Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dreams

Monday Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday was observed, coincidentally there was also no school. When I told my 7-year old the week before that there was no school he asked why. I chose to tell him the reason was because it was Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, rather than because it was a staff in-service day. Immediately he wanted to know how we were going to celebrate. I was proud of his comment and replied honestly by saying, “That’s a good question.” So for a few days I thought about it, forgot about it, thought about it and forgot about it, until Friday. At which point I thought there’s got to be a family-oriented celebration in town, especially on a no school day.

The first thing I did was call the library, a great resource in my town typically filled with no school day programs, a plethora of storytimes, etc. When I called a recording answered the phone telling me that the library would be closed on Monday. In observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday?? NO! For an unpaid staff furlough day. Seriously?! Yes, but those thoughts will be saved for another time.

I made a few more calls before accepting that there was nothing going on in town before bedtime to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. My son’s question opened the door for me to create a new tradition, something that would make Martin Luther King Jr. proud. For a while there I lost the knowledge I had learned since becoming a mom…traditions often are not planned, they just happen.

Now, my town isn’t huge, only about 55,000 people, most of which are Caucasian. I did all I could do on short notice and gathered a group of moms and kids for a playgroup. I printed off a word search, a few coloring pages, and read aloud a biography on Martin Luther King Jr.’s life that was written for small children. It wasn’t glorious, it wasn’t as “deep” as I had hoped for, but it was something. If nothing else it reminded me that’s it not what I choose to do with my children that one day out of the year that will carry The Dream forward. It is what I expose them, and myself, to and teach them the other 364 days of the year that truly matter.

My dreams vary in size, but all are equally important to me.

I dream of a world where children do not know violence, only love. I dream of a world where people ask questions of others instead of staring at them and wondering. I dream of a day when no child falls asleep hungry or cold. I dream that my children have happy dreams at night while they sleep. I dream that I get more than 6 hours of sleep at night and awake rested. I dream about finding the “perfect for me and my family, perfect at this time” job. I dream that I grow as a person every day. I dream that the cancer gene died with my mom. I dream that photographs and stories of relatives who have died are enough to keep them a part of my children’s lives even if they never met them or will never remember them living.

Lastly, I dream that what I teach my children today, at a young age, becomes a part of them and stays with them well into adulthood.

I believe I honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 20, 2009 when I picked my now 7-year old up early from preschool to snuggle on the couch with him to watch the inauguration of this country’s 44^th president, Barack Obama. The only presidential inauguration I recall ever watching. It was an emotional moment, a moment I was proud and honored to be a mom sharing the moment with a member of the next generation, so when he reads about it in a history book one day I can tell him exactly where he and I were.

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk, so Obama could run, so our children can fly"