First of all, the clock is working on the Court House Wall. Wahoo!!!
I received an e-mail from a lady who cares. She told me I should go
check out the clock at the courthouse and talk to someone about fixing it. I
thought to myself and laughed, that’s her mode of operation, not mine. I just
write about it. In my earlier days, I might have had My Sweet Al up on a ladder
leaning against the wall, fixing the clock. I would have gotten him in a world
of trouble, but not today.
This is a lady who has been a friend of mine for over twenty-three
years. Two years ago, the City of Clovis, New Mexico, appointed her as one of
the people who made a difference in their town. The City asked me to come and
speak on her behalf. I did.
I spent a long time preparing my speech. I asked the audience this
question, “Who is Betty Lucero? She is no nonsense, all black and white. There
is no one who she wouldn’t help.” I wanted to be as authentic as she is. She is
the real deal.
The other speakers had long pages of bragging rights for their
candidates, with all their degrees, credentials, and diplomas. They were on the
Who’s Who list in the City of Clovis. They were doctors and mayors. My friend
had no degrees, held no office, no position, and was an eighth grade dropout.
It was unheard of a woman, especially a Spanish woman to be in
business in the 1950’s. She owned five businesses during that time. At the end
of my speech, I asked everyone to stand who had been personally touched by this
woman. Four hundred people stood to testify that she had made a difference in
their lives.
Over the years, when I have visited her, she would say, “So and so
is struggling in business, we need to go buy something from them. Or, let’s eat
there, and help them out.” She came by my gallery in the ‘90’s in Albuquerque,
and started moving my art around. I had never met her before that day. She said
it would sell if I displayed it a different way. She was right. My dearest
friend is still a little bossy, but don’t be fooled, this woman cares.
She wrote this note about her own mother who passed away at 94 years
old. Her mother was a tough woman, and I have seen the same determination and
heart in my friend, Betty Lucero.
“Slade, Oh how I can relate to your article. Remind me to laugh when I can’t. I once knew a “Pillar”. A lady who
got up early to do lots of everything, which she felt needed to be done. When
she got up in the morning, the rest of the world was suppose to be up as well.
Oh, but then came the day when she could no longer get up and do all those
things which were so important to her.
I need to tell you, all those things continued to be important to
her. However, she no longer could muster the strength to get up. Oh, she tried,
because “she still cared.”
So, let me make a suggestion here. Have you considered stopping in
to ask why the clock stopped working? I am now 75 years (young), at least that
is in my mind. When I need help to do simple things, which I used to be able to
do by my self, someone will ask, “Can I help?” The tendency is to say, “NO, I
CAN DO IT MYSELF.” There will be a day when I’ll have to say, “Yes, thank you
for helping me!”
When that happens, that day I will think of the Pillar I once knew.
It was My Mother, who left us 4 years ago this February. But guess what? She
never left, because her Pillar Spirit will live on forever in anyone who knew her.
Why? Simply, because she cared!
Stop in next time you go around that bend. Why? Simply because
you’re the one who cares!
Until next time, I enjoy all the articles from all the writers.
Thank you Pagosa Springs SUN for allowing them to express how they CARE.”
A Friend who cares in New Mexico
Betty Lucero
Final
Brushstroke! I’m glad the clock is working. My friend would continue to remind me
that I needed to do something about it, because I noticed it and she cares.
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