As I move into my 51st year (yeah, Im 50 today), I must impart some wisdom. Go hard…go hard into everything you do. Feel…feel it all. Express…dont hold it in. See…see everything around you. Be…be who you are, not the person people want you to be. Speak…speak truth to power. A lot of people have left. Sam left a legacy of shrewd business habits. Margaret left the legacy of teaching. Elmuset left a legacy of the ability to overcome. Jeff left a legacy of honor. Russ left a legacy of knowing. Russ I miss the most. I know most of you will question why not my parents, but Russell Palmore taught me to pick my spots, pick my shots, and be a gentleman all the while. I still miss his manner, his manners, his gentle bearing, and most of all his knowing grin. If someone tells you life is simple run like hell. Its a complex maze of right and wrong, timing, silence and noise, and its goes fast….way too fast. Dont blink, dont hesitate. wait till the time is right, act, and in acting, know that youre doing whats best for many, not just yourself. If you act in self interest you will lose. Do not ever muddle through anything. Set a goal and make it so or drop in a pool of sweat trying, knowing that its not the failure that is the shame, its the lack to endeavor that is shameful. Children are the blessing of ones life. When I ran for council last year I told the people around me that there was no campaign between 6:30 and 7:30am and 3:15 and 4:15pm. I took them to school and picked them up. When the third one showed up I held her and made a promise. That promise holds true to this day. I said quietly, Ill fix what I screwed up with the first two. That promise is carried out each day…with her and the two older kids. Dont hover over your kids, theyll talk about it long after youre gone. Be there when they need you (youll know when) and be invisible when they need to figure it out for themselves (youll know when). Above all, love them in your sleeping and your waking. They will love you for it after youre gone. Friends dont come and go. Friends are friends till the last day. You know who you are. Call your friends. If they dont call you, dont say,well to hell with him. Pick up a phone. When Im on the road, Ill call somebody out of the blue just to check in. In time, this act will become habit and will yield smiles on both ends of the line. Love your friends. Dont just say you do. Love is a verb, treat it as such. I wouldnt have learned half of this if it wasnt for Ann M Ritter. She continues to teach me how to be a father, a friend, and a husband. That is a tougher job than being a neurosurgeon, ask her, shell tell you. When I asked for her hand, her father told me to look at the trees on Sanibel Island. I obliged, and he said, Do you know why they planted those trees? Ill tell you…to keep the island from eroding. Having been married for nearly sixteen years I understand what he was saying….and so do you. I dont often quote scripture on this, the soapbox of the modern age, but tonight I will. I will because it sums up what I believe. In fifty years of living, and living full tilt at that, I believe Paul was right when he wrote to The Corinthians, For there are these three things that endure: Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is Love. C
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 02:55:51 +0000
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