I want a hippopotamus for Christmas - so blessed are the givers SJ Dodgson MJoTA v5n2 p1223
I know that I will be stuck in traffic when I drive from South Jersey to New York City the weekend before Christmas. I know this because it happens every year, and I knew this year would be no different, but I thought I would be clever and drive on back roads. The problem with back roads is that they turn into main roads and the only way to get into the islands that make up New York City is through main roads with tolls. And today they were jammed.
But sitting in a warm car, listening to Christmas carols can never be all bad, especially when one of the songs is "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" and because I knew when I got to Brooklyn I would be surrounded by good people whose love for all humans is palpable.
The party was worth the trip: this was the annual Christmas party of New York City Councilmember Jumaane D Williams, a tall dread-locked young man, a son of Grenada, who in his 3 years in City Council has shown that he will do anything for his people. Get arrested, anything.
He had not been in his job 2 weeks when the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, which resulted in the death of 10% of its population. We had a celebration of Martin Luther King jr planned for the Friday after the earthquake in Borough Hall in Brooklyn. The program was shelved as official and community leaders, one after the other, pleaded for help.
Councilmember Mathieu Eugene, who is a physician, described the horror in his country of birth. After the program, officials and press huddled into a room for a press conference. Councilmember Eugene had not slept in 3 days, he was being called on to talk about Haiti on one television and radio program after another, and he had no good news. As he was talking, he suddenly could not any more, and he broke down into deep grief, sobbing that so many were trapped and screaming, and they had nothing to dig themselves out other than their bare hands.
The officials did not know what to do, except for Councilmember Jumaane Williams who instantly moved over to Councilmember Eugene and hugged him. He knows what to do when his people, all people, are in trouble.
And I so enjoyed watching him tonight with a 9 year old boy whose home had been washed away by Hurricane Sandy in October, who had been taken in with his family by a prominent educator who is a daughter of Haiti.
Councilmember Jumaane Williams every year has a toy drive, and this year, as I walked into his office, saw a Christmas tree with lots of presents stacked around and beneath it. I added the few I bought, with a prayer that they will make a child happy.
And tonight, the Councilmember was standing with this little boy who selected a huge Lego set. The Councilmember checked with his staff that the gift had not been promised to someone else, came back and without a word, slid it out from under the tree and handed it to the little boy. Whose grin looked bigger than his face. Christmas with the Councilmember, truly blessed.
