Friday, January 30, 2015

Respect, Accept, Celebrate



You'd never catch me doing what my younger brother Jim is enjoying in the video above. Of course, I should not use the term "never" because a lifetime has taught me that a lot of the "never's" along the way have a way of breaking down. 

My youngest brother loves hang gliding.  My two sisters love horses.  My daughter loves traveling. My daughter-in-law thrives on helping and guiding people.   

My son says, "you can never watch enough basketball."  Another brother loves politics and numerous activities associated with his personal military history, while another brother from Montana has spent a good portion of his life standing in a stream with fishing equipment or walking up a mountain slope on the hunt. My husband loves a good hike to a mountain top or a late afternoon fly-fishing adventure. 

In my case, I have finally decided that my most fervent, lifelong passion has been embracing people and learning their stories.  

I truly enjoy photography, gardening, horseback riding and traveling but I've become aware with each new day that from start to finish in my life, it's the people. 

When I was 5, I got in big-time trouble for talking to AND taking a ride home with some perfect strangers.  That was back in 1954 in little ol' sleepy and safe Sandpoint, but the incident still set off some sharp, memorable words from my mother. 

From that time, I didn't take rides from strangers, but when I was a sophomore in high school, and my mother, my two little sisters and I were taking a road trip to Michigan, another situation of "Marianne visiting with some perfect strangers" might have gotten us into the scariest situation we'd ever encountered.

That night someone tried to break into our motel room in remote Northern Michigan. I had just gone into snooze mode when Mother, who was putting on her curlers for the night, heard the fidgeting at the door in the hallway and then saw the light from outside shining in.  

She woke me up.  The fidgeting stopped but not our scared-straight adrenalin.  We grabbed cans of Franco American spaghetti and sat in our beds, armed and ready if whoever was out there tried the door again.

We sat the entire night, shaking and staring and finally took off with the first light of day. Two weeks later, when we came through that town, the same car was parked in the spot next to where we had parked.  The man who owned the car had told me he was just staying the night. 

So, we surmised or, should I say "assumed" he may have been the culprit trying to enter our room. 

Anyway, once again, I learned a hard lesson that being friendly to everyone is not always wise. Still, I've never learned to curb my love for meeting new people. I just try to be more caustious. 

All this talk about what I love and what my family members love fits in with my frequent thoughts over the past months, especially since I started working on our 50th-Year reunion. 

In 50 years, our expected cookie cutter pathways in life have taken a few slight detours. Social situations which we could never imagine back in the 1960s have not only opened our eyes but have changed some of the ways we look at the world and the people on our planet. 

"I would never do that or even have anything to do with that," has lessened considerably in many situations.  We have learned that our black-and-white view, just like that on the television sets we watched, has a few shades of gray and some pretty colorful twists. 

Over the years, I have found myself much more accepting of situations I could hardly have imagined as a youngster, because all the slight detours I've taken have taught me that not everyone walks the same beat nor should they. 

Just like I would never strap on a hang glider and jump off a cliff like my brother loves to do, I respect him so much for following his passion, and I accept the fact that, even though hang gliding is not for me, it certainly is for Jim. 

I love horses but probably not quite as much as my sisters do.  My respect and admiration for their truest and most pure passion is indescribable.  The same is true for all the aforementioned family members. 

Yesterday, a classmate and I visited over the phone, and this general topic arose.  I told her some of the wonderful stories I've learned since contacting long-lost classmates, i.e., the fascinating, unpredictable directions their lives took them.  

This particular classmate and I have led completely different lifestyles and have landed in completely different environments, but we still share commonalities that have provided a wonderful bond of friendship over the past 50 years. 

We talked yesterday about how we've learned of the importance of accepting and respecting everyone for whom they are and how important it is to celebrate ourselves and each other.  We hope to generate that spirit at our reunion in September. 

Our class motto, if I remember correctly, was so profound and maybe even a bit juvenile:  We Were Here!

Well, 50 years later, for those of us still here, that motto is definitely is something for all to celebrate.  As the video above suggests, while we are here, "do what you will while you're able." 

Thanks, Jim, Mike, Kevin, Barbara, Laurie, Willie, Annie, Bill and Janis and countless others. I celebrate you and all the mix of inspiring people who make this world so fascinating. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful words to enjoy over a cup of coffee, or tea...Thank you, my friend. Life is Good! ❤ Puz