CityView Magazine

6 November 2021 EDITOR'S CORNER 'Everything will fall into place' BY KIM HAST Y Contact Kim Hasty at khasty@cityviewnc.com or at 910-423-6500, ext. 317. I t was many years ago, when I was a young mother and oen exhausted, that someone presented me with the book, "e Giving Tree." I read the book quickly and then placed it on a shelf where, over the years, it has shared space with a variety of other keepers: "A Civil Action," by Jonathan Harr; a copy of "Little Women" that was a gi from a dear friend when my first child was born; several books by the wonderful Anna Quindlen and a copy of "Go Set a Watchman," loaned long ago from another friend and still in need of return. e late Shel Silverstein wrote "e Giving Tree" in 1964. e book, with its glossy green cover and simple drawing of an apple tree and a boy, is billed as a children's book. Its lessons, which are still debated all these years later, seem nevertheless quite profound. e story is well-known to the documented millions who have purchased the book. e boy loves to play in and around the tree, but then gets older and looks to the tree only for the benefit afforded by its apples, its limbs and, eventually, its trunk. In the end, the boy is an old man le sitting on the only thing le of the tree, its stump. Some say the book is a cautionary tale for the givers of the world as well as the takers. Aer all, not once does the boy thank the tree for its gis. And not once does the tree admonish the boy for failing to show his appreciation. In all my years as a writer, I've interviewed many remarkable givers who were generous in a variety of overwhelmingly remarkable ways. People who have fed children, taken in stray animals, knitted caps for newborns, prepared anksgiving turkeys for families in need, served daily hot breakfasts to the homeless, written checks for the construction of athletic stadiums and concert halls and affordable housing. Children who have sold cups of lemonade and given the money to help other children in need. So many people who, for one reason or another, are committed down deep inside to "love thy neighbor as thyself." I cannot recall one of them who seemed to ever expect a single thing in return. "My parents always taught me to stay in the shadows," says one of this year's four winners of CityView's Community Impact Awards. "Do good things for people and everything will fall into place." As "e Giving Tree" reminds us, life will not always be equitable, and gratitude will not always be forthcoming. Still, everything will fall into place. And what a privilege it has been to meet so many, many people who believe that. "My parents always taught me to stay in the shadows," says one of this year's four winners of CityView's Community Impact Awards. "Do good things for people and everything will fall into place."

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