I guess my forced absence from the slopes as my hand heals has given me more time to reflect on past events and perhaps consider future activities. I woke up this morning remembering kindnesses offered to me by colleagues, family and friends. One might think I have a muse that prods me down interesting paths. The early morning thought has stuck with me and drives me to share some of my experiences of kindnesses as well as to think of how I can be more active in expressing and doing kindnesses to others.
On thing I remembered today was the appearance of one of my Cornell colleagues, J. Robert Cooke, at the funeral of my mother so many, many years ago. He made the effort to travel a significant distance to the funeral location and provide a representative support of my entire Cornell community. In the vein of the Cornell connection, when I was struck with kidney cancer in 1995, President of Cornell University, Frank Rhodes sent me a most touching supportive letter while in the hospital! I was amazed by the kindness of a man taking the time to reach out in spite of his busy schedule.
In my geezer skier community I have also been the beneficiary of numerous kind gestures. When injured by a serious fall several years ago, my friend Roger Pellerin (now passed on) stayed with me and offered needed assistance to mange my transition to hospital care. Some years ago while going through a rough patch with a back injury and depression, good friend Pat Ryan, founder of the Tough Old Geezer Skiers, provided wonderful support for coping with my issues.
On a daily basis, I know many others, receive both large and small kindnesses. May I be reminded to reciprocate. As I conclude, I will not speak of the kindnesses I have given to my colleagues, friends, family and fellow geezers, but I am somewhat comforted that they do come to my mind as satisfying good deeds. In an ideal world, a proliferation of kindness would indeed be a blessing. Maybe we should make that a priority for 2024 and beyond.
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