To earn the appreciation of honest critics and
endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you lived.
This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo EmersonI have posted this quote as the first blog on this site because it reminds me of so many things concerning my mother. Although I'm not sure to what extent she endured "the betrayal of false friends", I'm sure she truly succeeded in life in so many ways. The part of the quote about leaving "a healthy child" behind really touched me. Since her death many have told me that I was "her life" or "her best work". Of course this is not something I would have ever said about myself but it is nice to hear others perspectives. And that is, in fact, why I've created this blog. It is my hope that all who visit it will share some tid-bit of their lives that they experienced with my mother. Something that they loved about her. Something that made Debora Hildreth a unique and special person in their lives. Thank you all for taking the time to share!
I was very touched when I found out Debora could help me out, as a volunteer, in looking up, digging through, and printing a ridiculous amount of material for sending reports to our archives at work. To this day I would still be playing catch-up with these archives. From this I learned she is a very sweet, giving lady. I won't forget her act of kindness and think of it often.
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