We spend a lot of time in this neck of the woods, Norwich, Connecticut, talking about days gone by, forgetting that there are close to forty thousand of us here in the now, who, by our efforts on a daily and repeated basis, form a bridge from yesterday to tomorrow.
Through everything we do and everything we don't do (commission and omission-Sister Mary Jean would be proud I've remembered those), we add or subtract from our city.
I wasn't born here, and I'm not especially comfortable with the growing probability that I'll die here, but that's pretty much out of my hands, so all I can do is my best for every day that remains. And that goes for you, wherever it is you live.
Each of us is in a formalized environment with financial, emotional, and organizational structures and strictures. We function in a form with a President, a Governor, a Mayor, or a leader with a title of some sort, and there are subordinate bodies and functionaries in a descending order to deliver goods and services to us, the citizenry and residents.
But there's also an informal association of significant others, our neighbors and friends, perhaps in a neighborhood watch, or a bowling league, or a group of volunteers who coach a kid's soccer team or host scout meetings. Where we live is the sum of all those activities, not just our bond rating and our reserve to debt ratio.
What we are is defined and refined by who we are. Yes, we must have trash pick-up, but it's just as important that we keep an eye on our neighbor's house when they go away for a long weekend. We have a municipal apparatus for the 'big things,' but we need to have engaged and energized citizens for all the things in between. We should celebrate those who give of themselves to make the place where we all live even better.
-bill kenny
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