There were things to be thankful for in 2017
I wanted to write one of those “things I was grateful for in 2017” columns as we usher the old year out, and I really couldn’t think of much to be grateful for in this first year of the reign of President Donald Trump.
But then the fire happened in the Hilltop Condominium here in my little town of Brookhaven.
The fire was horrible, but not a tragedy because although about 100 people lost all their worldly goods, no one lost his or her life. That is something to be profoundly thankful for.
And, boy, is there a bigger, better thing to be grateful for than the bravery and dedication of our volunteer firefighters who worked all night in the freezing cold to save lives and property, for nothing more than the gratitude of their neighbors?
I had a fire in my house in Swarthmore in 1987 and volunteer firefighters saved it. I always support the volunteer fire department and I hope you remembered to do that too this year. If not, write a check, right now.
I’m grateful to the first responders all around the nation, those who have been battling the horrific forest fires in California for weeks of 24-hour days, those who rescued people and pets and livestock in the three hurricanes last summer.
I’m thankful for those electric company workers sent from all over the nation who worked day and night to reconnect the power in those stricken regions.
And I’m thankful for every volunteer who went out there with a boat to save neighbors and strangers alike and those who helped people tear out their waterlogged, moldy furniture, carpets and walls. Some of those rescuers and helpers were undocumented immigrants and some were Muslims. It’s something to think about.
I’m grateful for my community of Brookhaven. We have a well-thought-out disaster plan that was instantly put into play Tuesday night even as neighbors poured in to the community center with pillows, blankets, food, warm clothing. Money, clothing and toiletry items are still being collected at the Hilltop Clubhouse, 5200 Hilltop Drive, if you want to help.
This is Community with a capital C.
I’m grateful to the Amish and Mennonites who live their secluded, plain lives generation after generation tending those beautifully manicured farms out in Lancaster County, producing fruits, vegetables and meat for our tables. I don’t think they ever get any appreciation.
Speaking of farms, I’m grateful to the guy who sent a gift-wrapped box full of horse manure to the ritzy Bel-Air home of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin labeled “from the American people” after the tax cut was passed and was signed into law by our billionaire-in-chief.
Come on, you’ve got to laugh. Where would we be if we didn’t have the freedom to ridicule our plutocrats, Russia?
I’m grateful for all the women who spoke out against sexual predators and all the men who acknowledged their crass behavior this year.
I’m skeptical this will lead to real change, but it has led to a pretty lively, long overdue public debate and probably some intense conversations between parents and their daughters and sons and between employers and employees all over the country. All to the good.
I’m grateful for good friends and family and sad for the ones we’ve lost in 2017.
I lost the larger than life, always funny Carol McSherry of Edgmont and the toughas-nails but ridiculously generous Pat Read of Cranbury, N.J. Love you gals and miss you terribly.
I’m glad my list is short this year. I’m sure you too have lists of people you will be saying one last goodbye too as the old year turns into the new.
I’m grateful that President Trump has spent a full third of the year on the golf course because how much more destructive would he have been if he had really spent all his time working, like he claims to do?
I’m also grateful that he can never keep his mouth shut or his thumbs still because we’d rather know the random thoughts falling out of his head than his just quietly messing with us and launching World War III.
I’m grateful to our magnificent independent federal courts that are standing firm between us and tyranny. Congratulations and good luck to Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Chad Kenney for his nomination to the federal bench, where hopefully he will carry on that vital work.
I’m thankful case to
for the court
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may go down as one of the funniest oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court ever.
The verbal sparring was priceless between Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (the Notorious RBG) and the lawyers for the bakery over whether the owner has a constitutional right not to be compelled to provide “speech” – his “artistic expression” – by making a wedding cake for a gay couple.
No decision yet but this is the court that decreed that money is speech, so it shouldn’t be much of a stretch to decide that icing is, too.
I’m very grateful to Gov. Tom Wolf for vetoing the 20week abortion ban, just as the Republican-controlled state Legislature knew he would when it voted for it.
Now the members can go home and tell their more rabid religious right constituents “we tried, give us campaign contributions,” while the rest of us can breathe easier knowing that our constitutional right to abortion remains the same for now (and give Tom Wolf campaign contributions).
I’m grateful for all the new construction and commerce I see all over the area – Newtown Square, Granite Run, Brookhaven, Ridley – that translates into thousands of new jobs and new places to eat and shop and get medical care in our communities.
Maybe I can get in the door of the new Cracker Barrel restaurant on Stewart Avenue in Ridley sometime in 2018.