Diversity is *JOY*

I was brought up by brown- and olive-colored faces. My parents moved around somewhat, but we often lived in areas of predominantly different races and ethnicities. My mother was Hawaiian and a little Chinese, so when in grade school we moved onto the Reservations of the plains tribes, she fit right in, bringing all of us kids along. I learned to dance in the powwows, eat pemmican, and salvage animal parts for the old lady down the road to craft into regalia.

My family later moved to Arizona to be with all my mother's family. My aunty formed all the cousins into a huge Hawaiian dance troop that put on Luau performances around the valley. At the same time, we lived in the "barrio", a predominantly chicano neighborhood. It was strange at first, but by the time I graduated high school, it only felt like home, and homemade Mexican fare (the really authentic kind) was comfort food.

After high school, I became a missionary and was sent to the deep South. I lived in poor areas of Jacksonville and Pensicola where I was the palest person in the neighborhood. Sometimes my neighbors didn't know how to talk to me — which made things awkward at first — but we just dug in and started serving, and before long we made longtime friends.

I have tried to raise my kids to integrate with everyone, teaching them their heritage, attending tribal events, sponsoring them on missions to diverse countries and serving with diverse religions and preferences. In all of it, I try to teach them that EVERY person is beautiful. Every person on earth has something unique and wonderful to offer. There are no differences that a little kindness and understanding can't turn to joy.

The world is beautiful because the people in it are different. We all need each other. My mother taught me to be an optimist and to see everyone from the inside out. I like that way best.

-Tom/*