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Ruralite Cafe: Published 12/21/00By Lisa Majors-Duff News Editor'Gather ye rosebuds' this holiday season |
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Though he may not have realized it at the time, Jackson County Manager
Jay Denton was paraphrasing a 17th-century English poet and a first-century Roman poet when he told more than 300 people gathered last week to "seize the day."
If there's one message I can leave you with today, it's to not put off all the things you say you want to do," he told the crowd of county employees who had gathered at Western Carolina's University for their annual Service Awards Holiday Luncheon. Denton, who just two weeks before lost his 76-year-old father, said he considered himself lucky to have been able to do many of the things he'd wanted with his father before his death. He then urged everyone in the Grandroom not to just talk about plans with friends and family, but to carry those plans out, especially during the holiday season. People through the ages have been urged by poets, scholars and advertising executives to "just do it," though few of us ever find the nerve or time to heed this call to action. More than a thousand years before English poet Robert Herrick wrote to "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may/ Old time is still a-flying/ And this same flower that smiles today/ Tomorrow will be dying," Horace demanded we all "carpe diem" for our own good. The message is clear - "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today" (author unknown). But more to Denton's point, the message during the holiday and year round is to not let another day go by without telling your friends and loved ones how you feel about them. Do something to show the special people in your life why they are so special. None of us know how long we'll be here, said Denton, fresh from the experience of losing a parent. In the blink of a Christmas light, circumstances beyond our control can change our lives and the lives of the people we love. Your neighbor who's always been available to lend a hand or a cup of sugar can be transferred to South Dakota; a senseless car accident can claim the life of a co-worker, as happened this weekend to the WLOS-TV family in Asheville; or thoughts of "I'll call him tomorrow" in reality can turn into weeks and then months of not calling. Why is it that telling someone how you feel about them takes so much extra effort? How hard is it to write a short note in your Christmas cards instead of just signing your name? Would it really be that much more expensive to bake an extra batch cookies this year and wrap them up in festive holiday paper and ribbons for the widower next door? Instead of saying, "Let's do lunch," pick up the phone, make the reservations and go. The holiday season may be a good time to develop a habit of sharing your feelings, whether or not it takes a little extra eggnog to get started. And hopefully, as with other habits, the experience of sharing and acting on your best intentions will become easier. Each of us has within us the ability to do good deeds, to show a little more kindness through our words and our actions, and to make the world a little nicer place to live. What better time than today to prove it. For those of you interested in the rest of the poem, here it is:
"To the Virgins, to make much of Time"
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