Posts Tagged ‘Marti Maltby’
Peace Housing Community: Standing Still
By MARTI MALTBY I spent last week visiting my parents in Jasper, a small town in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It was the first time since my 11 year old twins were born that I have been away from them for more than two days consecutively. It was also the first time in over 20 years that I spent time with my parents without other family around. My time with them reminded me of some of life’s simple truths. Marti with his parents, Margaret and Roger I visited them because my dad has been declining for several years, both physically and mentally. I wanted to see how he was doing for myself, and to let the rest of my family know what I saw. The experience was bittersweet, as I got to spend more quality time with my parents than I have in all of the last two decades, while at the same time realizing I will probably never get to have another good in person conversation with my dad. He will simply be too far gone by the time we get together again. One of the joys of the trip [...]
Looking Forward
Peace House Community”“A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY A recent email from HousingLink, a local nonprofit that works on low income housing issues, contained links to news articles with depressing titles like: â— “Elderly and homeless: America”™s next housing crisis” â— “New report shows Minnesota LGBTQ teens and adults overrepresented in homeless population” â— “Homeless and facing winter in Minneapolis” â— “Homeless families struggle with impossible choices as school closures continue” â— “Homeless advocates blame Minneapolis”™ continued lack of affordable housing for ”˜Wall of Forgotten Natives”™ resurgence” â— “Neighbors object to Ramsey County plan to convert St. Paul hospital into a homeless shelter” While I try to find positive things to pass on to others, [...]
Keep Calm
Peace House Community ”“ A Place to Belong BY MARTI MALTBY American society seems to have become a lot less civil over the years. I know bullies and those who overreact to perceived slights have always existed, but it seems as though people now think it is their patriotic duty to accuse others of committing a moral wrong every time they hear something that offends them. These days conversations and social media aren”™t used to establish mutual understanding as much as to tell other people why they are wrong. In some ways I can understand why this is happening now. Between the pandemic, economic collapse, social unrest, and the loss of routine and certainty, we should expect that people will be on edge. Emotions are running high, and people will react more strongly than usual to things that upset them. But on the other hand, panic never made anything better. (You can put that on a t-shirt if you think it will help anyone around you.) The [...]
