Carter will be remembered that he waged peace not war. And that he added solar panels to the White House and wore a sweater if the building was too cool
People gathered. Presidents sat and listened to the chorus of praise of the one who had passed at age 100. Never had he fit into their “club” but instead embraced the people of the world and was endeared by them. His efforts eradicated a parasitic disease in Africa that had caused suffering through millennia. That tiny organism has been eliminated and will harm no others. What other person on the surface of the world has achieved the end of such suffering? This man who came from nowhere changed them and us, or some of us.
Carter was sworn in as president the year I started working in the Miami Public Schools, our careers and lives set on different tracks of service. His expanded and became emblematic of what a lifetime of service can be with peace on earth as a standard. My life as an Indian Counselor was fulfilling followed by years as you might describe as an environmental activist with a more local focus.
The former president volunteered with Habitat for Humanity with his wife, actually building homes for the needy. Saving my wages from my counseling job, I, too was able to pick up a hammer when my dad and I built the home where I still live. I serve on the Northeast Oklahoma Community Action board and our organization has built many homes for the needy in the counties we serve. We, too, understand the value of having a place you can call home.
President Carter’s efforts for Human rights and voting rights were acclaimed, but the year our Cherokee Nation Election Commission invited The Carter Center to observe a contentious election they became part of our tribal history. The Center found that the election was run professionally and fairly and that report helped in rebuilding the confidence of Cherokee citizens in our election processes.
I had ordered two of his many self-authored books, and they arrived just at the hour of his service. But it was only later in the evening, when the day’s efforts were put aside, that I picked up the smaller of the volumes, it entitled: The Virtues of Aging. Well, I thought, of course, a person who lives to be 100 would take some time to reflect about the virtues that aging had brought to light for him.
It being late, I flit through the pages and as it had gotten later than I had noticed, chose only to give back to you the quote he left us on the last page: “You are old when your regrets take the place of your dreams.” Well said, Mr. President.
And with that I took myself to find nightly dreams, as my day dreams have you all in them. I dream for you to have clean water, water to enjoy, not to be threatened by floods, and water to wade in, our dear river and the mighty little creek that wanders through our communities. I wish you in these day dreams of mine, to become empowered to speak up for clean air when you spend your precious time on earth in your backyards, or when you enter and enjoy the comforts of your home to have clean air blowing through your floor ducts, free from the mine waste that is set beneath many neighborhood homes here. I dream also of the power you will have when together you stand in the streets with the drones flying over witness your telling GRDA that you will not stand for another flood of theirs.
I have no regrets as yet about growing older because like you, I am still dreaming.
Respectfully Submitted ~ Rebecca Jim
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