FTY: Leaving the world better than when we found it

The following story stole my grinchy heart.

Real Heroine/Shero :Selena Robinson: Steel-Willed Angel

by Carl Hoffman

She has served on the boards of the local Meals on Wheels program, the Brevard City Personnel Board, the local health department, Pisgah Legal Services (a legal-aid service for low-income individuals), the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, the Transylvania County Historical Society, and the executive board of the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, among others. She is vice president of her community organization, director of ushers and president of the Missionary Circle at her church, a Girl Scout leader, and, until recently, a member of the local hospital auxiliary. (“I had to give something up,” she says.) Along an entire wall of her house are certificates and plaques and letters, over 20 of them. There’s the 1997 “Fine Womanhood Award” from Zeta Phi Beta sorority; a tribute from the state of North Carolina signed by Governor James B. Hunt; the keys to the city of Brevard; even a letter from President Ronald Reagan. “Sometimes I wonder if I deserve all this,” she says, “but I didn’t do it for any praise. I did it to help people.”

Overshadowing all the awards, however, a tree made out of green felt takes pride of place in Robinson’s living room. At the top are two names: Selena and Chester, followed by descending rows of hearts, each with a name: 14 children, 43 grandchildren, and 59 great-grandchildren. “I asked God, if he would let me get my children out of diapers and bottles, then I would help somebody else,” Robinson says, eyeing the impressive tree. “We need to leave this world in better shape than we found it in.”

chaotic notes

 

GO HUSKIES! : Let those Miserable Bastards eat crow!

DISCLOSE ACT:Senate Republicans Again Block DISCLOSE Act, Designed to Reveal Special Interest Spending

Buddhist priest explores feminine side of meditation