One for All: Strength from our own.
Dear Editor Grants has a SUPER POWER.
Families meeting at our favorite places in the mountains, groups of friends planning a birthday or baby shower, or community members working together to help our own., I have seen great things take place in the desert. Our power lies in the people who surround us.
While we are seen around the state as resourcestrapped, underserved, and out-of-picture, the people of Grants challenge those ideas through characteristics like resilience, resourcefulness, and loyalty. It is why we have a hardware store like Diamond G, why we can enjoy a family legacy like El Cafecito, and why we can share in the memories made at the Farmer’s Market or our favorite watering holes. We stick together through thick and thin.
I love that Grants has a strong sense of family and community. They say, “home is where the heart is” and we embody that saying to the core. The people of Grants have a heart for our community, though it might show in different ways. I think deep down we all care what happens to this land and to the places we grew up in. I say, it’s through family, friends and community that we see a way forward to making Grants a place where we can prosper. I see it in friends who meet at Mt. Taylor Coffee to stay in touch and to meet each other’s needs; Sons and daughters who ritualistically visit their parents to share meals and stories just like their generation before them; Service organizations who meet to discuss the issues plaguing our community making plans to solve those problems.
I am lucky to feel like a Grantsonian, despite not growing up here. Visiting Grants throughout my childhood and living in Grants since 2017, I have experienced the Fire & Ice Bike Rally, I’ve walked along the luminarias in San Mateo, I’ve attended midnight mass at St. Teresa. I’ve hiked the summit of Mt. Taylor, I’ve seen aspens in the fall, I’ve driven through Post Office Flats. All these experiences and more have been the product of love from family and friends.
I’ve felt drawn to this land and its people. There’s something rich here, and it’s not the uranium, coal, or carrots. It’s the power of family, friends, and community that show up in every building, bush, and body.
It’s amazing what we can do when we are together.
William Yarborough