My Friend Joe
I have a friend named Joe. He’s an attorney and a damned good one. He’s got a beautiful, wife and a wonderful son. They live in a breathtaking house and I could go on and on counting Joe’s blessings. However, as a friend I’d say Joe’s biggest blessing is a good heart. He likes to help and encourage people. I would go so far as to say that the other blessings I’ve mentioned Joe having are somehow a result of his amazing heart.
Joe and I met on his birthday a few years ago. I was the date of a guest at his birthday party. Now this party happened to be a “golf tournament” with various friends and family drawing straws to make foursomes and heading off for 18-holes of fun. This was not exactly what I signed on for. At the time I had never played 18-holes of golf in my life and now I was being asked to play in front of a course full of strangers. Add to that the fact my straw put me in Joe’s foursome. All I’m thinking at this point is how do I get out of this? I’m gonna ruin this guy’s birthday, slow down the game, embarass myself and the friend that invited me. I tried to trade places but Joe wouldn’t have it. I could give you every detail about this story but suffice it to say that not only was Joe a patient and gracious host. He gave me a love for golf that endures to this day. He encouraged me when he could have ridiculed me and was my biggest cheerleader when I was able to incorporate his instruction and get anything close to a positive result. Not may people would use their birthday golf tourney to help some newbie stranger learn the game. Near the end of the course Joe took me aside to help me work on a particularly difficult maneuver. There was no way I was going to get this shot but he wanted me to know the proper technique. I started gushing about how I’m sorry I didn’t play better and thank-you for the instruction and I hope I didn’t ruin your special day…etc. Joe laughed and told me to take a deep breath and look around. He said ” this is a snapshot day, a day you take a picture of in your mind and remember everything about it, where you were how you felt… I love playing golf and I love being able to share that. This is a day I will remember forever.”
It was a snapshot day for me too. I’ve had a few snapshot days since then and I still thank Joe for pointing out the concept to me. This past weekend was Al’s birthday. I rented a Harley touring bike with all the bells and whistles to surprise him. Truthfully that present was just as much for me as for him. Riding is something we both love, it’s this love that brought us together. Anytime I can spend on a bike especially with Al is the best time ever. It’s a snapshot day. Any time I can spend with Al I feel like I’m living a charmed life. Having him around makes colors brighter and food taste better. Al left yesterday and I was so sad at the thought I could barely enjoy the time we had left together. So many times we can’t appreciate what we have because we are agonizing over what we don’t.
I bring this up because when I got to work today I found out that Randy Pausch had died. He’s the Carnegie Mellon professor that was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and gave a “last lecture” that became a You Tube sensation, then wrote a book on it and landed on Oprah. If you haven’t I would reccomend that you find his lecture on you Tube and watch it. It’s inspiring. It reminds us to take joy in what we have and what we can do for others with the time that we have.
I’m guilty of forgetting how good my life is. I’m going home to look through some of my “snapshots” today and remind myself to appreciate what I’ve had, take joy in what I have and to keep hope alive for the future. If you’re like me I reccomend you do the same. Chances are we’ll both wake up the better for it tomorrow and use that better part of ourselves to inspire others to be better too.