Yesterday, My Mother Died...

Yesterday I found out my mother died. In the last speech I gave before she died, I talked about courage and vision...my Mom was there in the audience, which was a rare joy. I learned from her that courage was being able to run toward the problem while most people ran away.

Fire fighters, for example, run toward a fire. On 911, the plane in Pennsylvania never hit its target because a few people had the courage to run toward the problem. Why?

Courageous people see the problem, but they see a vision of something better on the other side. They see that they can choose with their actions to make the world a better place by doing something and not running away.

My mother was one of the most courageous and loving people I know. Yet she experienced far more fear and hate than most people ever will. At 67 years old, she lived in a town that still had lynchings as a child. By the time she was in high school, she was on the forefront of school integration and suffered numerous humiliations because of it. But she ran towards these problems with courage and love.

She persevered through school to earn her PhD and worked tirelessly for over 30 years as an educator (eventually a principal) treating every child, every teacher, and every parent as a child of God with infinite potential. All her life she loved and accepted every kind of person. She worked to bring black and white together. After converting to Judaism, she bridged the gap between religions as well.

It is her reckless optimism in the face of horror that gave me the courage to become an international ski champion despite the loss of my right leg, despite being the first African-American to go to Olympics and despite growing up in San Diego where there is no snow.

I wish for you in the new year, her ability to run toward your problems with a vision, to meet hatred with love, and to face fear with courage. It is not the absence of problems, fear and hate that makes us great. It is the ability to choose vision, love and courage instead.

Bonnie