A few observations:
Resurrecting these memories reminded me of just how often people really do deliver for each other with no expectation that their effort be rewarded. It gave me hope and the incentive to try to do the same.
I’m not a bucket list person. Most people don’t have that luxury. It is a privilege to enjoy the rewarding cycle of being curious, trying something new, failing a bit and succeeding. I still want to try hard things and to finish what I’ve started. Between about six-teen and fifty-five years old the “hard things” and the “had to” was a way of life. Now it is a choice. It never want to stop taking risks and trying.
I love the breaking of a glass at the celebratory end of a Jewish wedding… representative of life’s fragility and the reminder to us all to commit to pick up life’s pieces and try to create good. So, I conclude on a sobering story because life is messy and our world is a mess. Creating the chance to say thank you is my way of picking up a few pieces of broken glass.
Finally, when did we stop putting a space between sentences? There are some things I’m just incapable of evolving.
2006: Delta Airlines Employees, Making the world a little smaller
Dear Delta Flight Attendants,
I’m lucky. I travel often and I mostly get to travel in Delta’s care. As a Minneapolis resident I have had a front row seat to your impressive rise from Northwest’s near bankruptcy to where you are today. You are in a profession where people really remember when things go wrong and rarely think about how miraculous it is that it goes just as planned literally millions of times a year.
2006: Dear Ayala Bar, My “invitation” necklaces
Dear Ayala Bar,
My collection of your beautiful necklaces started in an airport shop over ten years ago. I fell in love with the beautiful designs, weightless materials that were easy to wear and travel with and your story. Overtime, your pieces went far beyond my love of clothes and became a treasured way of inviting and enjoying the many remarkable women in my life.
2006: Dear?, The mentor gets mentored
Dear?
Not sure of the year or even the location. Picture a large hotel ballroom, early on a mid-week morning buzzing with the energy of approximately 300 women who have come together for a day of mentorship, learning and inspiration. I enjoy public speaking and a room like this one always felt welcoming and friendly. I was asked to be here to simply share my story and hopefully mentor and inspire.