102 Valentines
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By Garrison.phillips February 20, 2009, 3:21 am |
That's right, 102 of them fancy, lace trimmed, red valentines.
And all for my Mother, Valentina, who celebrated her 102nd birthday on Valentine's Day. I was there to give
her a small party of her close friends and neighbors in West Virginia.
I speak of her birthday here, first because she is a senior but also because she has been a role model for me and others in my home town. She has been a volunteer ever since I can remember. First with the cub/boy scouts, then the school bands, and every civic function you can think of from the Fire Department to the County Library, always with a fancy cake for the fund raising cakewalks or dinners. Then, with her fledglings gone from the nest, she turned to The Homemakers, her lodges of the Rebekahs and Odd Fellows and, of course, years and years of service to the local hospital.
She taught me not only to volunteer but to be ready to take the place of any one who cancelled at the last minute. I can remember so many suppers when the telephone would ring and, taking the call, she would turn to us and say, "Well so-and-so can't make it, I gotta go." And she would head off to take the canceled volunteer's place. She also taught me the importance of volunteering. I heard her speak once to her county chapter of The Homemakers as she explained volunteering: "Just think of your churches, after school programs, the fire and police departments, the library and of course the hospital, to name a few - all dependent on volunteers to fully function. Without volunteers they just couldn't do all that they do. And you know what? You can call it volunteering if you like, and that is fine - but I have come to call it 'civilization.’ I used to think the word civilization was found in a big book up on the hill in the college library. But it’s not. Civilization is all of us helping one another by volunteering."
And so folks (a favorite expression of hers) I pay tribute to her as a senior and a volunteer on her 102nd birthday. Now, what are you waiting for, she only resigned at the hospital and as treasurer for 19 years of the Rebekahs when she was 99. So get with it - VOLUNTEER - whether it be at OATS, your church or an organization of your choice. And Happy Belated Valentine's Day!
I speak of her birthday here, first because she is a senior but also because she has been a role model for me and others in my home town. She has been a volunteer ever since I can remember. First with the cub/boy scouts, then the school bands, and every civic function you can think of from the Fire Department to the County Library, always with a fancy cake for the fund raising cakewalks or dinners. Then, with her fledglings gone from the nest, she turned to The Homemakers, her lodges of the Rebekahs and Odd Fellows and, of course, years and years of service to the local hospital.
She taught me not only to volunteer but to be ready to take the place of any one who cancelled at the last minute. I can remember so many suppers when the telephone would ring and, taking the call, she would turn to us and say, "Well so-and-so can't make it, I gotta go." And she would head off to take the canceled volunteer's place. She also taught me the importance of volunteering. I heard her speak once to her county chapter of The Homemakers as she explained volunteering: "Just think of your churches, after school programs, the fire and police departments, the library and of course the hospital, to name a few - all dependent on volunteers to fully function. Without volunteers they just couldn't do all that they do. And you know what? You can call it volunteering if you like, and that is fine - but I have come to call it 'civilization.’ I used to think the word civilization was found in a big book up on the hill in the college library. But it’s not. Civilization is all of us helping one another by volunteering."
And so folks (a favorite expression of hers) I pay tribute to her as a senior and a volunteer on her 102nd birthday. Now, what are you waiting for, she only resigned at the hospital and as treasurer for 19 years of the Rebekahs when she was 99. So get with it - VOLUNTEER - whether it be at OATS, your church or an organization of your choice. And Happy Belated Valentine's Day!