Page 96 - How We Lead Matters

A Christmas Uprising

The grandchildren were abuzz with excitement. Outside, the snow was softly
packed under the windows like great down pillows.
We were cozy, happy to be together, and pleasantly tired after a day of
playing in the snow. Our family had gathered at the lodge in Wisconsin as we
did every year. Christmas would soon be here.
While the holiday activity swirled around him, my son-in-law sat fixed
to the television. It wasn’t a football game that held his attention but a rev-
olution happening in real time in his home country of Romania.
Marius Muresanu had come to the United States with his parents in
the 1970s when it became clear that Nicolae Ceausescu was not the reformer
he initially appeared to be. Brutality by the secret police was used routinely
against the civilian population, food was strictly rationed, and the black mar-
ket thrived. In December 1989, the people of Romania had had enough.
For several hours, Marius searched the crowd of young people battling
the military in the streets to see if he recognized the faces of friends he had
left behind.
When the children had been tucked into their beds, Marius said to me,
“Here I sit beside the Christmas tree, in the safety of this place with my fam-
ily around me, and I watched people dying in my country for their freedom.
I could have been one of them. I could have died today.”
It was late. He was weary. And by some luck of the draw he was safe.

Marilyn Carlson Nelson 79