ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

Good Morning! I will continue to tell stories from my life experiences, but I don't think I will discuss my academic experiences again. In order to give balance I would like to write about the positive features of my childhood. In the future I don't plan on focusing on autobiographical material; but, I will be intermeshing stories with other thoughts.

As I mentioned, my Mother was the oldest of nine children. She had her first child [my older brother] just 15 months after her Mother [Grandmother] gave birth to her ninth child. I was born 18 months after my brother, so you can see how the families blended together. We lived very close together and spent much time at either of our homes. The last four of my Mother's siblings were more like brothers and sisters. When we spoke of Aunts and Uncles we were usually referring to Great Aunts and Uncles.

We celebrated every birthday and holiday with the extended family. The family did not have to have much of an excuse to get together and celebrate.

Our Grandparent's home was a gathering place and on any given night their would be people visiting. My Mother's siblings gathered friends from around the world. My uncle visited Japan, he brought home Japanese friends; an aunt visited Trinidad and we had folks from Trinidad visiting. And so it went. I had a very rich childhood. The family loved to gather around the piano or the dining room table and sing folk songs. The family members were interested in many subjects; discussions were in depth and lively.

My Father and Mother loved camping and we spent at least a week every Summer on the North Shore of Lake Superior or some other enchanting place.

My Grandparents had cabin on a lake, not far from the city, and we spent much time there; swimming, boating, sailing and fishing.

So, my life was not just my strange academic experience. Like all families, my nuclear and extended family had their share of dysfunction, but in general I was fortunate. Oh, if I wanted to, I could fill pages, of examples, of hair raising dysfunction. Perhaps, that is true of many families.

I have been trying not to focus on the craziness of the world. I feel that if we are going to bring a change to the madness we need to focus on the love we see. What we focus on will be nurtured. What we focus on will grow. We need to look straight ahead and ignore the chaos around us. I don't mean ignore the people. We need to help where we can. The world's institutions are crumbling as expected, but it is in no way a bad thing. It won't be as bad as some people predict.

Is it time for people to come together and form sustaining communities? I think so. We need to raise our own food locally. We need to bring back cottage industry. Can you imagine a community having its own shoemakers, tailors, seamstresses, potters, leather workers, etc.? Why not? Some of our institutions need complete change; medicine, agriculture and education are examples. We need healing/learning centers to aid the transition.

We will be discussing this in coming weeks.

Have a great holiday weekend.

Love and Peace, Gregg