The Dear Ruth Project - Melissa Dorn
℅ The Everyday Feminist
Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel
139 E. Kilbourn Ave
Milw WI 53202
Dear Ruth,
I miss you and will continue to miss you.
I have never thought of you, and do not now think of you, as an icon.
You were and remain to me a singular human being. Therein lies your
power. I do not venerate you as a symbol, but respect you for the flesh
and blood woman you were, and the work you did. Your personal life,
legal authorship and dissenting opinions are a testament to your unique
personality and abilities. You were mindful of representing not the general
aspects of humanity, but individuals, with particular qualities and aspirations,
and their rights, by law, to be seen as and respected for such. God is in the
details, and so are the fundamental truths of equality.
The United States began as an idea. However noble that idea may have
resonated with its founders, it held only silence, pain and yes, death, for
most Americans. The real American legacy lies in what individuals like
you have done to change this country, to take a rough-formed exclusive
idealism and shape it into a working, defensive model that protects and
nourishes human dignity.
My extended family stands as a living reminder of diversity, a working
model of what happens when men and women from five continents and
countless countries meet here, have children, create lives, and leave their
imprint on the land. There is joy, great pain and large holes, silence still,
in those stories. All Americans are and will be, as I am, the descendants
of many voices.
I feel each American alive is called to live out their life as authentically as
possible, and yet to do no harm to others. This is not easy. Like most
Americans, most Americans, my life continues to be personally touched
by violence, hate, social and economic injustices. We are a nation plagued
by diseases of the body and of the spirit.
I do not know how my story, or the story of the United States, will end. I do
know your story inspires me. You have made a difference, a positive difference,
in my life. You’ve made me believe that each of us has the ability, however
modest or expansive the outcome, to effect changes. I can make a difference.
Each one of us can make a difference.
Every drop of water is important, and helps wear away the stone.
My respect, prayers and meditations,
Marsha McDonald
New Year's Day 2021
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
