Remembering to Give Thanks

This is the season of giving thanks, an expression that takes many forms. As we begin this shorter week that marks the rush to the end of this semester, I am grateful to each of you for all that you do to support NOVA students. Each of our days is marked by thousands and thousands of choices, and your choice to put our students first time and time again makes more difference in their lives than you will ever know. Thank you!

In this spirit, I share a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, “Remember.” The poem calls on us all to remember what we owe to each other, to those who came before, and to the universe, itself; and I wish you a holiday filled with the warmth of family and friends, whether around a shared table or a shared zoom. Be happy and be safe!

Remember

by Joy Harjo

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the stars’ stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.