Chapter 9: A Coat of Many Colors

Weaving together my different cultural as well as family backgrounds into a coat of many colors meant honouring the different lines of inheritance that were coming through me. Carole King’s famous album, Tapestry, is made of beautiful songs that are brought together in an intricate mandala of song. Her songs and the tapestry weaved together with my lines of inheritance describe a coat of many colors. The symbolic coat that I wear is stitched together with different fabrics. Symbolically this multi-colored coat of arms or a ‘coat of amour’ (amour means love in French) is my way of being “Beautiful” in the world (another Carole Kind song and the title of the Broadway Show about her life.
 
President Wilson inspired my choice to study international affairs. I visited the League of Nations that became the United Nations, next to the Palais Wilson with my grandparents Marion and Harland. It was a kind of pilgrimage to my grandmother’s Wilson heritage.
 
The French-speaking part of Switzerland has many sacred places. The Palais Wilson was constructed to house the vision of Woodrow Wilson. It stands for international cooperation and constructive, peaceful relations between nations. Much earlier in history, the hospitality that Saint Bernard offered in the monastery that was built on the Great Saint Bernard Pass between Italy and Switzerland, became a symbolic site linking Southern and Northern Europe. Our beautiful mountain region continues to attract many international skiers and hikers. The region is especially known for its winter sports; however, the Alps are equally inviting in the summer.
 
Valais has two strategic mountain passes that link people, providing a passage and offering hospitality to pilgrims. Our region has traditionally been a landmark of connectivity-a place of passage. Pilgrimage routes, international affairs, hospices, as well as the ski resorts, all have offered a long-standing tradition of hospitality to seekers, peacemakers, and skiers.
 
Tapestry by Carole King:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM07lUytXA0&list=PLkLimRXN6NKyvtIxiC7Y-p1b9FcQLCwFP&index=11
 
Geneva welcomed President Woodrow Wilson’s vision in the Palais Wilson:
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/international-geneva_the-turbulent-history-of-the-palais-wilson/44280080
 
Here are links about human rights and the Palais Wilson building
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/Pages/Headquarters.aspx
 
Here is a link to President Wilson’s biography:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/woodrow-wilson/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Woodrow-Wilson/Second-term-as-president
 
 
The Great Saint Bernard Hospice another historic place connecting humanity:
https://apassportaffair.com/st-bernard-monastery-dogs/
 
Here is video of the 4 Valley Ski Area, the largest in Switzerland, connecting four large ski resorts. We live in La Tzoumaz, the heart of the 4 Valleys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyrbARhYjIQ