Giftorian report for the class of '62:
The Gifts We Have Given
These are the gifts we have given.
We healed bodies and minds.
We helped children to speak, hear, read, and make their way in the world.
We gave opportunity to the blind, the disabled and the impaired.
We helped others break the bonds of addiction.
We fed the hungry and housed the poor and elderly.
We passed on the learning and lessons of the past so children could have a better future.
We savid the lives of our neighbors and strangers in distant lands
These are the gifts we have given.
We made art and music and told stories.
We mentored young writers.
We preserved the prairee in image and reality.
We explored the heavens and advanced the frontiers of space.
We increased our understanding of the past and revealed mysteries of ancient civilizations.
We brought a love of science and the natural world to children of the inner city.
These are gifts we have given.
We served our contry in war and peace.
We worked to give everyone affordable and efficient healthcare.
We saved our national parks and created new ones.
We provided basic health are for workers who pick the food we eat.
We ensured safe and humane working conditions for the workers who make the clothes we wear.
We made government more accountable and efficient.
We helped government and non-profit organizations raise the resources to serve the common good.
We devoted our careers to public service.
These are gifts we have given.
We gave out time to help others at no financial reward to ourselves.
We helped young entrepreneurs bring their visions into reality.
We protected the vulnerable of all ages.
We spoke for our fellow creatures that could not speak for themselves.
We received the gift of faith and gave it to others in return.
We served and strengthened our communities of faith.
We helped others earn money, save money and see that there were more important things in life than money.
These are the things we have given.
We brought solace and comfort to our elderly and ill parents.
We gave the gift of love to our children and grandchildren.
We kept our friends through a half-century.
These are the things we have given.
Submitted with respect and admiration
Jeff Hantover, Class Giftorian
September 25, 2012
2022
Sweet Memory
"But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs." George Eliot, Middlemarch
Who at 18 thought of death
who at 18 didn't think sixty was ancient and 78 prehistoric.
who at 18 knew how large the world was
how many roads led to happiness.
For some it was distant cities
For others the most fertile ground lay beneath their feet.
Few get glowing obits in their local newspapers
most remembered simply by family, friends,
those they loved
whose lives they enriched.
Unhistoric acts like pebbles
rippling into sweet memory.
Kansas City Dreaming
(one-sentence poem)
Heaven is an infinite barbecue joint
where the short ends never run out
and burnt ends glisten
amidt the sweet brown beans.