When Giving is All We Have

We read about generations of love, support and understanding in this family and their conscious participation in the values they hold dear. Of being custodians of land and traditions and men's hearts. I thought this poem by Alberto Rios fitting. As a great many of you move into a time of Thanksgiving, I wanted to thank you all for what you give so freely to this community.

Trisha Louise, Moderator at the Falls Chance Ranch Forum

When Giving Is All We Have

(One river gives Its journey to the next.)

We give because someone gave to us.
We give because nobody gave to us.

We give because giving has changed us.
We give because giving could have changed us.

We have been better for it,
We have been wounded by it-

Giving has many faces: It is loud and quiet,
Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails.

Its story is old, the plot worn and the pages too,
But we read this book, anyway, over and again:

Giving is, first and every time, hand to hand,
Mine to yours, yours to mine.

You gave me blue and I gave you yellow.
Together we are simple green. You gave me

What you did not have, and I gave you
What I had to give-together, we made

Something greater from the difference.

—Alberto Ríos, 1952