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1. Indulge me, if you will, a short thread about my mother. She was a teacher (and substitute teacher) for years, then when I was around 11, became the principal of an elementary school. She was there for over 30 years, beloved by teachers, parents, & students alike.
2. Then she "retired," which meant shifting to occasional substitute teaching, tutoring, social-servicing, you name it -- the reduction in working hours was, let's say, minimal. She is one of those people who always, always has to be doing stuff. (I ... did not inherit that.)
3. Now she & my dad (who *actually* retired) live in Lynchburg, VA, where she volunteers at a CASA (court-appointed special advocate) program. Basically, she gets to know kids in difficult circumstances & works w/ them & their parents to navigate social & educational programs.
4. The work she does is, from my perspective, just grueling, emotionally & physically. She's dealing with abused kids, drug-addicted parents, kids whose parents came to the country illegally & don't speak English, over-burdened courts, underfunded programs, on & on.
5. I've tried to ask her why she takes this on when she could just be relaxing. I've tried to engage her in philosophical/moral discussions, so I can suss out her motivations. I want to figure out what she tells herself, how she motivates herself. But ...
6. ... she doesn't have words for it. She's not an abstract thinker like me, no grand moral theories or anything. I think if forced to explain, she would just point to the kids. Look: these kids are in trouble. They need help. I can help. That's it, nothing more.
7. She's just one of those people for whom doing good, being good, is not a decision. It's not derived from anything; it is primary, foundational, the axis around which the rest of the world is arranged. For her, to live, to be alive, is to do good -- to *help*.
8. Throughout my life, whenever I find myself spinning grand theories, talking myself out of doing the simple, good thing (which I'm very good at), I think: what would mom do? She would be good. She would help. If theories lead elsewhere, so much the worse for theories.
9. For an overly thinky fellow like me, she is a light. You can't divide or dissect light, you can't reason to it or around it, you can't explain it. You bask in it. You use it to find your own path. And with luck, you absorb enough to shed some on others. So thanks, Mom. </fin>
