11/05/2020
So I debated posting this and this wasn’t easy for me to write, but I thought this was important to share. Mother’s Day has been a particularly difficult time for me since my mom passed last year. She was a truly remarkable woman. Part scientist, part creative, part seeker of truth and right doing, she always wanted to escape into a misty forest at dawn and run towards the light that spills through the trees or cloak herself in velvet and swim into a glittering nebula beyond. Growing up, my siblings and I used to put on silly talent shows for her and my dad and make them a romantic dinner complete with candles, cut up hot dogs, mustard and ketchup dipping sauce and Lay’s potato chips, which partly inspired this whacky little talent competition. I think when we lose someone, especially a Mom, the best way to honor their memory is to remember and be grateful for everything they have done for us and then try to act in accordance with that remembrance and gratitude. With that in mind, I have since endeavored to try to live my life the way she taught me to, to work hard, to be kind to others and work to try to make a better world. She always really loved the Mr. Rogers quote below which I think is particularly relevant to this rather strange chapter that we all currently find ourselves in: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
During times like this, the heightened knowledge of fragility and mortality produced by such recent events can terrify, embitter and separate. It can also awaken. It can remind us not to take the people who love us for granted and that we can either view such things as a crisis or a call to show up for ourselves and others, a setback or a summons to be something more, an obstacle or an opportunity to make things better. I know a lot of people may be hurting right now and may not be in a position to be able to give, but it has also been breaking may heart watching the emotional and financial toll the recent pandemic has not only taken on my dad who is a musician, but also a lot of my creative friends and restaurant staff who are suffering from lack of income right now. You may not personally know any of the local creatives or talented food entrepreneurs this event and cause is supporting, but if you listened to their stories, really listened, you may frequently be overcome and amazed by their ability to continue to befriend each other, to love their families and to do what they must do to keep the machinery of the world running. You may find how miraculously they prevail and continue to do difficult and effortful tasks to hold themselves and their families and society together and bring a little more light into the world during a rather dark time… and you may find dumbfounded gratitude as the only appropriate response. Such remembrance and gratitude may even inspire you to be a helper yourself, as it did for me not too long ago.
Having said all of that, I wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has already shown their support and if you haven’t already and are able, please consider supporting our local artists and talented food entrepreneurs by making a donation to our GoFundMe below. Thank you.
Welcome to the official "The Marina's Got Talent" fundraising page. All donations go direct… Hunter Satterwhite needs your support for The Marina's Got Talent