Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. … Thank you all!
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I have had a relatively easy life. Early on … very early on … Uncle Peggy provided me plenty of work & later he started me toward a sustainable livelihood in ecology. Daddy gave me some discipline & my siblings were supportive, but certainly not overly supportive. And I was fortunate to live in what was a relatively wonderful little diverse community of Devine in my formative years.* … Then I met beautiful Betsy at Quihi & we had some good kids and grandkids.
But, I think, far above & beyond it all, I was incredibly lucky to have St. Louise Katherine Kneuper Martin as a Mom.
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I thank Linda & Tim & Mari Aguilar–& my wife Betsy, and many others, for all you have done for Mom in recent days, months, & years.
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I wish to end my words with some little, but significant, bits which regretfully we, & particularly including me, may never learn. I impart the following to some extent because Texas State Senator & family friend Walter Richter** taught me that we all should be, & actually are—though perhaps not good ones—politicians, teachers, & preachers. (And, yes, I am appropriating in some of what I am going to say, including Pope Francis’ wonderful messages.)
One of my colleagues once said, “How could you as white boy from rural, agricultural south Texas & from two land grant colleges, especially A&M, have such a socio-ecological justice ethos, or try to?” (This colleague is black, born in colonized Belgian Congo.) … My answer to Roger Biduaka would be the conservationist learning from government programs by my Dad after World War II & his imparting that to me. It was seeing the very obvious wrongs in “Divine” Devine while growing up. And Pope John XXIII & Vatican II … & the pacifist movements of the 60’s & 70’s. … BUT MOSTLY IT WAS MOM ST. LOUISE.
I am sad today because of Mom’s death. But for the most part I am very, very sad in my reflections that what folk might say in this moment in praise of Mom & all the accolades they may give her, and the statements that some may make about hoping that we all live Mom’s legacy and effect good change through good trouble … will soon be “water under the bridge.” Similar to promises by some teachers, preachers, and politicians in moments after our frequent mass shootings in this miserable country, living the legacy of Mom St. Louise Kneuper Martin ain’t gonna happen for many folk or in any significant sense. (The last four years have underlined these strong feelings in me.)
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Nevertheless, I’m not giving up on what Mom and Dad did try to teach me about ecological justice, but especially what they taught, largely through example, about social justice.
Dad did help to teach me with little comments over the years to know that Wars, arms, armaments, & preemptive & retaliatory strikes beget War. War is the most unjust thing we do, socially & ecologically.
Mom, St. Louise taught me that with wisdom, patience, perseverance, humility & COMMUNICATION … AND COMMUNICATION!)
AND COMPASSION & FORGIVENESS … AND FORGIVENESS!! …
with Love …, PEACE CAN BE ACHIEVED
—CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED–W/OUT WAR.
Please try to leave here today in peace with humanity
(the undocumented (the i-word is not appropriate), the imprisoned–for whatever reason they are incarcerated including by ICE, the poor–for whatever reason they are poor, the powerless & disenfranchised, those with whom you are uncomfortable no matter their religion, ethnicity, sexual identity or persuasion, skin pigmentation (n-, s-, g-words are generally not appropriate), culture (the j-word is oftentimes inappropriate), traditions, country of origin (w- or p-words may not be appropriate), socio-political/economic “caste”, etc. … or how they dress or decorate their corpus, …) …
leave here in humility & peace, go in peace alongside Mom St. Louise Katherine Kneuper Martin.
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*In my presentation (& afterwards) at Mom’s visitation services on Friday, April 9th, I did attempt to appropriately recognize some of the wonderful Moms I was fortunate to know and learn from in my years in the Devine, Texas area in addition to Mom St. Louise, … like Mrs. Josephine Fortran Bain, Mrs. Helen Loraine Wilkinson, Mrs. Doris Wallace Garrett, Mrs. Mildred Belew, Mrs. Marie Keilman, Mrs. Libby Jasik, and Tony Cruz (who mothered us as members of his farmworker crews), and others.
**Walter helped me purchase full page ads in several rural south Texas newspapers in support of Walter Mondale against Ronald Reagan when the newspapers wouldn’t publish my regular column, “Speaking Freely About Agriculture,” to that effect, i.e., the ads we purchased were my column written for that week.
pbm 4/9/21
( 7 S’s / VV->^^ )
