Six years ago, Abigail was born.  Christy and I were blessed to welcome this amazing little girl into the world. Yet, despite the love she receives from her family, her life will be challenged. You see, the loss of oxygen at birth caused minor damage to her brain. Her motor skills are slower, speech jumbled, attention span limited and she lives on the Autism Spectrum.

Since January of 2007, she’s experienced seizures. She has too often visited the hospital, yet is an amazing young girl whose desire to learn is only surpassed by her genuine compassion for others.  Like the 1 in every 100 American children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, every day is a new challenge for her.

We all know families impacted by Autism, and we all know the financial hardship that comes with raising a child with special needs. Early diagnosis can assist in a child’s development and reduce the need for services throughout their lifetime. Families confronting the diagnosis and challenges of raising a child with Autism should know that this legislative session, we adopted legislation to require health insurance policies to provide coverage for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of Autism.

I am proud to have supported and advocated for the legislation. Early screening, diagnosis and intervention provide the greatest promise. While coverage is subject to the standard policy limitations that apply to other health disorders, coverage is required throughout the entire life of the individual diagnosed.  It is likely that this legislation will not only provide much-needed protections, but may also lead to financial savings since early diagnosis and treatment is least costly and most effective.

If signed by the governor, I am confident this legislation will provide much benefit to those living with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Please view my comments on the bill by visiting my Assembly website: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=103 (Molinaro on Autism).

On May 12, 2009, Abigail became a big sister. She bosses Jack around like any big sister would. Because of him she struggles a little less to enjoy the childhood she deserves. Let’s hope our efforts together result in every one of our children achieving their greatest potential.

The Light and Warmth of Life: Their Sacrifice is Our Calling

May 31, 2010

It was May 1^st, 1865 and nearly 10,000 liberated slaves marched onto the old Washington Race Course, now turned Confederate prison camp. Hundreds of Union soldiers died there in captivity. Having disinterred the dead soldiers from the mass grave, the ‘Friends of the Martyrs,’ as they were known, provided proper burial to these heroes. Shortly after nine o’clock the freed men and women joined military men and schoolchildren as they formed a procession to honor the “Martyrs of the Race Course.”

Like us, they marched to give honor to their fallen heroes. Like us, they brought flowers and wreaths. Like us, they sang and paid tribute to those who gave, as President Abraham Lincoln offered in his immortal address at Gettysburg, their “last full measure of devotion.”

For having organized and repeated a community-wide “Decoration Day,” on May 5^th 1866, Waterloo, New York is recognized as the birthplace of what we now observe as Memorial Day. It is, however, stories like this inspiring footnote in history that remind us how acts of selflessness and compassion have come to define the meaning of this day.

On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp, where they discovered some seven thousand prisoners, including young children. American forces also witnessed evidence of the Holocaust and Nazi war crimes as they too traversed Germany, liberating other major concentration camps.

When they came, simple acts of kindness and decency gave rise to profound joy. One female survivor who recalled her liberation wrote of an American soldier who greeted her and asked, “May I see the other ladies?” After six years of being addressed with insults and slurs, to be called a lady was an overwhelming courtesy not afforded her in quite some time. The soldier asked that she come with him, and the woman explained, “he held the door open for me and let me precede him, and in that gesture restored my humanity.”

Eighty years after those freed slaves inspired the birth of this day, on a continent foreign to most of the American servicemen sent to liberate it, there can be no greater expression of the meaning and purpose of Memorial Day than the simple statement of a grateful Jewish woman.

In his official order declaring Memorial Day, General John A. Logan seems to acknowledge the challenge, we as a nation would experience in keeping faith with this awesome holiday.  He wrote: “Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic. If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us.”

While we are not a nation divided in battle, we are a nation in struggle. The economic peril we face confronts every individual, family and business in our land. Ongoing political transition challenges our sensitivities and understanding of what is right and wrong. Our times demand a serious dialogue and those we honor today deserve an engaged populous.

And so, we must ask ourselves, “does the light and warmth of life remain in us?”

Whether confronting the near dissolution of our Union during Lincoln’s day, or debating the treatment of suspected terrorists during our own, finding a solution, seeking answers, and achieving a final course of action cannot be summed up in 60 seconds or less.

The challenges Lincoln’s America faced and those we face today demand much more of us.  No amount of apathy, disengagement or disregard can overwhelm the innovation, creativity, determination and promise of an America deep in truth-seeking debate.

We cannot allow the significant challenges of our day to become a footnote in our own lives. Instead, we must re-engage in our democracy, invest in our future and dare ourselves to do great things.

As President Lincoln noted, “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew.”

With unwavering resolve we must continue to give meaning to their loss. We, and the generations who follow us, must remain devoted to the principles and hopes for which these heroic citizens gave their lives.

Their sacrifice is our calling. With our servicemen and women currently in harm’s way around the globe, the reasoned purpose of our nation could not be more clear. Beneath the bright and vivid colors of our flag America continues its struggle to define its place in the world and fulfill the very promise of its founding.

We are the heirs to this promise. We must take our place in the brilliant history defended by these heroes.  Let us not fail them. In their memory let us each give dignity to their loss, decency to their cause and hope to those who live on in their shadow. In their honor let us ignite a dedication to each other that will establish a firm and lasting legacy.

“Let us,” as Lincoln implored, “strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle…  to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”

May God’s glory be upon all those who sacrifice in service to us. May his grace shower those who live with loss, and may He keep the light and warmth of life alive and well in all of us as He continues to bless our community and the United States of America.

Marcus Molinaro is New York State Assemblyman representing District 103, and Associate Publisher of Hudson Valley Mercantile.

Mother’s Day: A History of Rightful Adoration

“Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the said Joint Resolution, do hereby direct the government officials to display the United States flag on all government buildings and do invite the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”

Following United States Representative James T. Hefflin’s and Senator Morris Sheppard’s resolution designating the second day of May as “Mother’s Day,” President Woodrow Wilson offered that proclamation on May 9, 1914.  From then until now, as a nation we pause to recognize the one individual who knew us before we knew ourselves. Of course, as America is but a young nation, Mother’s Day finds it roots in Ancient Greece and Rome.

The Greeks of that era organized spring festivals honoring their maternal goddesses. Specifically, they worshiped Cybele, the mother of many of the Greek gods. Romans honored Juno at a festival called Matronalia.  Celebrated on the “Ides of March” the multi-day festivities included parades, games and the like.  Apparently, the celebrations grew too rowdy and boisterous as those followers were subsequently banished from the Roman Empire.  Now that’s what we might call a massive “TIME OUT.”

Christianity incorporated a similar celebration to recognize the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ.  Designating the fourth Sunday in Lent, early Christians honored Mary with reverence and praise. Later, the English expanded this day for recognizing Mary to a celebration for all mothers, then called “Mothering Day.”

By the 19^th Century, Mothering Day had all but ceased, until the day was “resurrected” by American servicemen after World War II.  But, let’s step back for a moment…

In 1872 Julia Ward Howe suggested the holiday be celebrated on June 2 to celebrate and promote peace.  The author of the Civil War song, “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Ward rallied women across the country to rise up against war in her “Mother’s Day Proclamation” written in 1870. Her Mothers’ Peace Day was observed on the second Sunday of June for several years until the idea was incorporated in the official Mother’s Day we celebrate today.

The generally recognized “mother of Mothers Day,” is Anna Jarvis. Having never married nor ever having children, Jarvis sought to bestow honor on mother’s throughout the nation, as her mother Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis wished that one day someone would honor mothers everywhere.  When her mother died in 1905, Anna Jarvis sought to establish, in Mrs. Jarvis’ memory, a national day for Mothers.

Sending her mother’s favorite flower, the carnation, to her local church services she began her modest campaign. She organized letter-writing campaigns to national leaders calling for an official declaration of Mother’s Day.  The effort grew, and the Mother’s Day International Association was nearing success.  By 1911 Mothers Day was celebrated in nearly every state in the Union.  With the assistance of Philadelphia Merchant, John Wanamaker, Jarvis convinced Congress to adopt the joint resolution and President Woodrow Wilson signed the first Mother’s Day in the United States.  Note the apostrophe in the official proclamation:

“She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honor their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world.” (Louisa Taylor, Canwest News Service (2008-05-11). “Mother’s Day creator likely ‘spinning in her grave’”. Vancouver Sun.)

President Wilson, and all those who follow have kept faith with her suggestion.

Like most America holidays, Mother’s Day has been challenged and threatened by commercialism.  This is not to suggest we shouldn’t buy cards and gifts to heap praise on our mothers. Anna Jarvis was, however, somewhat disheartened in her day to see this reverent holiday fall prey to those seeking financial benefit. One can only guess the scolding we might receive from Ms. Jarvis today.

A friend recently expressed to me his disinterest in this holiday proclaiming it just another one of those “Hallmark Holidays,” noting his mother has come to expect moderate adoration throughout the year. I suspect his mother wouldn’t mind a pause in his busy life to offer a bit of praise.  A “Matronalia” celebration might not be necessary, but a genuine expression of love to the woman upon whom we have and continue to rely is the least we can do.

If the long history of this day is not suggestion enough, perhaps the months of pregnancy or hours of labor could inspire an appropriate recognition from any one of us to our mothers. I know, for me, all that I am has come from the love, discipline, expectation and comfort provided me by my mom.

Yes, we have busy lives. Yes, the holiday has lost a bit of its purity. But my reliance on the strength of a woman who inspired me to care, demanded I offer respect, and taught us to make a difference in the lives of others has never been overlooked or forgotten. Her lessons, demands and concern live on in my love for my wife and children.

The least we can do is acknowledge the placement of that apostrophe and enjoy a moment of true adoration for the women who made us who we are. Whether in person, or through remembrances and prayer, your mother will appreciate the gesture… Mark my word.