More Gifts

In keeping with the spirit of giving, I am posting again on the best gifts that I ever received. As I consider these gifts, I realize that none of them were actual concrete things, they were gifts that come from within and they touched my soul.

I grew up in a very conservative family. My father was a staunch Republican. While my parents were loving and taught me many things, some of the greatest lessons I learned were from my aunt. She was much more liberal than my parents, she was very socially aware, she was an activist and she was a teacher. While I was growing up, I spent many weekends at my aunt’s house, she was very attentive to me. Even when I was a child, she treated me with respect and she spoke to me on an adult level. She took me to museums and plays and the symphony. She was never disrespectful or critical of my parents, but she made sure that I received a balanced view of the world.

She taught me to read and to count, later she taught me to multiply and divide, she made me aware of history (not from history books, but the other side of the story). She taught me to cook and to grow vegetables and to be frugal. She taught me to value education, to love learning for the sake of learning. She taught me social awareness. From her I learned of Cesar Chavez and I knew why she boycotted grapes. I knew of Ralph Nader and his crusade for public safety, human rights, and the environment. I knew that Helen Keller was not only a disabled woman, but a socialist and a crusader. My aunt taught me service and charity, together we packed boxes for American soldiers in Viet Nam, but at the same time I knew of the plight of the Viet Namese and the Cambodian boat people. She taught me to reuse and recycle, before it was popular. She taught and tutored me along side of underprivileged, inner city children whose skin was a different color than mine. She taught me to darn socks and patch clothes, because to throw them away was wasteful. At Christmas we collected toys and clothes for the poor.

As a child, I did not always appreciate her lessons, but as an adult I have embraced her views and beliefs. I will never have an opportunity to tell her how great of an influence she has had on my life, but the lessons she taught me were some of my greatest gifts.

“Every extension of knowledge arises from making the conscious the unconscious.”
~ Friedrich Neitzsche