MOTHER'S SWEET IDEA SURVIVES PARTING, YEARS.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
``We came to the dinner table to find a rose by the napkin napkin See Sanitary napkin. of each daughter, a carnation carnation: see pink. carnation Herbaceous plant (Dianthus caryophyllus) of the pink family, native to the Mediterranean, widely cultivated for its fringe-petaled, often spicy-smelling flowers. by the napkin of each son. We all looked at each other, wondering what was going on.'' - Carmen Carmen throws over lover for another. [Fr. Lit.: Carmen; Fr. Opera: Bizet, Carmen, Westerman, 189–190] See : Faithlessness Carmen the cards repeatedly spell her death. [Fr. Cordova Cordova, Spain: see Córdoba. . Love was going on. Respect was going on. A mother was about to honor her five teen-age children with a special day, as they had honored their parents on Mother's Day and on Father's Day. Raquel Beaumont was beginning a family tradition on a Sunday in July 1955, one that would reach across international borders and span four decades to continue today. She called it Offspring Day, and it has worked beautifully. The proof is right here in a small home in Arleta, where her children will gather for the 41st consecutive year to be honored by their parents - now, in turn, also honoring their own children and grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. . That table of five children I initially wrote about a few years back, when I first heard of this innovative day, has grown to a table of 35 children. As always, the only gifts that will be exchanged are love and time. And these must be shared and passed on to the next generation of children. Those are the rules of Raquel Beaumont's Offspring Day. An idea so simple and sweet, you wonder how Hallmark hallmark, mark impressed on silverwork or goldwork to signify official approval of the standard of purity of the metal, also called plate mark. The hallmark was introduced by statute in England in 1300 and enforced by the Goldsmiths' Hall, London. missed it. To understand how this tradition began, you have to go back to Lima, Peru, and that dinner table on the first Offspring Day, where roses waited by the napkins of Raquel's two daughters, carnations by the napkins of her three sons. ``Mama began to talk of how close we all were - and that she wanted this closeness, this communication we shared, to last forever,'' said daughter Carmen Cordova, who was 15 at the time. ``She knew that we would all be going our separate ways soon, and that she would no longer have the chance to sit with each of us for half an hour every night, to see what we needed and how our lives were going. ``None of us ever went to sleep as kids without Mama coming down to our level and giving each of us that personal time,'' Carmen said. ``I can remember vividly at that dinner - Mama looking around the table, at each of us, and telling us the only gifts we would be receiving on Offspring Day were time and love. ``She expected each of us to pass it on to our own children, and we have,'' Carmen said. The proof is right here, she said. Forty-one years of it. From Colombia come Roberto, a dentist dentist /den·tist/ (den´tist) a person with a degree in dentistry and authorized to practice dentistry. den·tist n. A person who is trained and licensed to practice dentistry. , and his three children. From Peru come Raquel and Ricardo, both lawyers, and their combined five children. From Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. come Carmen, a psychologist, and her four children and four grandchildren - and Gustavo, a doctor, who has yet to start a family. All coming to Arleta on a Sunday in July so Raquel and Roberto Beaumont can once again honor them with the gifts of love and time - and so they, in turn, can honor their own children on Offspring Day. The day runs deeper than just symbolism Symbolism In art, a loosely organized movement that flourished in the 1880s and '90s and was closely related to the Symbolist movement in literature. In reaction against both Realism and Impressionism, Symbolist painters stressed art's subjective, symbolic, and decorative , Carmen knows - much deeper. It is no accident that the offspring in this family are so successful and close. Raquel Beaumont, now 84, knew exactly what she was doing back in 1955 when she carried those roses and carnations to the dinner table. She knew exactly why it was so important for her to spend special time with each of her children every night - to be there helping them when they studied for their bar exams Noun 1. bar exam - an examination conducted at regular intervals to determine whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction; "applicants may qualify to take the New York bar examination by graduating from an approved law school"; "he passed and medical exams, preparing for their own careers and lives when they left her home. She was looking into the future and seeing how much could go wrong if her children were not prepared and ready. ``When we see children in gangs today or doing something wrong, we know it is the parents who have failed,'' Carmen said. ``You must be strict with your children, but they must feel your love, too. ``You must give them patience and attention. Don't waste the minutes you sit and talk with your children. Make them important. Make them count. ``Give them the gifts of time and love.'' She turns and repeats the words in Spanish to the old woman sitting nearby, the woman who immigrated to this country in 1989 from Peru and speaks no English. Raquel Beaumont smiles and nods. Her children have learned well since that day she carried two roses and three carnations to the dinner table. MEMO MEMO Memorandum MEMO Medicines Monitoring Unit (University of Dundee) MEMO Medical Equipment Management Office MEMO Mission-Essential Maintenance Only MEMO Mission-Essential Maintenance Operations MEMO Mental Modeler : Dennis McCarthy's column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Raquel Beaumont gives her daughter Carmen Cordova akiss on Offspring Day, a tradition the mother of five began 41 years ago to honor her children. Gus Ruelas/Daily News |
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