The Beatles, a baby, a birthday and a close brush with death

Hmmm, what can I say about May other than it was a very intense month and not at all what I had planned. Tom Nelson's event on May 3rd went well--a good crowd at the Library, dinner afterward with friends, including Josh, who was leaving for Damascus the next day to continue his Arabic studies. Information was spread about the Free Gaza Movement and we might have someone locally who'll go on one of the Free Gaza boats this summer, which would certainly make the time invested in Tom's event well worth it.

I had only one other event that I was part of the planning for: on May 17th emma's revolution, a two-woman band from Washington, DC, was playing in Corvallis as a fundraiser for Benji Lewis, a young man refusing to go to Iraq for the third time.

Benji had joined the Marines at age 18, went to Iraq twice, was part of the assault on Fallujah, and promised himself he would not be part of anything like that again. He served his time, was honorably discharged, moved to Corvallis, got a job, started school, fell in love, and then last October got notice of involuntary reactivation (not the same as stop-loss, but similar).

Anyway, a group formed to support Benji and before you know it he's on a speaking tour of the Pacific Northwest, he and his girlfriend Marci have developed amazing organizing skills, and then suddenly his reactivation got cancelled. For the full story go to www.couragetoresist.org and click on Benji Lewis.

All this is to say that after Benji's event there was nothing else on my horizon, until....but that story is later.

Meanwhile May started out mild enough, with The Beatles At OSU. This was the fourth year in a row that these OSU students (some new each year and some the same all four years) performed a Beatles album as a fundraiser for CARDV (Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence). It's not that they sound like the Beatles, it's that they sound exactly like The Beatles.

Each year it's been a fabulous show. The tickets are $5, the cause is a great one, the energy that the musicians put out is really wonderful. Last year we took Aaron and he liked it, so this year he said yes to going with us again and he brought his friend Simon too.

It just so happened that it was also the weekend that Aaron had to have his "baby" with him continuously for 48 hours for his sex education class. It's not like he hasn't been around Ben enough to see that a baby takes alot of energy, but I don't think he was prepared for how much impact his "baby" was going to have on him.



Simon was such a great sport and actually alot of help since he'd had his baby the previous semester and so knew the tricks for keeping the baby happy. It was a very sophisticated baby and made a certain cry when it was hungry, a different sound when full, and another cry when it needed to be burped, and yet another for a diaper change. And, yes, it woke up several times during the night and could not be easily comforted. Dang!

Anyway, everywhere that Aaron and Simon went the baby was sure to go--on a walk around town, to Willamette Park, to dinner before the Beatles concert, and to the concert itself. I can see how it would be much better to have two daddys than one--nothing like a good support system to make life easier...and more fun.



In the end I was proud of how responsible Aaron and Simon were with the baby. It seems to me that the school was right on in its timing. Last year it would have been a disaster--this year they just did it and with surprisingly little complaint.

As Aaron heads towards his 14th birthday I'm increasingly aware of how little preparation kids in our culture get for taking care of themselves. If life only required that we be able to operate electronics, download into our computers, upload into our ipods, etc, then no problem. It's those other pesky details of self-care that are missing and so I determined in my devious little mind that this summer would be all about building skills.



Courtney brilliantly offered Aaron an easy way to make $5 just clipping his hair (I'm a real weanie and won't use those clippers) before either Courtney or I finish off the haircut with scissors. Aaron's first try was a success and so he built some confidence and made some cash.

Meanwhile little Ben was moving into a next stage of his own. Below are photos of his 3rd birthday party. Here he is with his two buddies Ella and Keaton.




His aunt Aunt Mindy and cousin Jakob came from Monterey to help celebrate his birthday...



...along with his Aunt Kenya and his cousin Nicholas.




Below, Ben and Keaton were of course very interested in the cake that Sierra, Maya's friend and co-worker, made. Too bad the photo doesn't show the great play structure that Ben got from the family. Eder, Maya, Courtney, their friend Jay and my mom all spent many hours putting the structure together in time to surprise Ben on his birthday. (Never believe the box instructions that say 4-8 hour assembly time.) Anyway it's a work of art and should keep Ben busy until middle school.




Ben had his first experience wacking a pinata--with Eder in the background working the "controls".


After all the hard work was over Eder and Daddy Jay, as Ben calls him, got to kick back by the fire pit and enjoy some brews in celebration of Ben turning three.




And here's the rest of the story of May 2009: Shortly after 12:30 on the 5th a phone call came to the Co-op from medics in an ambulance saying that our buddy and deli co-worker Carolyn was on her way to the hospital after having been hit by an SUV while riding her bike to work. Not only hit, but also dragged 20 ft and then pinned under the rear tire until the firemen and medics arrived and rescued her. Yes, Carolyn instructed the medic to call her work and say she wouldn't be there--ever the responsible worker that she is.

I won't go into the details of her injuries--just suffice to say they were numerous and extensive. Carolyn's a 62-year-old grandmother and peace activist (probably a pacifist, but in no way passive), who was luckily in great physical shape and with a determined will as tough as steel. She was quoted as saying "Get this ****ing SUV off me! This is a stupid way to die!" She's got alot of people close to her, but especially her grandson Calder she was not ready to leave.

Anyway, as workers at the Co-op continued to hear more details about Carolyn's situation--that the SUV driver was uninsured, that Carolyn wouldn't be able to work for at least 4-6 months, etc--the energy started to build to do a fundraiser for her. A group of us got together and brainstormed and came up with.... CASH FOR CAROLYN!

We planned an all-day event for June 6th, and what sounded like a fairly straight-forward and simple event grew and grew until it was quite the extravaganza. But with each growth spurt we could see the potential for making more money for Carolyn, so we continuously said yes to whatever came along and in the end it all payed off.

That morning Carolyn arrived, a bonus we couldn't have predicted would be possible, by pedicab driven by our friend Dan Crall and was greeted by Sally with a gift of a new pair of shoes from FootWise. The police were only able to find one of Carolyn's Keens after the accident and she had been mourning the loss of her favorite pair of shoes. Here was a replacement.

The event was taking place in two locations next door to each other. A giant rummage sale was set up in the parking lot behind Fireworks Restaurant, along with a stage for live music. Then at the Co-op a silent auction and cake raffle were set up in the Community Meeting Room.





She was also greeted by her old troublemaking buddies, the Raging Grannies, who Carolyn used to sing with before she started working at the Co-op.





There's Raging Grannies in lots of towns and cities these days and they all share the funny and political lyrics they've written to popular tunes that everyone knows. Another trademark they share is the big wild hats and funny aprons they wear. Makes them hard to miss.




The Grannies were just the right way to kick off the day, and the energy just kept growing from there--one great musical act after another made it really fun to be there (and many of the musicians were Co-op staff members). The morning mist and clouds and wind finally cleared in the afternoon just as Future Roots took the stage and put on a great show.



Meanwhile people were shopping the rummage sale like crazy and making donations beyond what they purchased, including those who hadn't heard about Carolyn before but were so impressed by her and by the support they were seeing and feeling all around her.

I'm sorry that we didn't take any photos of the action in the Meeting Room. There were over 60 silent auction items--many of them donated by Co-op staff members--artwork, jewelry, pottery, massages, rafting trips and on and on. And the cakes and desserts in the cake raffle were amazing and beautiful and so danged creative.




Below is the lovely Jeannie Holiday, the mistess of ceremony and wonderful hostess/comedian/performer of the day. Without her humor and bright energy the day would not have been nearly so fun.

And with his back to us is Aaron, who won the award (in my book) for best volunteer. We had lots and lots of people working all the aspects of the event, but none out-did Aaron for continuous hard-work and cheerful attitude. He was my hero and Carolyn's.

My other hero was Courtney who throws himself behind me in whatever I take on. In this particular event he worked long and hard with gout in his foot and so many hours of pain and agony and still he was there to the very end.



Below is the last act of the day, the zombie surf rock band, They Won't Stay Dead. The lead guitarist Craig had OK'd it with Carolyn ahead of time that he was wearing a smashed up helmet and tire tracks across his torso. She had already made jokes about tatooing No Parking Zone across her abdomen, so she was fine with his dark humor.



Something none of us planned, or even could have imagined, was that Carolyn was able to stand up, with no help but her back brace and cane, and thank everyone publicly. No dry eyes in the crowd right then.



Carolyn swears that this event--with all the love and support it generated--has knitted her broken bones back together in rapid time.



And we raised buckets of money for her--more than we ever could have imagined. Thank goodness for good strong community. Life would not be nearly so rich without it.

Thanks to Chris Johnson for some of these photos of Carolyn's event and to Courtney for the others. And thanks to anyone who made it all the way through this very long blog,

Valori