Thank you. B. Virdot!
B. Virdot?! I didn’t know the name, either, when I awakened this am. I had planned a Thanksgiving Day diary on a recent incident which gave me inspiration. I am nothing if not adaptable, however, and this jumped right to the top on my priority scale. This one touched me very deeply. May it do the same for you!
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Some of the most interesting things I encounter are things Kathy finds on Neatorama, which she then shares with me. Some things are WOW-interesting, some are merely neat, others are hilarious, but this one had tears streaming down our faces with the power of its love, compassion and generosity. It is a Great Depression story Neatorama picked up from the Smithsonian Magazine, about a special gift a man gave some of his hurting neighbors. The version is told by a man named Ted Gup, from his book on the story.
This is Thanksgiving. I am having a great day, and I hope you are as well! I am not going to write much about this, the story speaks for itself. So here are a few excerpts, then just PLEASE go read the entire story at Smithsonian!
Stage set:
The year was 1933 and christmas was just a week away. Deep in the trough of the Great Depression, the people of Canton, Ohio, were down on their luck and hungry. Nearly half the town was out of work. Along the railroad tracks, children in patched coats scavenged for coal spilled from passing trains. The prison and orphanage swelled with the casualties of hard times.
It was then that a mysterious "B. Virdot" took out a tiny ad in the Canton Repository, offering to help the needy before Christmas.
The letters and B. Virdot:
Letters poured into the post office by the hundreds. From every corner of the beleaguered town they came—from the baker, the bellhop, the steeplejack, the millworker, the blacksmith, the janitor, the pipe fitter, the salesman, the fallen executive. All of them told their stories in the hope of receiving a hand. And in the days thereafter, $5 checks went out to 150 families across the town.
Touched by B. Virdot, and his eventual reveal:
For many of those who received a check signed by B. Virdot, the Christmas of 1933 would be among their most memorable. And despite endless speculation about his identity, B. Virdot remained unknown, as did the names of those he helped. Years passed. The forges and shops of Canton came back to life, and memories of the Great Depression gradually faded. B. Virdot went to his grave along with many of those he had helped. But his secret was intact. And so it seemed destined to remain.
Then in 2008—75 years later—and 600 miles away, in an attic in Kennebunk, Maine, my 80-year-old mother handed me a battered old suitcase. "Some old papers," she said. At first I didn't know what to make of them—so many handwritten letters, many difficult to read, and all dated December 1933 and addressed to a stranger named B. Virdot. The same name appeared on a stack of 150 canceled checks. It was only after I found the yellowed newspaper article that carried the story of the gift that I came to realize what my mother had given me.
B. Virdot was my grandfather.
And, finally, an excerpt from JUST one of the recipients, a woman named Ida Bailey, whose family had been broken up by the Depression ...:
This Xmas is not going to be a Merry one for us, but we are trying to make the best we can of it. We want to do all we can to make the Children happy but can't do much. About 7 years ago Mr. Bailey lost his health and it has been nick & tuck ever since but we thank God he is able to work again. We all work whenever we can make a nickel honest. Three years ago this Depression hit us and we lost all our furniture and had to separate with our Children. We have 4 of them [out of 12] with us again. There are three girls working for their Cloaths & Board. I do wish I could have my children all with me once again. I work by the day any place I can get work...you know the wages they get don't go very far when there is 6 to buy eats for...I think if there were some more people in Canton like you and open up their Hearts and share up with us poor people that does their hard work for them for almost nothing (a dollar a day) when the time comes for them to leave this world I would think they would feel better satisfied for they can't take any of it with them....
Enough. Please go read it for yourself. Please share it with your friends and families and co-workers. Share the power of giving, and love and compassion. This is the morality which underlies all we do, as progressives. Re-read it yourself when you find yourself down on enthusiasm, on clarity, on motivation. Re-read it yourself when you find yourself becoming distracted by trivialities or trolls. For B. Virdot, in his way, lives on in all of us.
A Yuletide Gift of Kindness
Finally, my thanks on this day to Kathy, whom I love very deeply. This is for you.
On to tonight’s comments!
There were no submissions in the TC mailbox, which seems a good thing to me! I hope it means everyone is settled in with their families, and having a happy, love-filled Thanksgiving!
My picks:
jonnie rae is retired, yet still giving! This deserves some mojo.
NM Ward Chair congratulates Wendell Potter on the ... epiphany and growth. Sorry, this will be out of recommendability at posting time. If you like it, see if another of NM Ward's comments could accept some referred mojo!
Toddlerbob made a thoughtful comment on education.
This comment from jkshaw could have come from the B. Virdot story. Sadly, it will be out of recommendability by the time this diary publishes, but I encourage you to read it and to find one of jkshaw's comments you feel comfortable recommending.
Sprouts for discipline?! aoeu explains!
paulitics has a suggestion for non-presidential turkey pardons!
Not even I could rec this comment by Laughing Vergil, as it was made yesterday before 5 pm. Even so, I had to include it, just so it could be read by others who missed it as I had. Laughing Vergil's other comments may be found here, if you're so inclined!
JupiterIslandGirl would like to see quality debate, how about you?
Top Mojo, excluding the tip jars and usual high mojo comments:
1 I Wish Every Kossack - Hell, Every American Would by terryhallinan by 11/25/2010 05:01 EST - 122
2 p.s. Happy Thanksgiving everyone by wdrath by 11/25/2010 10:34 EST - 118
3 Wow... by Major Tom by 11/25/2010 10:27 EST - 98
4 Taibbi Has The Word on Foreclosures by xaxnar by 11/24/2010 22:08 EST - 91
5 The greediest generation by Ivan by 11/25/2010 10:00 EST - 91
6 Of Interest... by Flint by 11/25/2010 11:04 EST - 91
7 Excuuuuuuuse me. by blue jersey mom by 11/25/2010 09:58 EST - 89
8 I Love, Love, Love Elizabeth Warren by MarciaJ720 by 11/24/2010 21:41 EST - 87
9 Thank you Michael by redhaze by 11/25/2010 05:17 EST - 79
10 WAIT A MINUTE by ctkeith by 11/25/2010 11:20 EST - 79
11 Original link to the Casper Star-Tribune story by Scarce by 11/25/2010 10:03 EST - 76
12 Obama appointed him. by brooklynbadboy by 11/25/2010 10:47 EST - 74
13 telling the truth . . . by Deward Hastings by 11/25/2010 16:30 EST - 74
14 Julian Assange is a remarkably brave man... by rubine by 11/25/2010 17:07 EST - 64
15 Won't mean anything to Simpson. by susanala by 11/25/2010 10:15 EST - 63
16 Simpson also called Rachel Maddow an "it" by Scarce by 11/25/2010 09:59 EST - 62
17 I Had To Put A Cat Of Mine To Sleep by webranding by 11/24/2010 21:50 EST - 60
18 Obama should have never appointed him by FishOutofWater by 11/25/2010 10:04 EST - 60
19 Excellent by ask by 11/25/2010 05:54 EST - 58
20 Obama's picks speak volumes... by Flint by 11/25/2010 11:00 EST - 58
21 It's funny how they fear populism... by Tom Seaview by 11/25/2010 06:20 EST - 58
22 Patriots that act largely outside by catilinus by 11/25/2010 05:26 EST - 57
23 The reason banks foreclose is bonuses by bcwbcw by 11/24/2010 21:37 EST - 57
24 No this is really good by Slick2009 by 11/25/2010 10:47 EST - 57
25 And what is the excuse by DWG by 11/25/2010 06:41 EST - 56
26 He thinks we are all just like him.... by dkmich by 11/25/2010 10:41 EST - 55
27 I've watched the process of demonizing by HylasBrook by 11/25/2010 10:10 EST - 55
28 Happy Thanksgiving Furballs & Hoomans ;-) by Predictor by 11/25/2010 14:58 EST - 55
29 I am very thankful for my husband by slinkerwink by 11/24/2010 21:43 EST - 54
30 Arrested for what? by Kingsmeg by 11/25/2010 16:02 EST - 53
Top Mojo, everything included (of 10952 comments in the past 24 hours)!
1 Tip Jar by brooklynbadboy by 11/25/2010 09:54 EST - 346
2 Tip Jar by Michael Moore by 11/25/2010 04:26 EST - 342
3 Tip Jar by wdrath by 11/25/2010 10:33 EST - 337
4 Tip Jar by Frank Schnittger by 11/25/2010 04:32 EST - 270
5 Tip Jar by RenaRF by 11/25/2010 10:54 EST - 250
6 Serioulsy... by KingOneEye by 11/24/2010 23:58 EST - 142
7 Tip Jar by pale cold by 11/25/2010 15:47 EST - 130
8 I Wish Every Kossack - Hell, Every American Would by terryhallinan by 11/25/2010 05:01 EST - 122
9 p.s. Happy Thanksgiving everyone by wdrath by 11/25/2010 10:34 EST - 118
10 Tip Jar by sreeizzle2012 by 11/25/2010 18:35 EST - 109
11 Gratitude Jar by StateOfGrace by 11/25/2010 14:55 EST - 106
12 I know that I owe . . . by Aji by 11/25/2010 18:31 EST - 105
13 Tip Jar by BFSkinner by 11/24/2010 21:34 EST - 102
14 Wow... by Major Tom by 11/25/2010 10:27 EST - 98
15 Tip Jar by rexymeteorite by 11/25/2010 03:04 EST - 95
16 Of Interest... by Flint by 11/25/2010 11:04 EST - 91
17 The greediest generation by Ivan by 11/25/2010 10:00 EST - 91
18 Taibbi Has The Word on Foreclosures by xaxnar by 11/24/2010 22:08 EST - 91
19 Excuuuuuuuse me. by blue jersey mom by 11/25/2010 09:58 EST - 89
20 I Love, Love, Love Elizabeth Warren by MarciaJ720 by 11/24/2010 21:41 EST - 87
21 WAIT A MINUTE by ctkeith by 11/25/2010 11:20 EST - 79
22 Thank you Michael by redhaze by 11/25/2010 05:17 EST - 79
23 Original link to the Casper Star-Tribune story by Scarce by 11/25/2010 10:03 EST - 76
24 Thank you Elizabeth Warren! by Zoltan by 11/24/2010 21:05 EST - 76
25 Obama appointed him. by brooklynbadboy by 11/25/2010 10:47 EST - 74
26 Tip Jar by Ojibwa by 11/25/2010 11:47 EST - 74
27 telling the truth . . . by Deward Hastings by 11/25/2010 16:30 EST - 74
28 Welcome to all by SisTwo by 11/24/2010 21:03 EST - 70
29 You can get anything you want... by Interceptor7 by 11/25/2010 00:11 EST - 65
30 Julian Assange is a remarkably brave man... by rubine by 11/25/2010 17:07 EST - 64
Thank you for visiting tonight!