BY THE WAY: TIMELY EXPERIENCES HEIGHTEN HOLIDAY

Whether it was chance or fate, I'm not sure.

But after visiting the First Baptist Church last Friday and meeting Charlotte Wade on Monday, I am sure Martin Luther King Jr. Day will never seem the same.

The fifth annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration was aptly named. As soon as I entered the church, I realized this was much more than a chance to pay lip service to a famous religious and civil rights leader.

It became evident that the community was about to embrace the holiday with genuine fervor. Judging from the demeanor of this 200-plus crowd, a heavy downpour of rain was not going to dilute the spirit of such a celebration.

Dr. Ronald L. Bobo, pastor of West Side Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis, said he was pleased to see that folks in Cape Girardeau recognized this was not just a black holiday.

Members of various church choirs and fourth-grade children literally sang out in the name of freedom, kindness, compassion and peace.

Bobo's reminder that it is so easy to forget about the sacrifice of people like King, Rosa Parks and Medgar Evers triggered something inside of me.

I remembered the film "Mississippi Burning," which offered poignant portraits of deeply committed Americans linked to a cause they were willing to die for.

The freedom to go to school, vote or merely choose one restaurant over another can be taken for granted because no one has to fight for those rights anymore.

But to forget about the people who brought those freedoms into reality would be to overlook who we have become.

Wade, who was co-recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. award, was unable to attend Friday's ceremony due to an illness. But Wade was in her element on Monday.

I asked her if she would mind having her picture taken in front of the St. Mary's Cathedral. She said that would be fine if I could give her a ride.

On the way we talked about what Martin Luther King Jr. Day meant. I told Charlotte that Dr. Bobo delivered a speech I would never forget. She said she regretted having missed the speech, but she was going to participate in various Martin Luther King Jr. functions on Monday.

Wade told me that she not only spends much of her time as a volunteer for the Teen Challenge Thrift store, but for other worthwhile causes.

"I've lived here all my life and have been very lucky to meet some wonderful people," she told me. I was thinking the same thing as she said this.

She told me that she was a retired registered nurse who once worked at St. Francis Hospital. I was beginning to understand where she developed her penchant for caring and wanting to nurture people who are sick or in a less fortunate position.

Through Charlotte Wade, I felt like I was able to see something of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Not because she was black, however. Rather, because she has a generous soul that knows no strangers.

She has helped countless teen-agers and adults, yet feels lucky to have been given the opportunity.

"People in this town like to help each other," Wade said. "I think that's what I like most about living in a small town."

I told Wade that I grew up in a bigger city and was somewhat leery of people who wanted to help a total stranger. "You got over that, didn't you?" she said.

Yes, Charlotte. Thanks to people like you, it became a newly discovered freedom some time ago. But thanks for reminding me how important that is.

~Bill Heitland is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.