FRED AND CLARA-LOUISE RIGGS
3920 Lurline Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
P: 808-732-5308; E:
fredr@hawaii.edu; Web: www2.hawaii.edu/~fredr
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND WARMEST ALOHA FROM HAWAII,
1998
The year of the tiger is ending with claws exposed at the global, national, and personal levels, but hope never dies. As I lie in a hospital bed at home, I send you love and warmest regards from all members of the Riggs family in Hawaii. With bombs falling in Iraq and an impeachment debate going on in Washington, there is plenty to think about as I start the long process of recovery from an accident which caused a serious compound fracture in my lower left leg, just above the ankle. Getting ready for Christmas, I was replacing a light bulb in our entrance hall when, standing on a chair on tiptoe, I lost my balanceand tumbled to the floor with a fierce bang! Wow! I am home in a hospital bed for three months. The surgeon told us, "All goes well, but we are not out of the woods yet." One consequence is the lateness of this message:-- I am very sorry.
This is the second time the tiger has brought me low. Last July, while preparing to go to
Montreal for a major international sociological congress in which I was actively involved in
several sessions, I came down with pneumonia. It was no big deal, but it meant hospitalization
for four days and strict orders from my doctor not to go to Montreal. My colleagues were all
very understanding and helpful to minimize the damage, but I was desolated nevertheless.
However, after a couple of weeks I had recovered enough so that Ciel and I were able to go to
Connecticut in mid-August to visit her sisters, Edith and Amy. With Edith, we made a wonderful
5-day tour of Lake George, Bennington, and Lennox where we heard Rostropovich do a
Shostakovich cello concerto at beautiful Tanglewood. As for Amy, now 88, we found her in a
West Haven nursing home where she is resigned to remaining for the rest of her life. She has
given her own home to the City for a cat haven and, after her life's savings have been used to pay
for nursing care, she will be able to go on Medicaid. A sad fate, yet we are grateful to the state
for covering this contingency which, after all, many of us will eventually face. Amy was cheerful
and we left her in good spirits after two loving visits.
Ciel has had a busy year with more than she could manage to keep her busy and weighed down.
Now I have added to her burdens as she takes loving care of my every need on a round-the-clock
24-hour basis. Nevertheless, our Christmas tree has been raised and beautifully decorated by
Wendy (while I lay in hospital). It was a magnificent gift of love and service and she has been a
tower of strength to Ciel and me in many ways. Her professional career is flourishing and she has
graciously been granted time off to help us. She and her friend, Tony Reyes, are an inspiration --
he could have been a professional chef for all the great meals he prepares for us. As an 80th
birthday surprise for Ciel, Tony, his father, Leo, and Wendy remodeled our entire kitchen,
including beautiful counter and floor tiles -- wonderful. They also laid million-year old slate tiles
from India, with interesting fossils, on our front lanai. They bring great joy into our lives. They
will help keep up our spirits and celebrate Christmas as a season of joy and good will, while
looking toward a better and happier New Year.
On the external side, my hospital days coincided with the final steps of impeachment in the House
of Representatives, moving me to sad thoughts about the drift toward disaster that I foresee. In
today's paper, Dan Balz of the Wasington Post writes that "...the old rules are gone and all the
simple civilities of politics have been wiped away..." He correctly notes the symptoms but, I fear,
offers no insight into the causes of what I see as a mounting disaster. I am writing up my
personal views on the matter and you will find them on my Home Page at
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~fredr/anachron.htm. At the same time, the world is moving into a new
millennium in which global interactive forces of the greatest complexity will prevail, and crises
like those in Iraq, Palestine, Kosovo and many other places will harrow our lives. To study them
more closely, I have had the pleasure and stimulus of taking part in a multi-disciplinary continuing
seminar on Globalization sponsored by our Social Science College -- it has brought a
distinguished group of faculty and students together to think about the complex dimensions of this
emerging process -- our meetings have been broadcast on community TV, giving the exercise
added interest. Some further thoughts of my own on this subject can be found on my Home Page
under globalization. If you care to read and comment on any of these materials, I would love to
hear from you.
Meanwhile, let me close by wishing you, again, all the joys of this sacred season. May the coming
year bring more peace and reconciliation to our world, and happiness to you personally. Ciel and
Wendy join me in sending all our love and aloha,
Fred W. Riggs
See linked pages: same message with colored text
and last year's message
Updated: 5 January 1999
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