When I was ten,
we got a new neighbor.
My mother believed
In the tradition of welcoming.
We baked cookies,
made a card
and headed across the lawn —
my sister and I in ragged shorts,
my mother in a pretty skirt and apron.
When the door opened,
there
stood
Gloria Steinem,
the symbol of women’s liberation.
My mother blushed in her homemaker attire.
But you see,
my mother was her own trailblazer.
At twenty-one,
she went to Bonn, Germany alone
to work for the state department.
She aided delegate Marietta Tree at the UN,
she was an administrative assistant
for Sarge Shriver
when he launched the Peace Corps.
My mother never waivered
when it came to welcoming neighbors.
She was proud of her welcome
for Ms. Steinem and Mr. Pottinger.
My mother’s lesson
about good neighbors
is paramount today.
How we treat our neighbors
says volumes about
who we are.
Were she living,
my mother would be appalled
at America today.
A Reading Life 
Well, this is a lovely tribute to your impressive mother and I also appreciate the lesson on neighborliness. But it is a whale of a good story! I am enjoying my mental image of your mother in pretty apron carrying cookies with her kids gamboling around, meeting Gloria! I presume Steinham came to know your mom in all her complexity as time went on.
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What a lovely portrait of your mother actively making neighbors feel welcome, which was the point after all. Not, let’s make judgements from afar, first, and then decide whether or not to extend a welcome. I hate to admit it, but I think I do this a bit. Maybe it is a sign of the times. Maybe I have grown more reserved, judgmental, insular. We could use a lot more of your mom’s unwavering welcome right now in the world!
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Thank you for sharing your memories. I am sure your mother would have been appalled.
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