“We are the world / We are the children…”
“How many languages are you teaching her?” My youngest daughter’s best friend bopped into our home, gathered up my granddaughter, and posed that question to Lauren and me. I loved the sound of that because I am an advocate of listening to “the beautiful music of the other,” and I am happy to hear other people acknowledging that English is not the only language in the world. What my youngest granddaughter is being exposed to, we told Amy Wilson, is Spanish and American Sign Language.
My first real vacation was with my first bride when we went to Acapulco, Mexico in 1972. We stayed at Hotel Mirador above La Quebrada, where cliff-divers launched themselves into the surf 135 feet below, and my rudimentary knowledge of Spanish got me “frio” water when I wanted “caliente.” Nothing like the cold when you wanted it hot. I took Spanish in high school, but eight years of living in Los Angeles, Camarillo and Madera, California gave me a far better education in the language. One of the servers at my favorite cidery is a Spanish teacher, and I recently checked with her to make sure that what I was sharing with my youngest granddaughter was accurate.
When my eldest was living with me in Indianapolis, she worked for L.S. Ayres as a sales associate. Lisa took Spanish language classes in high school and was conversant in it, so when Spanish-speaking customers from an out-of-town convention overwhelmed Ayres’ famous downtown discount basement, a call went out to find bi-lingual associates. Lisa spent a weekend in the basement, using her Spanish language skills to help customers with Ayres’ merchandise. When I was an art director for Ayres, and in New York City for photoshoots, I would often walk out of the studio and stand on the street, feeding on the tossed salad of voices as people from many countries walked by, speaking to each other, and incidentally, to me. A good friend spent 6 months in China when she was a student at Indiana University Southeast, and she has taught me some phrases from the Mandarin she learned. Another friend is Japanese, and she has also taught me some of her language. As for American Sign Language, Lauren decided to teach that to Myah to help her communicate across boundaries.
In 1985, the music industry responded to the call from “USA For Africa” to help Africans in the midst of a brutal famine. On March 7th, 1985 a song that 45 artists contributed to was released: “We Are The World.” Co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, the performance and the song raised millions to assist starving Africans. People came together from all over the world in a common cause.
“There’s a choice we’re making, we’re saving our own lives…”
The ways in which we interact with the others who share the planet with us — the planet, not just the neighborhood, or social set or religious group — tell the story of the kind of person we are, or hope to be. And comes now, the holiday season, a season of hope and reconciliation for many people. As we draw our collective breath and sigh for the end of a year and hope for a brighter beginning to another, it is incumbent upon us individually and collectively to open our arms and our hearts, to grant alms and alleviate pain, to make an effort to see that we are indeed, the world.
“It’s true we’ll make a better day, just me and you…”
cjon3acd@att.net