Digital Annual Members' Meeting
It is September 11. Although we were all affected by events from this date 19 years ago, we have continued to move forward. The world is different today than it was in 2001. And here it is 2020, and we are all affected again, but by a different event; COVID-19.
One trait that even the Lord Lyon believes those of us with Scottish heritage have in common, is our ingenuity which leads to our ability to overcome obstacles. So although the CMW trip to Scotland for 2020 was postponed to 2021, which affected our ability to hold our annual meeting in Scotland, we put our heads together and found a way to fulfill our corporate obligations to our members.
With the help of Emilia Mack, Laurie Jackson, Sandy Morgan, Barb Duff, Mary Helen Haines, Andrea MacFarlane-Grieve, Ryan MacFarland, Bill Lennox, and yours truly, we have fulfilled our corporate duties to our members and reported on the status of Clan MacFarlane Worldwide. We continue our steadfast commitment to be open in our reporting to members. To that end, we have just completed our Annual Members' Meeting.
So how did we hold our meeting? Just moments ago, our AMM was completed via our Clan MacFarlane YouTube (tm) channel.
So grab your choice of beverage and plug in. Tune in to the annual reports by finding us posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMhQAiBFsD4&feature=youtu.be
And stay tuned! We are working on our next online project. There is always something more to look forward to with CMW!
Marie Robb
Loch Sloy!
Did You Miss it?
Clan MacFarlane Worldwide did a "Thing" yesterday. We gathered friends and put together a Digital Gathering, and launched it so that anyone could participate. We had music, haggis making, information on what to wear to a Highland Game, where to travel in Scotland, participating in athletic events, and just a general get together for anyone interested in all things Scottish.
Several of us worked on this over the past two months so that our friends and families would not feel left out of all the Highland Games that have been cancelled this year. (My personal attempt to apologize for a lack of a more recent Diaspora posting...) We hope we did it justice. But now, we have made it available for viewing on our website for anyone who missed it.
Want to see it? Be sure to have a good drink on hand and a snack. We feel very honored to have the Lord Lyon not only officially open the Gathering, but to spend time in an interview discussing the modern day Lord Lyon Court. Watch our friend, Elliot MacFarlane, courtesy of the St. Andrew's Society of Detroit, tell you how haggis is made. Highland Reign, one of our favorite Celtic Rock Bands, provides 2 great songs for us to enjoy WITH music video. Gretchen Sell-Finley will try to convince you to participate in the athletic competitions. Janet Robertson of Thistle Dubh Enterprises shares the "must see" places in Scotland when you finally travel, and Dr. Bruce Durie shares up-to-date information on what to wear and what not to wear to a highland game. And yours truly has a few things absolutely WRONG!
We hope you will take time to view the Digital Gathering. To see it, you can find it here: Digital Gathering!
Enjoy!
Mother's Day in the U.S. is this Sunday, the 10th of May
Mothering Sunday in the U.K. was the 22nd of March
They are hardly the same. In the U.S., we honor our Mothers and thank them for, well, just about everything. Flowers are usually in order, a meal out, and just generally a warm and fuzzy feel-good day for our Moms. Invented in 1907 by Anna Jarvis to honor her own mother, it took on larger proportions. By 1911, all states in the U.S. were celbrating Mother's Day. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson deemed it a national holiday, and by 1920 Hallmark ® was creating the lovely cards we have become accustomed to purchasing.
In the U.K., it appears it was originally a day where children who had left home, were allowed to go home again, or what was actually their "mother church." See: The Scotsman During the holiday, Lent fasting was relaxed in order to celebrate. (I know, if you have read any of my previous Diaspora, you would think... there she is talking about food again. Right. Not my intention this time.)
Over time, the location may be different, as well as the date, but the intention is still the same. We stop to honor our mothers. But this is 2020 and I loath to use the terminology that we have all come to associate with the coronavirus and how it has affected our lives. But there is no way to avoid it. Right now holidays are not the same. We have family members who have all but lost their means of income. Many might lose their homes. Families are separated. There is much to complain about. But I notice that most of us are not Eeyores. We are starting to see stories of those who refuse to give it all up.
And we have been there before. Whether the Depression, WWI, WWII, or more recent conflicts, many of us have given/lost much during our current predicament. So yes, these are tough times. We have been here before. So it is appropriate to share something I just received from one of our MacFarlane family.
Maxi Fitzjarrald, one of our founding members with Clan MacFarlane Worldwide, shared this with me last night. Although it was a birthday poem written by her father to her mother during a very sad time, it seemed fitting to share for Mother's Day. What follows is a moment of happiness shared then and now. And when you finish, whether or not it is Mother's Day, please remember your mom. Pick up the phone and talk to her, or write her an actual letter. Skype, email, or text her. But do this and remember that things will indeed get better, and sometimes, like right now, it really is just the thought that counts.
********
It was during hard times, similar to what we are considering hard times now. At that time, we were coming out of the depression and into World War II. Everyone was poor and did whatever it took to make a nickel.
My oldest brother was married and had a child and another on the way. My middle brother had joined the Army Air Corp and my youngest brother had joined the Navy Air Corp. Dad tried to enlist, but was too old, so he went away to work in the defense plant in Illiopolis, IL. He would be gone all week, renting a room in a private home there in Illiopolis, and come home for the weekend.
This letter was written October 5, 1942, by my Father in a letter to my Mother for her fiftieth birthday October 6, 1942.
The letter starts, “Dear Queen O My Heart.” It goes on to tell about his day and the other people that are renting rooms at the same home as he was. Then the letter continues….
“Well Honey child, there is no news, not even the dog died, so if I write it will just be to fill up space. Oh yes & tomorrow is your birthday and you will be fifty tomorrow.
“It was up in Minnesota in the country wild and free
There was a sweet maiden I used to go see
She was the sweetest girlie a man ever could see
I was twenty six and she was twenty three.
I courted her & won her just to be mine
Looking back thru the years it is not a very long time.
“But time goes along as we plainly can see,
For tomorrow she’s fifty & I’m fifty three.
She was fair as the lily & sweet as the rose,
& somehow I still love her where ever she goes.
“Sure she has changed a little, in her face a few wrinkles, in her hair a little grey
But her heart is warm & pure tho her hair is turning grey
& I want her to know I still love her in the same old loving way.
“So they say we are a lovin’ couple as you could ever see even if she is fifty & I’m fifty 3.
So tomorrow is her birthday and she is two & one half score.
Here I sit & wish her fully that many more,
here’s hoping fate will grant us to just go on together & many more good times to see
The double of this fifty and fifty 3.
“Just Read between the lines dear & u will read the rest. Love & xxxxoooo Dad”
Thank you dearest Maxi. We love your share.