LITTLE THINGS MAKE A DIFFERENCE


I suppose I could brag about my daughter Marcy’s many professional and personal accomplishments, but that would be too easy.  Besides, in the end, does it really matter?  She’ll be retired one day, and her professional life will be a distant memory.  Her children will grow up, have their own lives, and hopefully share her values.  Of course, that in itself is a lasting legacy.

What matters is who she is and how she makes a difference in people’s lives.  She quietly goes about her sometimes chaotic life without selfies or posts that disguise bragging on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, unlike her mother, who feels compelled to sing Marcy's praises. 

When Marcy was a child, we spent most Thanksgiving mornings distributing Meals on Wheels in Dallas.  We frequently took food to people living under the bridges near downtown. It was important that she was exposed to lives vastly different from her privileged life.  One never knows if the lessons children learn carry through to adulthood, but in Marcy’s case, they have.

Marcy has always supported causes about which she felt strongly, but what really showed me that she was ready and willing to step up was in April 2018, when the Trump administration thought that separating children from their parents at the border would serve as a deterrent to families fleeing horrific circumstances in their countries.  When Marcy learned children were being separated, placed in cages, and turned over to Children Protective Services in Texas, she contacted them and offered to foster two children.  For whatever reason, her request was denied.  Over 2800 children were forcibly taken from their parents from April through July 2018, and many have still not been reunited five years later due to shoddy or non-existent record keeping.

In December 2022, Marcy heard that the Austin Animal Shelter was full of cats.  Her daughter Gigi had always wanted a cat, but managing two children, a busy career, a dog, and a house can be overwhelming.  Regardless, the family went to the Austin shelter two days before Christmas and came home with a precious kitty named Cupcake, thus probably saving his life.

Recently, a mother posted on the Nextdoor app that her son would soon be attending the same grade at the elementary school as my grandson.  Even though the family lived in the area, her son has been attending Montessori school. He had no friends who attended public school.  The mother wanted him to find new friends before school started.  Marcy dislikes Nextdoor because she believes it’s a format for a lot of complaining, and she might be right, but her mother still finds it entertaining.  So, when I read about this woman trying to find a friend for her young son, I told Marcy, and she immediately contacted her to arrange a playdate.

Sometimes, the little things give us a glimpse into someone's character. Needless to say, Marcy makes her mother proud.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DR MCELROY AND TEXAS A&M

Image
  I’ve lived my life with integrity, compassion, and honesty.  I don’t back down from a controversial subject and will always speak out against injustice and prejudice.  I received many benefits from being White, although I was still short-shafted regarding equal pay as a woman.   Case in point: I was replaced by two men when I retired from overseeing a 36-bed rehabilitation hospital and 6 outpatient clinics serving children through adults. The man who replaced me had great difficulty managing the inpatient rehabilitation services. Hence, the Healthcare System overseeing the services promoted a male physical therapist to manage the outpatient facilities.  Each of the men was paid more than I.  It’s probably not a stretch to guess that had I been a person of color with the same credentials, I would not have been hired, and doubly so if I had been a woman of color with the same credentials.   A tenured UT journalism professor was recently recruited to Texas A&M to kick-start their jo
Read more

MY LIFE WITH TERI FLANAGAN

Image
  (Teri authored a story about me entitled "My Life with Dana Rushing" in the local newspaper after I moved from Horseshoe Bay to Austin. It was a total surprise and touched me beyond words. She is now in hospice at a facility in Marble Falls. Teri's husband has given me permission to publish this story. It will be in The Beacon this week.) I’m incredibly fortunate to have a friend I could call to assist me with the various projects I began or coordinated while living in Horseshoe Bay for five years. Other friends also answered my call to action, but Teri was always the first one I contacted because I was confident she would agree to help. Teri once said when she saw my name on her caller ID, she knew I wasn’t calling to chat and that she was being recruited for another project. Still, Teri answered my call. Teri is a talented artist and an avid reader. Her beautiful painting of a colorful donkey hangs in my home. A burnt orange wooden walking stick David made helps k
Read more

ROSA PARKS AND THE DREAM

Image
I dreamed of Rosa Parks last night.  She was sitting in a seat in the middle of a bus with Black men sitting on both sides of her.  I figured they were bodyguards and had joined her after news got out that this 'uppity Black woman' had dared to take her place amongst the Whites. The days of sitting in the back of the bus were over for her.  She worked long, hard days at low wages for a white family and had to take a bus every...damn...day.  Her great-grandparents had been slaves.  Enough was enough.   She felt she earned something more than a seat at the back of the bus.   She didn't know that this small act would set up a firestorm of millions of people being emboldened by her.  More and more people began speaking out, demonstrating, and even rioting to bring civil rights to the forefront.  The battle continued until, at last, civil rights passed.  Racism became somewhat more subtle over 50 years. But the Rosa Parks I saw in my dreams is still in that seat.
Read more