the BEACON Newspaper, Indiana beacon12-18 | Page 11
December 2018
THE BEACON
Page 11A
Freedom- A Reason to Give Thanks
By Mary-Alice Helms
Norman Rockwell always
has been one of my favorite
artists. I love how the people
he painted were just like the
people we knew. I remember
seeing the Saturday Evening
Post covers when I was a
kid and imagining myself as
being a part of the scene. In
1943, when I was eight years
old, Mr. Rockwell painted a
series of covers, titled “The
Four Freedoms,” which I es-
pecially liked. The paintings,
as always, were of ordinary
people doing ordinary things.
They were designed to rep-
resent the freedoms that our
country cherish: The Freedom
of Speech, Freedom from
Fear, Freedom from Want and
the Freedom to Worship. My
favorite of the four pictures
was “The Freedom from
Want.” It is a simple paint-
ing of a grandmother and her
young grandson seated at a
table in a restaurant, across
from two youthful-looking
working men. The Grand-
mother and the boy have
their heads bowed and their
M
DEAR,
ARIE
By
Marie
Segale
[email protected]
Dear Marie,
My husband and I are new
retirees. His brother and his
wife are also newly retired.
They decided to move back
home from the big expensive
city where they have been liv-
ing for their entire careers and
raised their own families. All of
their adult children are staying
in that city where they grew
up and are raising their fami-
lies. So they really don’t have
any family here except for my
husband and me. They bought
a condo not too far from ours
and are using our mailing ad-
dress to ease the transition until
they move into it.
So we have had them “pop
in” on us quite often. They
say they want to see if they
have mail but spend hours
hanging out. Recently the
situation became very un-
comfortable for me. I had
gotten home from working
out and decided to start a pot
of soup before I showered.
hands folded in prayer, while
the two young men look on
in amazement. Reading their
expressions is hard. They
look confused, but are they
remembering their own youth
when they might have been
taught to give thanks for
what they have been given?
Do they feel guilty for not
bowing their heads, also, or
are they embarrassed for that
little boy with the bad home
haircut? I wondered what I
would have done, had I been
in that restaurant with either
of my grandmothers. I felt
that they, too, would have
given thanks for not being
“in want.” What would I have
done? Would my face have
flushed with embarrassment
or would I have looked on in
derision? I hoped that I would
not have done either of those
things. I hoped I could have
expressed my thanks, too.
A prayer of gratitude will
be, as always, an important
part of our Thanksgiving
this year. We will be dining
at the home of one of my
daughters. And, as always, the table will be groan-
ing under its load of food.
There will be twenty-three
or twenty-four of us, repre-
senting four generations, in-
cluding a great-grandmoth-
er, grandparents, grandkids,
boyfriends, girlfriends and a
fiancée. How blest we are!
I know that I will remem-
ber those Norman Rockwell
paintings Thanksgiving Day.
It might be in the middle of
passing the gravy or maybe
just before asking what kind
of pie everyone wants. But,
I will remember the people
all over the world who don’t
have the freedoms we enjoy.
In the midst of the laughing,
teasing and joking going
around the table, I will say a
silent prayer for those who
are hungry, those who live
in fear, the ones who are not
allowed to express their reli-
gious beliefs or who cannot
speak out against tyranny.
I would like to wish
everyone a very Happy
Thanksgiving, and may we
all be reminded to truly give
thanks!
The doorbell rang, and they
were at the door. I was just
not in a position to receive
company. I was thinking that
I would let my husband deal
with his brother, and went
back to the kitchen to finish
putting my ingredients in the
soup pot. When I finished, I
went to take my shower. Can
you believe when I finished
they were still there? I think
it is up to my husband to deal
with his brother. Marie, how
should we handle this uncom-
fortable situation?
Uncomfortable in Bright have gone. Our society as a
whole has become so self-
absorbed and think nothing
of “putting someone out” for
one’s own convenience. This
applies to so many situations.
Clearly, it is up to your hus-
band to talk to his brother to
explain to him that he would
appreciate a phone call to see
if you are home and if stop-
ping by is okay. He could be
very blunt if necessary and
say “pop in” company makes
you both feel very uncomfort-
able, and you would prefer to
be prepared when company is
coming over.
Dear Uncomfortable,
I hear about this problem
from so many people, and I
wonder where our manners
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Sudoku
Sudoku is a logical puzzle game that may seem
difficult at first glance, but actually it is not as hard
as it looks! Fill a number in to every cell in the grid,
using the numbers 1 to 9. You can only use each
number once in each row, each column, and in each
of the 3×3 boxes. The solution can be found on our
website www.goBEACONnews.com/print_edition.
Click on the link for Sudoku and view the solution
for this month and last.
Good luck and have fun!
Have a pressing issue?
Contact Marie@GOBEA-
CONnews.com
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