Headline July 29, 2019/ '' 'GRAND* MOTHERS' GARLAND' ''

'' 'GRAND* MOTHERS' GARLAND' ''

ICONIC GREAT-GRANDMOTHER : POETESS, NATURALLY FEARLESS, LEADER, VISIONARY, articulate, and highly respectful and in reverence of my many, many saintly lineages -

Revered Lady Ashrafat Jan, my mother, - at whose feet I had the blessed honor to learn, taught me just about everything about the British Raj, America's grace and emotions in providing aid, and  living as one with India,

Wikipedia Ashrafat Jan, was the best of Google, as she mused and reminisced about her Hindu and Sikh childhood friends from her village; was also a classic feudal. She had very private and masterly judgmental views, on just about everybody. Over many decades, they all turned certifiably true.

I stop and rise, along with the Founders, and on behalf of scores of her great-grandchildren, to pay respects and give her beautiful and grateful memory, a standing ovation. and pray, that ''May Almighty God, giver her, and all those who have passed away, a special place in heavens.'' Ameen!

GERMAN Great-grandmother Lisel Heis's ambition to enter politics crystallised a few years before her 100 birthday, when organisers of a public hearing cut off her microphone.

Heise, who retired from teaching school 40 years ago, was arguing for a reopening of the an outdoor pool.
''When I started out, some people really didn't want to listen to me apparently - they even pulled the plug!'' she said, still stunned by the impudence.

''Now people from around the world are coming to talk to me. ''Who's laughing now?''

What changed was Heise's election against the odds, to the town council Kirchheimbolanden in southwestern Germany just weeks after she embarked on her second century on the planet.

It was no accident that the pool galvanised Heise, given two issues close to her heart : young people and public health.
Those concerns have dovetailed in another pet cause : climate protection.

The remarkable spry Heise says she has taken inspiration from the Fridays for Future youth protest movement.
''The kids really give me hope. There is a tendency in politics to favor the car industry and that's counterproductive,'' she said.

''It's great that the youth aren't just waiting for grownups to do something.''

'Bundles of Energy' : Heise, who takes daily walks through the quaint old town of Kirchheimbolanden, population 8,000 is part of a groundswell of seniors unwilling to sit out their dotage on the sidelines of public life.

The Omas Gegen Rechts [Grannies Against the Right] action group fighting extremism launched in Austria in 2017 and has since expanded to Germany. It regularly rallies elderly women, drawing on the lessons of history to stand up to racism.

Heise's political career began in earnest in earlier this year when a town council member, Thomas Bock, 59, saw her as a potential ally.

Bock runs the political group Wir fuer Kibo [WfK, roughly We for Kibo, the town's nickname] which is agitating against the established parties for more transparency and accountability.

He needed a candidate who would have the gravitas and passion to fight the powers that be.
''She's got a strong character and boundless energy,'' he said. Bock said the fact that most middleaged Kirchheimbolanden natives had Heise as a teacher when they were young was also a distinct advantage. ''Everyone respects her,'' Bock said.

'Chance to right some wrongs' : The town has been governed for more than two decades by Angela Merkel's conservative CDU, most recently in a ''grand coalition'' with the Social Democrats just like the one Merkel leads in Berlin. But WFK's success helped shift the majority, and now a new alliance of left-leaning parties is ready to take over the 24-member council.

Heise said her election was pure luck. ''But now that I have the chance to right some wrongs, I'm going to seize it,'' she added.
Not only is Heise a political rising star but also, of course, a witness to much of Germany's tumultuous 20th century.

Her father Fritz Waltgenbach, spent several weeks in prison, for speaking against the torching of the synagogue and the prosecution of Jews in their midst. Heise, said she likes to think she inherited some of the ''civic courage''.

''The Apple doesn't fall from the tree,'' she smiled.

Heise lives a short walk from the site of the former synagogue where a mature tree and a memorial now stand, in the sprawling house she once shared with her parents.

Widowed four years ago after more than seven decades of marriage, she now lives there with one of her four children and an adult grandson. She has eight - great-grandchildren.

Heise regularly entertains visitors in her sitting room, which is filled with books including a  prominently displayed volume of photos of Barack Obama.

''A politician needs to have a vision and think logically but also humanistically,'' she said.

US President Donald Trump whose ancestors came from the nearby village of Kallstadt, is ''turning the world upside down,'' she said.

With respectful dedication, to all Great Grandmothers, Grandmothers, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on Facebook, prepare and register for  Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com  and Twitter- !E-WOW! - the  Ecosystem 2011:

''' Grannies & Grandstand '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless