Henrietta Hay's Column

This is not a list of New Year's Resolutions, but a few Old Year's Memories. I like to re-read the year's mail and see what people were thinking. The letters and personal reactions are what keep this columnist pumped up. They balance the hours I sit alone staring the word processor hoping inspiration will strike. This is also a chance to thank my friend the philosopher, who reads all my stuff before you do and tells me either, "OK," or, "Try again." Her judgment is flawless and her ideas are invaluable. Besides, she is a baby boomer and keeps me young.

This year I had only one letter that my editor and I had to drop in the wastebasket in disgust. Obscenity as a form of communication is not very effective and is certainly unpleasant. It was anonymous, of course, as are all the deliberately offensive ones. One anonymous but kinder person did not like the Murphy Brown/Dan Quayle column and commented, "What hurts people writers (sic) like you is that he told the truth. Why can't you?" He/she added, "Quayle did not have to push her. She got there all alone." And all this time I thought that there had been only one virgin birth. Another wrote, "The women you most admire have given you away, you 'Liberal' little old lady." Sorry to disappoint the writer, but I consider that a compliment and I still admire Margaret Mead, Eleanor Roosevelt and Betty Freidan, to say nothing of Julia Child.

I was touched by several letters of understanding when I wrote of losing my Siamese cat. A man in Glade Park said, "I usually read your column to see what we disagree about today. Your support of NOW and my being a life member of the NRA tend to put us on different sides of most issues. We agree on abortion and that is about all." But he went on to extend his sympathy to me on the loss of my cat and tell me about his love for his six-year-old Siamese. You do not have to agree with someone on issues to communicate, as long as there are the common bonds of humanity and understanding.

One day I wrote about the new Glenwood Canyon highway and told about that road in the twenties when I first rode over it. Gussie Hahnewald called to tell me that her father was a Garfield County Commissioner at that time and was involved in the planning and building of the original road through the canyon. She said they used convict labor to construct it, which scared the good citizens of Glenwood Springs.

I was a bit worried about the allegorical raisins column. I had only positive response, however, possibly because the people who would have yelled at me didn't understand it.

The family values one brought a lot of reaction. One writer commented on my ability to outgrow my family's prejudices. "You've made a real contribution to political/human discourse by showing that prejudice is a cultural thing, not an ill will thing, and it is outgrown, or can be." I hope she is right about our ability as a society to outgrow it.

Several people agreed with my dislike of meetings and with one of my reasons, poor hearing. One man said, "...dropping out of Rotary, never knowing what the preacher says, avoiding large social gatherings whenever possible isn't exactly fun, but we do the best we can." Yep.

I can't believe the number of parents who are finding comfort in the woes of Queen Elizabeth. The general reaction is, "I guess my kids aren't so bad after all." And a number of the baby boomers are saying thank you for the birthday greetings.

One of my favorite letters followed the column on Crones. "Thank you for writing about little old ladies as though we are contemporary human beings. You understand that we are still active participants in society and have most of the same interests that everybody else has." You bet! And at the other end of the age scale, a young friend of mine wondered, "How can anybody as old as you are understand us so well?" I had lots of practice and I bluff a lot.

It's the readers who ultimately write the column. Keep in touch!