Hope, cooperation live among us; encourage and promote both

Submitted by Sue Simpson Gallagher
Posted 8/11/22

Dear Editor:

The weekend before last I was privileged to bear witness to a few extraordinary events in my community.

I visited the Heart Mountain Relocation Center and watched the ground …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Hope, cooperation live among us; encourage and promote both

Posted

Dear Editor:

The weekend before last I was privileged to bear witness to a few extraordinary events in my community.

I visited the Heart Mountain Relocation Center and watched the ground breaking ceremony of the Mineta-Simpson Institute which will be a dedicated retreat space at the center, a home for workshops and programming specifically designed to foster empathy, courage, and cooperation in the next generation of leaders. No one spoke of bitterness or hatred.

I went to a Liz Cheney reception with people in attendance who asked important questions which intimated that they were not necessarily going to vote for Liz but wanted to listen to her perspective. No one came to insult or harm her.

I went to a brave performance of “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” and listened to a talk-back by a young, smart Cody man who went to school to be a lawyer and now is a teacher. He spoke about hate crime laws and anti-discrimination. No one came to hurt him.

At the same time of these events there was another pilgrimage to Heart Mountain. “Return to Foretops Father” was led by Native Americans and other community members who shared stories and ceremonies of what this place means to them. People listened to each other.

During the weekend I was awash with gratitude for my community, for the way we live together and take care of each other. I was aware of the many opportunities to come to know one another.

As I drive the streets of Cody right now it feels as if we are in the midst of neighborhood battles. Political signs beckon to each other. They raise ire in some, delight in others and hatred in a few.

I love this town that raised me. I moved away and I hope while I was gone I was an ambassador for this town, this state that is my heart home.

I am proud to be a fifth generation Wyomingite. I just got lucky. I have never tried to tell anyone what to believe if you are a Wyomingite. I don’t want anyone else to tell me. I want to be a community open to different ideas, to an appreciation of diversity. A town that greets its neighbors and its visitors with kindness and respect.

As we move into this last week before the primary election I hope that we all can remember to treat each other with grace and an acceptance of our differences and an appreciation of what we can do to make where we live the best place possible. I have hope that we can do this.

As a child of politics who has never been very involved I vow to do better. To respect those who think differently than I do. To listen. To learn. To do my homework. To make decisions for myself. All at the same time looking to be willing to work with others for the good of our community. I believe, in the words of the great writer and historian Wallace Stegner that, “One cannot be pessimistic about the West. This is the native home of hope. When it fully learns that cooperation, not rugged individualism, is the quality that most characterizes and preserves it, then it will have achieved itself and outlived its origins. Then it has a chance to create a society to match its scenery.”

I wish that for us.

Respectfully submitted,

Sue Simpson Gallagher

Cody

Comments