Giving Thanks and Taking Action

Welcome! I am excited to reactivate this blog which I started in a celebratory mood after Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined the U.S. Supreme Court. In those days, many were filled with hope and members of the Latinx community, including me, were bursting with pride. Things changed on November 8, 2016.

Much of the language and events in the lead-up to election night 2016 gave cause for concern among people of conscience and good will of all political persuasions. On Thanksgiving 2016 people of conscience and good have cause for alarm.

I follow current events very closely. The hand-wringing and the commentary by Monday-morning-quarterbacks about what and who (in their opinion) brought about the outcome of November 8, 2016 has become tiresome. It's time to focus on the here and now and on the future without losing sight of the past. This is a time for people of conscience and good will to be vigilant, to position themselves to speak truth to power, and to speak and stand up for what is true and good and ethical. There's much to be more to be said about all of this but today I reactivate this blog by sharing an experience from four years ago that touched and moved me.

"Dear Friends,
As I rode the bus home from work last night, a woman sat next to me and asked whether I could lend her some coins to complete her bus fare. I was able to relate to her plight, because I have had the same thing happen to me. I gave her the change in my pocket and another passenger also chipped in. She thanked us profusely, and expressed embarrassment at finding herself in need of help. She explained that she had worked all day at a cleaning job. She was grateful to have had work, but embarrassed that her brown hands were grey from the Ajax she had used to do her work. I told her that hers were the hands of a hard working person and that there was no shame in that. I asked whether her hands ever became dry and whether the skin cracked from the dryness, as mine do. We talked about hand lotions and moisturizers. She showed me a paper on which a woman, whose soft hands she had admired, had written Lubriderm and Cocoa Butter. She was planning to try them on her rough, work-worn hands. When I arrived at my stop we wished each other well, and exchanged Thanksgiving greetings. She expressed gratitude for the blessings in her life, including the cleaning job she'd had that day, and for the kindness of strangers. It was my good fortune to have been one of those strangers. The ride home was a holiday gift from "the universe" to me. :) I wish you and your loved ones a special Thanksgiving holiday, with emphasis on the "giving" part. xoxox"

Here's hoping that you had the kind of Giving Thanks Day that you hoped you would have! My day was filled with friends, family and colleagues with all their wonderful diversity, intelligence, kindness and generosity. My daughter Marisol and her dear friend George and I spent the entire day together. Brunch at the home of my colleague Mitch, lunch with my 92 year old mom, Julia, and dinner with our friends and extended family at the home of the Salazar family were all filled with joy and an abundance of delights.

Stay tuned for more on this blog.