Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:44:42 -0500
From: rmcountry3542
Subject: Mom’s Wisdom ( A Tale of Apple Pies)
Dear Gene,
I wanted to share this with folks, just a simple lesson in finding solutions and communicating with each other.
Mom was not a highly educated lady, having gone to only a single year at the UTEP before the onset of WWII, but this lady had some keen insight and wisdom in how to get people talking to each other that amazes me more every time I think about it.
Mom, like many southern folks, was raised to always act politely to everyone, regardless of their social or economic standing in life. Her own personality was one that she “never met a stranger in her life”. After she and Dad had retired to a quiet life in the hills of West Virginia, she was approached by the Kellogg Foundation for her help. Their mission was to try and get better health care to economically poor areas in both rural and urban areas by getting medical students involved with clinics in these communities and have the students and patients make a personal connection so that the students would be more inclined to want to stay in those communities and set up practice. Trouble was that there was a lack of trust from the community of these young doctors and that “big corporation” that was bound to want to take advantage of the community, and a misunderstanding of the community as a whole by intellectuals that were, in truth, trying to improve the health standards of the community.
My parents were known in the state to be involved politically to improve things in any community that we lived in, and had had some good successes in the past, so after the Kellogg folks asked around, they ended up at Mom’s doorstep. Immediately, Mom asked them in and supplied them with coffee…. and some of her home made apple pie.
Sooner that they could imagine, they were put at ease and talking about friends, family, cooking kids, and finally, about their problem. Without hesitation, Mom came up with a plan, offering young doctors room and board in exchange for medical services rendered to the community at reduced or free rates. Now how do you get two opposing sides to come to an agreement?
The first meeting of community and corporation was set in an elementary school cafeteria and was well attended, with the two sides lined up on opposite sides of the room. Mom walked in, smiling and greeting people as she came in and carried in several of her pies. She had these set out on the tables in the middle of the room and started cutting slices and carrying them to different folks on each side, introducing herself and sharing a bit of small talk with whomever, talking about the weather, crops, the Dow Jones… anything but the business that was on the agenda. But soon, as first one, then more people got involved in the conversation, the two sides started to realize that they were all people who only wanted to make things better for everyone, and in due time, friendships were sparked, deals were begun, and understanding was born.
From that first meeting through many more from Hawaii to Philadelphia (where Mom was a hit on the commuter rail, talking with everyone about her home and family and at one point, leading a sing along with the usually bored and by reputation, often hostile commuters) Mom taught folks how to speak to each other and find their common ground to build relationships from. And always at hand were her apple pies. Home made keys to help unlock hearts and minds.