Comments on: SHER: This Place Gets in Your Blood

By: Melvin W. Williams, Jr CWO USCG (Ret)

Melvin W. Williams, Jr CWO USCG (Ret) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 04:17:50 +0000

Ms. Horosko, your story reminds me of the times when my family along with other black families used to work in the fields. It was very hot and sweaty sometimes. If the work was close to Route 13, passers-by would sometimes stop, observe us and make comments like, boy or gal what ya’ll doing? Or a statement like, ain’t they cute?, chuckling as they got back into their vehicles and drove off. After “getting up” potatoes, we were sometimes allowed to glean crops which had failed to be harvested. This gleaning went into our food reserves or for our next meal. If this place gets in your blood, then I would hope that it would affect your pocketbook also. Go into the black neighborhoods, and then let the world know about the poor conditions and issues facing these areas. Nothing personal, but don’t take advantage of this place — make it better for everyone.

By: Sher Horosko

Sher Horosko — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 16:04:59 +0000

Thank you for the thoughtful comments here.

Bruce, your narrative, supported by Carla and Anne, could be the basis for a meaningful talk over every dinner table In America.

And Jeff, thank you for your kind comments too. There is only so much you can say in a little story but I will add these two things: those potatoes will be turned into 24,000 servings of food for Virginia Shore residents. And that is just what these folks picked on a single morning. I can barely go outside today, it is so hot, and I know for certain they are on their hands and knees in some field, harvesting food for the hungry.

So while Hunger still lives next door, just as you say, it is also true that a bright light is shining in these abundant Virginia fields.

We can all jump in and make the light even brighter. It truly is so very easy. Peace is the gift returned to us.

Thank you all.

By: Jeff Wallace

Jeff Wallace — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 22:25:41 +0000

Sher, you definitely have a way with words and your ability to “romance” with words. I throughly enjoy your writings. I lived on the shore from ’74 to ’80 and things were pretty bad back then as far as poverty goes — obviously not much has changed over all the years.

By: Ida Powell

Ida Powell — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 21:48:10 +0000

Thank you for this affirmation of The Society of Saint Andrew’s year-long gleaning efforts as well as the Harvest of Hope program, combining gleaning and education with spirituality. To learn more, become involved, and offer support, please go to http://www.endhunger.org.

By: Anne Hallerman

Anne Hallerman — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 14:50:11 +0000

Bruce, thank you for putting into words what I had already mentally composed. And, Sher, thank you for using your talents of writing and photography to remind us that we each have a role in the collective well-being of our community.

By: Carla Jasper

Carla Jasper — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 14:26:46 +0000

Thank you Sher for sharing your beautiful uplifting story. Good on all of you involved in this wonderful endeavor.

By: Bruce Lindeman

Bruce Lindeman — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:57:09 +0000

The themes here are worth contemplating. Two quotes in particular: “I’d rather be out here in the fields changing things than complaining about the world around a coffee table . . .” and the Mother Teresa quote, “we will feel peace when we remember we belong to each other.”

In a society — and a community — where finding fault and tearing each other down over our differences is the new normal and which gets in the way of actually working on the solution together, Sher nails it with this sweet story on the love of place and the purpose of living — to connect and help others, not just ourselves.

It’s a hard thing for most of us to do — to give up a career to walk the fields, gleaning for others less fortunate, like Bill. But, there is much we can do that involves simply coming together. Civil communication. Working on problems that affect us and those around us. If you think kids without enough food is not your problem, think again. Those kids will grow up to be adults and a part of this society in which we all live. Their problems are indeed our collective problems.

If we could just take the construct of “gleaning” and apply it to other facets of our lives, what a difference we could all make. Thanks, Sher for a view into a world many of us don’t always see and appreciate.