By Paul Hyde
Let’s admit it, South Carolinians: We’ve got the best state motto.
“Dum Spiro Spero.”
While I breathe, I hope.
Is there a better motto for a New Year?
It’s no wonder that the New Year is often depicted as a bright-eyed baby facing the future with a big sunny smile.
The year ahead beckons with hope and grand potential.
Yes, that’s idealistic, but with a motto like “Dum Spiro Spero,” optimism is our birthright.
It invites us to face the coming year with an anything-is-possible attitude.
Pity poor Maine and its state motto: Dirigo (Latin, for “I direct.”)
What does that even mean?
Or how about the state of Washington’s unofficial motto: “By and By.” Sounds like a placeholder waiting for a real motto: “By and By, We’ll Figure Out Something Better.”
Or California’s: Eureka! (Greek, for “I have found it!”). Yes, but what do you intend to do with it?
A few years ago, the Saturday Evening Post ranked all the state mottos. South Carolina’s motto came in at No. 11 from the top.
Just No. 11.
Well. We South Carolinians are a generous folk, so we’ll forgive the error.
This year, my family has a special reason to be joyful. As I write (Dec. 26), my niece Lily was just born, hours ago.
Welcome to our beautiful and flawed world, Lily. I hope you find it to your liking.
Fountain of youth
As I think about our state motto, a memory stirs from 15 years ago.
The memory takes place during this relaxing week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when much of the world seems to have slowed down to take stock of the past and think about the future.
It’s a pleasant time to lie around, read a book and think idle thoughts, like musing on state mottos.
Fifteen years ago, I was visiting my Dad in my hometown, Houston. Though in his late 70s at the time, he seemed to have discovered the fountain of youth.
His secret: hanging out with young people.
His friends from church kept him youthful, energetic and healthy. I remember four friends visiting one chilly Friday evening, arriving at his house in a gust of warm exuberance to play board games.
They marched in, dumped dominoes on the living room table and immediately got down to business.
They were serious but jolly competitors. The talk was easy and spirited, about friends and family and church and the New Year dawning.
The laughter and punch flowed freely. It does your heart good and probably adds years to your life just to be around such vital folks.
The game went on for four solid hours. But that’s the way it is with young people — abundant energy.
Finding grace
Four years earlier, it was a different story in my boyhood home. My Mother had died, and our world collapsed.
In that dark time, my Dad found grace and consolation through his church, getting together with those friends and participating in fellowship projects.
One of his favorites was Second Family, in which Dad and his friends visited ailing church members and those afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. During these visits, volunteers sat and listened, did a few chores and provided a respite for caregivers.
Dad loved Second Family, one of fewer than 100 nationwide honored by President George W. Bush in 2006 with the President’s Volunteer Service Award. It was one of the great prides of my father’s life.
For my Dad, the New Year meant new opportunities to serve.
At this time of year, I always think about that evening of board games long ago at my Dad’s house. The change of calendars encourages everyone to look at the world, like my Dad’s friends, with refreshed energy. If there were no such thing as a New Year already, we’d be wise to invent it simply for the rich fund of inspiration it offers to all who choose to grasp it.
“Live all you can,” said Henry James. “It’s a mistake not to.”
The cynic, of course, reminds us of our troubles: wars, poverty, disease, a polarized and endangered world in turmoil.
I give the cynic his due, but this week I remember my Dad’s young friends, alight with energy.
I’m sorry to say they’re all gone now. This memory, as I mentioned, took place 15 years ago, and my Dad’s friends were all in their 80s.
They were young in spirit, not in age. They lived life to the fullest.
The cliché is true: Youthfulness is not so much a number but an attitude of optimism and joy.
While we breathe, we hope.
Happy youthful New Year, South Carolinians!
Paul Hyde is a longtime journalist and teacher in the Upstate. He worked 18 years for the Greenville News as a columnist, editorial writer, education reporter and arts writer. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clemson and Harvard universities. He has written for the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News and USA Today, among other publications. He currently is a regular contributor to the Greenville Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Classical Voice North America.
