It’s Mother’s Day! Gentle breezes, sunshine and temperatures in the mid-40s attracted us to the peace and quiet of Riverwalk at 8:30AM. No matter what the season, for 20 years we’ve enjoyed exploring the linear park, a most memorable place any day of the year.
Though springtime has arrived later than usual, renewed growth now is evident and wildflowers are blooming, enhancing the winding brick path of the city’s natural treasure located along the DuPage River in the heart of downtown Naperville.
The changes in the season have produced new life again with the colors of spring, welcoming visitors to discover many priceless features, including the Dandelion Fountain in the Civic Plaza and the Moser Covered Bridge at Webster Street along Jackson Avenue.
Blankets of bluebells in Sindt Woods just east of Jefferson Avenue appeared to match the blue sky on Mother’s Day.
One thing that’s constant amid the ever-changing landscape is a stone memorial marker situated along the brick path as it leads to a dead end behind River Place. No matter what season, the stone is in clear view, positing “What We Need” in memory of  Clyde “Budd” Netzley, Rufus Dirck Schumacher and Harry E. Ridley.
A recent column in the Daily Herald about the memorial stone is devoted to “What We Need” is a little more kindness.  Feedback from the column resulted in numerous phone calls and e-mails this past week. Mothers and dads expressed gratitude for the message, especially the part about the unintended consequences of posting mean-spirited remarks via social media and YouTube that can leave a damaging digital footprint, whether its deleted or not.
For instance, Naperville native John Harvard sent words of encouragement to promote “Kindness in Naperville.”
“I support your writing and your reflections of Naperville in the May 6 Herald issue,” wrote Harvard. “This was and still is why I feel Naperville is such a great place. I like ‘Kindness in Naperville.’ It’s a quick catchy slogan the city could use in another city wide campaign that would have use in so many aspects where Kindness applies. How about using those street pole banners? Maybe the city could post the theme on them.”
Barb Dwyer who had contributed to the Kindness in Naperville, a.k.a. KIN, movement several years ago has since moved to Tennessee.
Dwyer, a mother and grandmother, e-mailed here thoughts to build upon an idea that the “What We Need” is to visit the stone marker, an appropriate destination for a class field trip along the Riverwalk.
“(A visit to What We Need) would be a great assignment,” Dwyer wrote. “Every student could be assigned to go to the stone and create a brass rubbing kind of paper and present it to class. Proof they were there. They would then choose one line of the poem and write 100 words about what that line means to them.”
Dwyer, a former Naperville resident and longtime supporter of the Riverwalk, added, “One more way the Riverwalk touches lives in natural and aesthetic ways.”
Mother’s Day 2013
Early this morning as Big Joe, the largest bell in the 72-bell Millennium Carillon, rang out the 9 o’clock hour from the Moser Tower, one deep resonating gong at a time, we were mindful of uncertainty and challenges that oftentimes have kept us and other mothers awake during the night. Our thoughts wrapped around the poetic words of John Donne (1572-1631).  Among his many works, the English poet wrote Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation XVII: Nunc Lento Sonitu Dicunt, Morieris.
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”
Donne’s notable passage can be interpreted in many ways, but we’ve always thought of it as a reflection of our spiritual and social inter-connectivity, a theme that surrounds everyone who visits Rotary Hill where the community obviously has come together to create an inspiring amenity to share right in heart of Naperville.
Built brick by brick, one step at a time since 1981, the Riverwalk landscape with its many features is a joyful and memorable playground where all ages can celebrate a community with generous caring spirit.
Enjoy the Riverwalk every day. Celebrate mothers and caregivers every day, too.  And listen for the bells as they ring out the songs of the season—they ring for you.
One more thing: The weekly summer Millennium Carillon concert season begins at 7PM Tues., June 4 and runs through August 20 at Rotary Hill along the Riverwalk. All concerts are free of charge.
—PN
