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.
2017: Dear Riley, I hope to be as perfect as you believed me to be
Dear Riley,
As my mom always said, perfect isn’t loveable. None the less, it was just plain lovely to have your constant companionship, loyalty and reinforcement that maybe, perhaps in your world, I was kind of close.
2017: Dear Southern Poverty Law Center, An unplanned teaching moment
Dear Southern Poverty Law Center,
Road trips with your kids can lead to great unplanned experiences. While driving through the southern US to explore college choices for my daughters, your offices and the generosity of your staff was the best unexpected teaching moment.
2017: Dear Glenwood Springs Forest Ranger Jim, Thanks for fixing a road way less traveled!
The Capitol Peak wilderness is filled with rewarding hikes and epic summit views. However, the road to get to the trailheads is a real bear. In 2017 you were tasked with the gnarly job of carefully repairing and reconstructing this very steep, rocky, rutted out wonder of an access to a beloved back country wilderness aptly named “Hell Roaring”.