[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] reminder: celebration of Grandpa Sunday 2-4PM (plus my letter to him)

[Marti Wilkinson]

I may not be able to make it....I've been sick and the side effects from the
antibiotics have left me feeling goofy. I would like to take the opportunity
to give everyone who is paying respects to Grandpa my regards. I didn't get
a chance to really get to know him, but did see his dedication and spirit of
activism.

Peace, Marti

On Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 11:59 PM, Randall Cotton <recotton at earthlink.net>
wrote:

> Just a quick reminder and an additional request for help for this Sunday's
> remembrance and celebration of Grandpa Wahlfeldt.
>
> It's at the IMC (202 S. Broadway, Urbana) from 2-4PM and we still need
> help from volunteers with:
>
> 1. Snacks (munchies like chips, cheese, crackers, fruit,
>    veggies and desserts)
> 2. Drinks (like coffee, lemonade, iced tea, punch).
> 3. Help with setup one full hour before (starting 1PM)
> 4. Help with teardown a half hour after (until 4:30PM)
>
> We've had some folks come forward as volunteers, but we really do need
> more (especially in the snacks and drinks departments). Please drop me a
> line with what you'd like to offer.
>
> And remember:
>
> There will be a ceremony to permanently dedicate the downstairs
> meeting room in his name as "The Grandpa Wahlfeldt Family Room". There
> will be a display case permanently mounted in Bob's new room with items
> and photos from his life.
>
> We are also putting out a call for folks to contribute photos, articles,
> mementos and memorabilia of Grandpa that they would like to have on
> display in his new room. A group of us are committed to installing
> whatever is necessary in terms of display cases to make this happen.
>
> And in particular, if you want to write a letter to or about Grandpa to
> show what he meant to you, we'll make sure it gets securely displayed in
> Bob's new room.
>
> I've written this letter to Grandpa for the display case and I really
> encourage those of you who knew him to do something like this to help
> people understand why he was so special:
>
> *********
>
> Dear Grandpa,
>
>
>
> I'm writing this letter to you, though you've left us earlier this year,
> to try to help show people how special you were. I've found in my life
> that I've met virtually no one that I looked up to as a complete role
> model, especially in recent years after becoming an activist. But even
> though I only met you five years ago and I only got to know you very
> gradually, you wound up becoming someone I admire very deeply and someone
> I aspire to emulate - indeed, a role model. And though I actually strive
> to follow your example in many respects, I often wonder whether I could
> ever match that example - whether it's even possible for me no matter how
> hard I try (though I still will try).
>
>
>
> I've never met (and I doubt I will ever meet) someone who has so
> completely overcome the human self-centered tendency we are all born with
> and utterly replaced it with a pure passion for the common good of all. I
> aspire to this, but I have work to do if I'm going to match you.
>
>
>
> I've never met anyone who, being so free of self-centered concerns, was
> able to see so deeply into the experience of others, even those who are
> very, very different from you with radically different life experiences
> than you, empathizing so profoundly with them that I could only describe
> it as seeing into their souls. I have tried, I think with some success, at
> empathizing with others in this way, but again, I have a long, long way to
> go to match you.
>
>
>
> And I've also never met anyone who had such a steady love and giving
> spirit for all individuals, not only for personal friends and
> acquaintances, not only for the oppressed and downtrodden, not only for
> total strangers, but even for what one might call "the enemy". Love for
> one's enemy. Though you may vehemently disagree with your enemy, I could
> see you still respected them as an individual, could empathize with them,
> and even love them. I've tried to grow into this and I'm getting better,
> but I still look to you as an ideal I've yet to reach.
>
>
>
> I wish I had gotten to know you sooner. I admit to being jealous of others
> who knew you so much longer than I did. Though I really only began to
> understand and appreciate you in recent years, I will still always miss
> you.
>
>
>
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