Thanking 'Bar'

In her death, Barbara Bush performed one last bit of public service.

She brought the world together.

The world has never been a particularly pleasant place, with hatred, famine, genocide, war, pollution, corruption and various and assorted other acts of violence, aggression and oppression existing since the beginning of time. And here at home, we have not been the idyllic picture of equality and acceptance we would like the rest of the world to believe. 

Over the past two years or so, that home-grown ugliness has been more overt — encouraged and inspired by a political climate that has made our nation more divided than it has been in quite some time.

So it has done my heart good — but also saddened me — to see that if there was a positive thing to come of the death of perhaps our most beloved First Lady of my adult life, it was to make that togetherness happen.

Folks have left their partisan politics and philosophies behind as they have reached across the aisle of life to pay honor to the woman who was often referred to as “everyone’s grandmother.”

Elected leaders from this nation and abroad have set aside their differences to express condolences and share anecdotes, photographs and memories of a woman respected nearly universally.

I have been particularly moved by the very public sharing of her grandmother’s life and memories by Jenna Bush Hager, a correspondent with NBC. By all public accounts, Jenna enjoyed an extremely close relationship with her “Gans,” and it had to be tough for her emotionally to keep her wits about her to appear on camera so quickly after Mrs. Bush died.

Jenna shared on Facebook a cartoon that someone sent to her, showing Mrs. Bush being reunited with her late daughter, Robin, just inside the gates of heaven. Robin died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of 3.

After news of her death spread, many memes circulated online almost immediately with poignant, tear-evoking images and written passages.

One displayed a picture of the late Marine Gunny Sergeant-turned actor R. Lee Ermey along side of a portrait of Mrs. Bush with the caption: “Well the passing of GySgt Ermey makes some sense now. There had to be a Marine on standby to escort the former first lady through heaven’s gate.”

Another tribute came from the crew of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). A photograph of Mrs. Bush from the dedication of the ship was published on Facebook with this message: “Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathies are with all of the Bush family tonight. On behalf of every officer, chief, and Sailor aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), rest in peace, ma’am. We have the watch.”

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, England’s Queen Elizabeth,  Kuwait’s ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah and former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are among those who have sent condolences to former President George H.W. Bush and his extended family upon the loss of the family’s matriarch.

At Mrs. Bush’s funeral today in Houston, the presence of Presidents Clinton and Obama was noted as being unusual; it is not common for former presidents to attend the funeral of a former first lady, according to NBC commentators.

The presence of the two men was because of the genuinely strong and loving relationships they developed with the family, despite differing ideologies, according to an NBC announcer.

Much has been made of “Bar’s” down-to-earth demeanor, the hair that turned white prematurely, the trademark pearls and the wrinkles she wore with pride because she earned every one of them.

She has been lauded for her treatment of the lesser members of our society, for her efforts on behalf of literacy — both for children and adults — and her general affection for all people, regardless of socioeconomic status, religion, political party or race. She was one of the first prominent people to publicly embrace a child with AIDS, in spite of the Republican party’s unwillingness to utter the word.

She ruffled feathers because she didn’t strictly follow the Republican agenda. She was a smart and sensitive woman who spoke her own very capable mind and followed her heart.

It’s unfortunate that I think we have come to know more about Mrs. Bush in these first few days after her death than we knew of her while she was here with us. 

But in the end, all that’s important is that we did learn more about her — I learned things that just make me love and respect her even more — which hopefully makes us realize that we are all more alike than we are different.

I know this reaching across the aisle afterglow won’t last long. 

Mrs. Bush will be laid to rest this afternoon — physically near the grave of Robin on the grounds of the Bush Presidential Library, and spiritually, if that’s your belief, reunited with her beloved daughter.

Life will go on and the nation and the world will all too soon get back to its ugly business as usual.

But I would like to thank God for the gift that was Barbara Pierce Bush; I’d like to thank the Bush family for sharing her with the world; and I’d like to thank Mrs. Bush for being the smart, kind, strong, loving, authentic, gracious woman who sought to bring us together while she lived and accomplished that in her death.

Godspeed, Mrs. Bush.

A Man & A Tree

I'm using my blog to archive some of my favorite stories I've written over the years. A lot of my work has been lost online because of news outlets creating new websites and not migrating old content to the new sites.

This article, which won a first-place feature writing award from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, was originally published in The Dundalk Eagle on Aug. 8, 2002.

A Man & A Tree

She hadn't stood under her own power for years. Her once-mighty trunk was buttressed by concrete and her majestic limbs were moored by miles and miles of cable.

But the death of the Wye Oak at the hands of a violent Eastern Shore windstorm June 6 was still a shock, still the unthinkable. She had always been there.

Tens of thousands of people across the country have mourned the death of the nation's champion white oak tree.

But perhaps no one mourns more than Dundalk High School graduate Stark McLaughlin, who as a Maryland State forester has been the tree's main caregiver for 28 years.

"When the phone call came in that the Wye Oak was down, we didn't immediately panic," McLaughlin said in late June. The tree routinely lost branches in bad storms, and foresters had grown accustomed to reports that the tree had been knocked down.

But this time, his worst fear was confirmed.

McLaughlin jumped in his car to go see for himself, confident that his longtime friend would still be standing, as she had for 460 years.

"Right off Route 50 near the 404 light, there's a spot I know to glance, over the tops of some silos, where I can see the tree," he said. "I looked over, and she wasn't there."

The forester and his colleagues were able to keep their emotions in check in the immediate aftermath because of the potential danger of the situation.

"We had a massive tree laying across the highway," he said. "We had immediate safety issues to deal with."

"We had to assess conditions, call in resources and people, create a containment line, fence in the area and determine if we could work safely in the tree to begin removing it," he said.

Most folks assume the tree fell down and just needed to be cut up and carted away, McLaughlin said.

And he would have loved for it to be that simple. But the 96-foot tree was mammoth; of proportions hard to visualize. Large pieces lay atop other large pieces, often precariously. He had to make sure pieces wouldn't settle or fall while workers were inside the crown.

Cable that had been holding up the Wye Oak's branches was attached to huge eye bolts sunk deep within the tree. Workers examined the tree and marked all metal with orange spray paint to prevent serious injuries to those wielding chainsaws.

Besides clearing the highway quickly and safely, the team realized it had to preserve as much of the tree as possible.

Even in a pouring rain, people came out in droves to pay their respects to the Talbot County icon as word of her demise traveled.

To discourage souvenir hunters from venturing too closely, foresters handed out leaves and twigs they kept in buckets.

McLaughlin shared the story of a Native American man who drove to the site because "he just wanted to be able to touch the tree."

"I took him into the crown, and he just put his hands on it," McLaughlin said. "He knelt and said a small chant.

"He just understood," McLaughlin said before tears stopped him from finishing his sentence. He swallowed hard and continued: "He understood that a great thing had died, a spiritual thing had died."

The Wye Oak tree has been in state care since 1939, when it was purchased from a private owner.

At one time the tree was 121 feet high. It underwent a big makeover in 1985-86, according to McLaughlin. Many of its branches were recabled, and the crown was reduced by about 20 feet "in an attempt to preserve the integrity of the tree - to prolong its life," he said.

"We always knew she wouldn't last forever."

Much of the wood was temporarily stored in a warehouse on Kent Island, where conditions are far from favorable because of extreme temperatures and humidity, said McLaughlin.

On July 11, some of the usable wood was sawed and turned into boards by the Johnson Logging Co. in Talbot County.

While the tree was huge, only 14 pieces could be salvaged for lumber.

Meanwhile, the Wye Oak Advisory Committee, of which McLaughlin is a member, has been meeting to discuss ways of using the tree's wood. Folks were encouraged to submit ideas, which they did with great gusto.

Ideas ranged from building homes for the homeless to keychains and baseball bats, McLaughlin said.

Artists from across the world have contacted the committee with ideas for sculptures, which amazed the forester.

"We even heard from folks in Great Britain who heard about the tree dying," he said. "They are going to send a seedling from their St. John oak, which is a grand tree there."

A lot of people are still driving by to look at the stump, which McLaughlin feels will last for quite a while.

The Wye Oak shaded more than half an acre in life. In death, it will serve as an unprecedented educational tool for foresters and for students from pre-kindergarten through college.

Her wood may well be turned into ceremonial gavels and crab mallets, and her leaves might become pieces of jewelry.

But she will remain in the memories of thousands for years to come. And her seedlings are planted across the country, including at Wye Oak State Park, where a new tree was planted in 1986 behind what is now just a memorial stump.

And even at the end, the Wye Oak was considerate.

"She fell like a lady," McLaughlin said. "She didn't hurt anyone. It was a rainy, windy night and no one was around.

"And no one has gotten hurt handling the wood, which is just amazing. It was definitely a dramatic outgoing."

Remembering a mentor

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the death of Alice Plecker, my very first Recreation and Parks boss and mentor.

Alice hired me in the fall of 1975 to run after-school and evening roller skating programs at Chase and Seneca Elementary schools in eastern Baltimore County.

She turned 25 that fall and was three years out of Penn State, where she earned her degree in Recreation and Parks Administration.

Alice Calinski Plecker, as pictured in Penn State's yearbook, La Vie 1972.

Alice took me under her wing and is the reason I ultimately changed my major from English and theater arts to rec and parks.

I looked up to her and admired the way she related to kids in the neighborhood. She was an accomplished golfer and had recently married a local golf pro. She always had clubs in the trunk of her car and was forever huddled with kids on Seneca's athletic fields, teaching them the finer points of driving and putting. I still remain grateful for the lessons I got from her.

As a boss, Alice was fun, funny, supportive and appreciative. She always had a kind word to say to me and complimented me on how I interacted with the kids and the extra time I put in to plan special events and themed nights.

She knew most of the kids by name and they loved her as much as she loved them.

Alice's 25th birthday in November 1975 would be her last. On April 13, 1976, her life was tragically cut short when, while driving home from the rec council's annual carnival, her car was hit head-on by an under-age drunken driver.

I knew Alice for less than a year, but she made a tremendous impression on me and I know there are countless "kids" from that neighborhood who also still remember her, still think about her and certainly appreciate the gift she was to all of us.