NEW YORK—I want to begin this morning by thanking all the kind people whom I have not been able to thank personally for their Christmas cards. It is a wonderful thing to be remembered at Christmastime and I always feel so grateful. But as it is a particularly busy time, and it is never possible to write and thank each and everyone, I hope if they see this column they will realize my gratitude.

A little booklet, called "The Sweet Flypaper of Life" by Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes, has just been sent to me. The photographs are outstanding and the text is no less delightful.

The story tells of an older colored woman who has lived her life and now finds herself with many members of her family in Harlem. She can still say her feet "are caught in the sweet flypaper of life" and will add, "I will be dogged if I want to get loose."

She is not at all daunted by the thought of getting remarried and looking after her good and bad children and grandchildren. She has seen a good deal of life and, as she puts it, has "been beaten up by it."

The story is well worth reading if you want to gain a little insight into the thinking of certain of our neighbors here in New York City and I imagine they are not very different from what they are anywhere else in the world.

At last, in spite of all the difficulties, there has been an acceptance of a solution on membership in the United Nations Security Council. Yugoslavia will serve for one year and the Philippines will serve for the second year.

Apparently there was nothing in the Charter that would make this arrangement impossible. The addition of new members probably has lessened the force of the Latin American group of states, but in any case I imagine this solution was inevitable.

The General Assembly sessions had to come to an end, and this was an Assembly of difficult decisions. Some novel compromises had to be made, but having made them, the Assembly seems to be the stronger, for it seems to have found solutions to what appeared to be unanswerable problems.

I was sorry to read about the resignation of Nelson A. Rockefeller as a special assistant to President Eisenhower. He has served ever since my husband's administration at various times and I think he has gained the respect and confidence of people because of his willingness to do public service. It is not easy to leave your personal interests and give your full time to a government job, and I think any man who does this deserves the thanks of all good citizens.

The Rockefeller family as a whole has a high sense of civic, national, and international responsibility, and every member of the family is engaged in some kind of work that not only benefits this country but is of value very often in the international situation.