Who We Are

Dear Maria,

Good news this morning—not to oversell, hahaha!—but cool enough to read a bit out back on the patio and then mow the lawn, and then even get in another round of reading. I know it hints of the school calendar cranking back up for so many of our friends and family, but a welcome relief just the same.

A passage in a book now under my nose a couple of times a day made me think of something you once said to me, that how you wanted to be the best mother, the best daughter, the best sister, the best friend, the best wife you could be.

How elegantly put. I find myself trying to think that way, too, being a good man, a good friend, a good brother, a good son—no longer a good teacher, hahahaha!!!

What struck me was how you did not think to go right to being the best in terms of a political party, or of a cause, or a movement, or an agenda. Just the human stuff—the eye to eye, talk to talk, touch to touch stuff of daily living. The good stuff, I would say.

No big insight how much other stuff—could I stop using that word?—trompers those relationships. I reckon our connections to those closest to us generate enough issues all ready. But, you made me think—reminded me—about the heart of the matter, about how two or three or four people matter in a way that is most important. To love one another.

I was sitting on one of the smaller patio chairs which other than making me look like an over-sized kid in a small desk made me rethink using the word garden. At eye level, it appears more a, uh, mass planting. Had only Candide said, “We must tend our mass planting.”

Oh, the book is Brian McLaren’s Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?—a gift from a very thoughtful young friend. In several meanings of the word.

Hope this quick note finds you well, as always. srk