Collins' Christmas Greetings Bring Spirit Of The Holiday Alive

By now most of us have armies of holiday cards lined up in formation on mantles, refrigerators and desks.

Some of them offer brief salutations, others deep holiday wishes, and still more lengthy recaps of the senders' lives since last Christmas. Some were dashed off out of obligation, some were meticulously crafted outbursts of feeling. Most were probably sent from a place somewhere in-between.

But all of them were the result of an effort, however minute.

They offer a connection, brief and ephemeral, to the lives of loved ones. A lifeline to the milestones of their lives.

It's been almost 20 years since the friends of Richard Collins were recipients of his own unique annual holiday correspondence.

However, 16 Christmases after the 30-year veteran teacher and coach in the Moline school system passed from prostate cancer in January 1992, that connection has been re-established.

Earlier this fall, the Midwest Writing Center released “Greater Joy, Shorter Sorrow, Thankful Prayer,” a collection of Christmas poems Collins sent to friends from 1965 to 1990. Most of the poems are recaps of the year, some of them are odes to the season, all of them have a warm personality and a certain resonance.

Books are $11 and can be ordered by contacting the Midwest Writing Center or on Amazon.com. Proceeds are shared by the Midwest Writing Center and the Richard J. Collins’ Scholarship Fund. You can find out more at http://www.midwestwritingcenter.org.

I wrote about the book in October, back when it was first published. However, three events brought me back to revisit it. One was the proximity to the holiday. Another was recently seeing Collins' widow, Susan, and son, Ryan at a Midwest Writing Center event, And the third was some time spent cleaning out old files and tossing ancient Christmas cards.

Postcards from the past. Time machines. Some worth a laugh, some worth a smile.

The same could be said of Collins' poems.

Most of them are frozen moments, warm sentiments without pretention. However, now they're reminders, comforts for loved ones, all because he took the effort to bring them to life.

``The book being released brought mixed feelings for me,'' Susan said. ``The neatest part about it is Ryan being introduced to his father's work. He knew his Dad wrote poetry but he hadn't read a lot of his poems. It was a great opportunity for him.

``It brings back memories for me, it makes me nostalgic,'' Susan said, wistfully. ``I'm glad other people have the opportunity to go through and read them. ''

It's almost a certainty that when Richard Collins wrote them, he had no idea that almost 20 years on, they would still be impacting people's lives. That people he had never met would be discovering them.

There's something very appropriate in that, given the season's giving nature. And aside from the obvious subject matter, there's something about Collins' book that really brings the spirit of the holidays alive.

You may read this and decide to pick up a copy of Collins' book for yourself. You may see it in a bookstore and check it out, flip through it, read a few of the poems. And in them, you may see a mirror of your own life. Of the cards you've gotten. Of the sentiments within. Of the connections being made, however small, with the people who have made up the fabric of your life.

And all of them beginning with an effort, a step being made, a connection forged.

When he reached out to create them, Richard Collins' missives were thought to be little more than temporary amusements.

Now they're a legacy, a tie that binds.

Little do we know how the efforts we'll make this holiday season will be received. The impact they'll have. But, however tiny, as with Richard Collins, the possibility for a deeper resonance, completely unbeknownst to us, is always there. Our actions, however insignificant we deem them, have the potential for a greater impact, now or somewhere down the line.

What will your impact be?

Have a safe and merry Christmas.










copyright 2008 Sean Leary / for more writing see www.seanleary.com