5/8/2022
Happy Mothers’ Day,
Now that my daughter lives in Kansas City, I am trying to be less cynical about “Hallmark Holidays.” My dad was always skeptical about them & insisted we not give him gifts on Father’s Day. In retrospect I find it fascinating that as a staunch capitalist, he would be so critical of consumerism. In case you didn’t know, Hallmark is headquartered in KC & sponsors all kinds of civic activities there.
Please extend my appreciation to Jill for traveling to Ukraine, Romania & Slovakia to visit with Ukrainian moms. I am curious about why the school she visited yesterday is called, “Scoala Gimnaziala Uruguay?” Is there some relationship between Uruguay & Romania that I don’t know about? Please thank Jill for recognizing the important role of teachers. Her statement, “the teachers are the glue that help these kids deal with their trauma and deal with the emotion and help give them a sense of normalcy” will resonate with many educators.
I am so glad that she is meeting with Slovakia President, Zuzana Caputova (ZC). Reading about ZC today was tonic. I found it comforting that somewhere in this world there’s a politician who beat populist opponents by running an inclusive campaign & promising to “to tell the truth, to raise interest without aggressive vocabulary” & noting that “using the emotions of hatred and fear is destructive.” I am heartened to see that an environmentalist who took on big business was able to become President. I hope you will invite her to the WH to shine a light on her accomplishments.
My Friends from Yangon Friends Meeting are concerned about the election in the Philippines tomorrow. We are hoping that Leni Robredo’s door-to-door grassroots campaign will be more effective than BongBong Marcos’ efforts to use “social media to rebrand the family and whitewash history.” In any case, a peaceful, honest election would be most welcome.
Speaking of which, let’s keep praying for democracy to return to Myanmar.
BYBS,
RCA
