Mom

And medical directives.

Mom was hospitalized the last Sunday in December 1998 and spent much of the next week in respiratory intensive care.  I stayed overnight with her that Wednesday and again Thursday night.  I sat next to her bed and held her hand all night long.  She would wake, see me there - smile and drift back to sleep. The hospital staff offered to bring in a bed - I just wanted to sit with her and hold her hand, so I did.

After 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night, her body jerked, the monitors went wild and the doctors came running.  I stepped away and asked if I needed to call my family back.  The unanimous answer was, yes. The monitor "flat lined" at which point one of the medical team injected something into her IV tube.  Almost immediately the line on the monitor began to indicate change.  The medical person (doctor/nurse, I don't know) got so excited and said, "I just love that stuff!"

I was dumbfounded.  Incredulous.  I asked, "what stuff?"  He replied that he injected her with a drug that "jump-started her heart."  I said, she indicated no extraordinary means and expressed my frustration.  That staff member left the room and did not return.

During the next more than five hours the staff leaned over her, pulled her eye lids back and shined lights in her eyes (her eyes rolled aimlessly), leaned close to her ear and called her name, did everything to "bring her around."  Several hours later it was clear that the drug was keeping her heart beating and lungs pumping.  After 4:00 a.m. the next morning the staff suggested that we may need to consider removing the drugs because there was very limited brain activity.

I said I could not watch her suffer another minute.  The staff agreed to reduce the oxygen flow 50%, and keep only two calming medications in the IV.  We made the decision to top the drug, they stopped it.  It took less than 4 minutes for her to pass quietly and peacefully.  I remained at her side, holding her hand until I felt sure "she was really gone."

I firmly believe that she and God were shaking hands when she had the heart attack/massive stroke after 10:00 p.m. on 1/1/1998; that the drug they administered shocked her heart into beating again!  I was so angry that we had to make a decision to end the drug use the next morning - angry that the injected drug interfered with her natural dying process.

What I have learned since is that advance directives have to spell every out every detail - including the use of drugs.  As I type this I am aware that I have an advance directive and I am not sure it is specific enough.  Hummm ... ... ...

Mostly, I still miss my mom!