Thanksgiving where people stay put while the art of Norman Rockwell travels

November 26, 2024 whoopsiepiggleLeave a comment

On July 7, 2007, the expanded and renovated Akron Art Museum reopened with a retrospective exhibit of American painter Norman Rockwell. In my 1970s childhood, Rockwell’s endearing, if not sentimental, covers from the Saturday Evening Post — 322 painted over 47 years — were ubiquitously reproduced.

Yet Rockwell did not shy away from political subjects, including 1943’s Four Freedoms covers (freedom of speech and of worship, from want and from fear), 1961’s “Golden Rule” (a version of which Nancy Reagan gifted the United Nations in 1985) and 1964’s iconic “The Problem We Live With” in which 6-year-old Ruby Bridges walks to school escorted by four U.S. marshals. Bridges was the first Black child to attend a formerly all-white public elementary school in New Orleans. Though not shown, Rockwell makes clear that the crowd Bridges walked past was viciously hostile.

My first three sons, then ages 13, 10 and 7, enjoyed the exhibit, but it most impressed my second son, Hugo. The following spring, when Miller South students were to dress as their favorite artist, Hugo wore a chambray shirt, khaki pants, horn rimmed glasses and held a tobacco pipe in his mouth — just as Rockwell does in a self-portrait. Ten years later, when Hugo worked at Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home in Lenox, Massachusetts, he toured Rockwell’s nearby home and museum.

Over the years, I’ve purchased Rockwell collectibles at thrift stores and estate sales for Hugo. The most treasured is a museum-quality book with glossy color reprints, several lightly attached to pages so they can be removed and framed. Last month at the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop in Wallhaven, I found six porcelain replicas of various Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers. All were 50% off their already reasonable prices.

But did my nearly 28-year-old, recently married son really want half a dozen figurines? I called to check.

“Oh, it’s impossible to go overboard on Rockwell, Mama. Claudia and I were just joking that we might need to buy a display cabinet for my collection.”

After we hung up, I also found several mugs emblazoned with Rockwell images. I bought them all.

Holly Christensen found these Norman Rockwell collectibles for her son Hugo's birthday at the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop in Akron's Wallhaven neighborhood. — Hugo’s birthday bounty. Three of the figurines included miniature copies of the original Saturday Evening Post cover they replicate.

For many years, my family made the long drive to northern Michigan for Thanksgiving. My stepmom’s next door neighbor, who spent Thanksgivings in Ohio, would let us stay at her house. My stepmom and I used both kitchens to cook up enough dishes to cover a large table while my boys helped their grandpa, the city sexton, tidy the cemetery before he furloughed during winter’s coldest months.

After my first two sons went away to college, we managed complicated logistics to continue spending Thanksgiving together in Michigan, which we all treasured. And then, like many families, we did not gather in 2020 because of COVID. The next summer, my stepmom and the neighbor got into a (stupendously silly) dispute and we lost our place to stay.

Everyone came to Akron in 2022, but last year, Hugo, whose birthday was on Thanksgiving, had to work that weekend. From Akron and D.C., we made our way to Madison, Wisconsin. where Hugo and his wife live. Hugo again must work this year but rather than travel, we’ve decided to stay in our respective cities. There are those who persist, sometimes at great lengths, in carrying on traditions long after they are enjoyable. Forced annoyance, if not misery, makes no sense. It can also preclude the joy found in fresh experiences.

Once the decision was made, I felt a sense of relief. No long drive after days of packing food, gifts (might as well swap Christmas presents when together) and all that is needed for several humans and dogs. And with just my two youngest children with me, to heck with the traditional (labor intensive) dinner portrayed in Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want.”

The dad of my littles (now 14 and 12) had no plans, so I invited him to join us. Together we will make pork shoulder roast with peach and whole grain mustard gravy, mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts, coleslaw and my butternut squash pies, which for more than a quarter century Hugo has considered his birthday “cakes.”

Alas, Hugo won’t be here for his pies this Thanksgiving and I had to spend a small fortune to ship his birthday bounty of fragile figurines to Madison. But I am comforted by two thoughts. First, someone’s Rockwell collection, probably donated by their children, happily made its way to a new collector. Secondly, I will make my pies again in mid-December when Hugo flies to Akron to spend a long weekend with me.

All will be well, and all will be well and all manner of things will be well. Blessings on your Thanksgiving.

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In these overwhelming times, remember abundant goodness also exists

November 16, 2024 whoopsiepiggle2 Comments

I worked in Youngstown when I pregnant with my fourth son and, as with all my pregnancies, I was chronically exhausted. On the long drive to and from work, friends would take turns talking with me on the phone to make sure I stayed awake. These were small, but incredibly helpful, acts of kindness.

Lately I have felt as exhausted as I did when pregnant, which at 58 is no longer a consideration. I have also struggled to eat. The only other time I’ve lost weight this easily was during my divorce (something so common, it’s referred to in medical literature as the “divorce diet”).

The night before Election Day, I felt weary enough to go to bed at 6 p.m., but that meant I’d awaken at midnight with a mind of worry. I decided instead to look for something light and fun to stream on TV. Sitting on my couch searching for something to watch, I realized that after weeks of doing what I could to help my candidate, all that was left was to wait and see who wins. And that’s when I began to cry. My fatigue and loss of appetite I realized were due to the stress of the campaign season.

For the past several months, I’ve intentionally limited my consumption of articles on the election and how each candidate would impact everything from immigration to the economy, education to health care, foreign policy to national security. But like a bit of diced potato floating in an autumn stew, it has been impossible to avoid absorbing an excess of election news.

Heightened times feel unique, but they are not. Every generation has faced the likes of natural disasters, wars, dire economies and more. The only thing somewhat new on the global plate of worries is the warming of the planet, which is changing the climate and causing extreme weather events that, in turn, increase the number of refugees fleeing their home countries. But as for intense political polarization in America, it was similar in the 1960s, with violence and upheaval even more prevalent then.

And this is not the first time in American history citizens have believed their political opponents endangered American democracy. In July 1861, President Lincoln said: “Our popular government has often been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have already settled – the successful establishing and the successful administering of it. One still remains – its successful maintenance against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it.”

Yes, there was a civil war, but ultimately it did not destroy our democracy.

Caring about something beyond yourself is a good thing. And in overwhelming times like ours it is important to see the abundant goodness that also exists. Yes, work on large issues, for many hands do make a cumulative difference. But little kindnesses, like my friends talking with me when I was pregnant and fatigued, can also have great impact not just on the recipient, but the giver as well.

Share a meal with friends or conversations with strangers in public spaces such as the grocery store. For even greater positive impact, volunteer for something that is meaningful to you, be it people or animals in need or helping with the condition of a park or neighborhood.

I am a Democrat. Most of my extended family members are Republicans and I of course love them. When we talk with one another, they are not “other people” whom I disparage because we don’t always agree. Yes, the GOP has changed dramatically in the past decade and it will continue to do so, as will the Democratic Party. But most Republicans voters I know generally want the same things I do — safe communities, good jobs and schools, affordable housing, food and durable goods. Which policies can accomplish these goals is where we often, but not always, disagree, and where civil discourse should be encouraged.

On Election Day I felt calmer. It was a gloriously beautiful day in Akron and I spent hours clearing leaves from my yards. In the weeks ahead, I will remind myself to stay present in the moment and not to borrow trouble from tomorrow. And should troubles arise, as troubles always do, I will do what I can to resolve them and remember that this, too, is a transient moment in history.

This column was first published in the Akron Beacon Journal on Sunday, November 10, 2024.

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Knocking on likely voters’ doors is a rite of passage for my teenagers

November 8, 2024 whoopsiepiggleLeave a comment

The 2024 presidential election marks a rite of passage for my fourth child: knocking on doors to get out the vote, or GOTV. It’s not the first time he’s witnessed the importance I place on active citizenship — I often take my children with me when I vote, have them help me with leaflet drops and I’ve housed out-of-state election volunteers.

But during the last presidential election before my sons can vote, I take them with me to meet voters at their homes. We start off together and then, once they feel comfortable enough, I send my teenager on his own with half of the list of voters.

Yes, they are nervous when they get started. But people are overwhelmingly civil, if not outright friendly, and my sons quickly become as giddy as I do, checking to see if registered Democrats have already voted and, if not, making sure they have what they need, such as candidate and issue lists, and answering any questions they may have.

There are other ways to volunteer during elections, including nonpartisan jobs at polling locations. However, the bulk of volunteer work is done at the party level. Many people choose phone banking, which like many phone jobs post-COVID can now be done from a volunteer’s home.

But I prefer walking in the brisk autumn air and meeting Akron voters in person. Every time I walk in a neighborhood I normally drive past, I am impressed by the care people take of their homes. Flower and vegetable gardens, some only a few feet long, are now in their dwindling season and yet the fondness with which they were tended for several months is evident.

Prior to the voter registration deadline, GOTV efforts focus on registering voters. After the registration deadline has passed, volunteers visit registered voters of their party. In my decades of volunteering with the Democrats, I have gone out both before and after the registration deadline and have never had an unpleasant interaction. I enlist my children, however, once the registration deadline has passed and our list is of registered Democrats only. (Though there are no guarantees — I’ve met Republicans who switched their party affiliation in order to vote in the Democratic primary and then forgot to re-register with the Republicans afterwards.)

In 2012, President Obama and Sen. Sherrod Brown were up for reelection. Because Akron Public Schools are closed on Election Day, my son Hugo, who was three weeks shy of 16, was home. Our field captain gave us a paper list of Democratic voters near Hoban High School. My 10-week-old daughter, Lyra, was with us, bundled up and strapped onto my chest in an Ergo baby carrier. It was a sunny but very cold day and more than a few women ordered me to get into their warm homes “with that sweet baby.”

^{MiniVAN app helps volunteers canvassing neighborhoods}

This year my youngest son, Leif, is three months shy of 15. On a recent Saturday we canvassed the streets behind the now-closed Walgreens on Copley Road. Things have changed since the 2020 election. Voter lists are on an app called MiniVAN, which automatically uploads information as volunteers take it down. It also identifies which voters have already voted, so volunteers can more efficiently focus on those who have not. I cannot split the list on the app with my son as I did paper lists, but the advances are well worth it.

Canvassing this year with Lyra and Leif.

We loaded MiniVAN onto Lyra’s iPad (the only one we own). And, yes, Lyra was with us. She knocked on the doors, I asked questions and Leif documented answers on the iPad. We were visiting with an elderly woman whose house was the farthest away from my car as any on our list when an unpredicted thunderstorm erupted.

“Do you mind if my children stay on your porch while I get my car?” I asked her.

“Not at all! But let me give you an umbrella,” she said before darting into her home. With her umbrella keeping me dry, I ran to my car while the kind stranger and my children continued visiting.

The act of explaining something can provide epiphanies, “aha” moments where suddenly the subject makes much more sense. Ask any teacher. Talking with voters, my teens explain why it is important to vote. Later, as adults, they have continued to volunteer in cities far from Akron because they deeply care about democracy, and also because it is quite fun.

In July at a conservative Christian event in Florida, former president Donald Trump told the audience that if he wins this fall’s election, “You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.” The last thing I want to happen to our country is the elimination of voting, which would literally be an end to America’s democracy. So out I go with my kids and anyone else who will knock on doors with me.

Thiscol.