Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published Nov. 20, 2002

The holidays are in the air

Another year. Another Thanksgiving season. I admit I've lived through many Thanksgivings. Some funster described that kind of admission as the point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. No, I'm not bragging, but as I remembered all those other Thanksgivings, I realized I always paused to give thanks for the really big things like family and health. This year I'm concentrating on "little things that mean a lot."

Among those little things is a small pine tree growing alongside I-40. I first saw it one December day about 10 years ago as we headed east. On the north side of the interstate near the Lawnville exit, I saw that little pine tree all decked out in Christmas greetings. Every year since, I have looked for it and it is always decorated for the holidays. I can only guess some anonymous person is responsible for it.

Several weeks ago we were headed for Knoxville and as always I started looking for the tiny tree. Sure enough I saw it but this time it carried a different message. It was covered with small American flags.

Those of us blessed with good hearing seldom think how important sounds are. It was 16 years ago my sister welcomed a baby grandson. Not long after his birth it was determined he was deaf. The family began learning sign language immediately. When it came time for him to enter school they were fortunate that their city had a fine school for the deaf which had operated there for many years and Ian was enrolled.

In that setting he progressed, made friends, made good grades and when he was old enough he played on the basketball team. As cochlear implants became more and more successful, the school suggested Ian was a good candidate for the procedure. After much thought the family decided to go ahead and at age 16 Ian became another success story.

From total silence to a noisy world is a great adjustment, but Ian is making progress with the support of family and the school. Several weeks ago he was outside when he called his mother and told her he thought something was wrong with his implant because he heard a strange sound. She listened and smiled. The sound was a cricket. Little things do mean a lot.

Another little thing that is very irritating is those scratchy tags sewed on the back of shirts, blouses and about every garment we buy. I just read that Hanes, the leading manufacturer of men's underwear, did a consumer survey and were stunned by the results. They found that two out of three men hate those tags because of the discomfort they cause.

That may have seemed a little thing but Hanes took notice and now their T-shirts have all the information needed for consumers (because it is the law) on the inside of the shirt. They heat-transferred the information to replace the itchy tag. We can only hope other manufacturers will follow suit.

We can list many things, big and little ,to be thankful for. As for age, whether you are young or old, think about a question I read from an anonymous thinker: "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"

· · ·
Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.