The retirement party on Saturday was superb. All the featured speakers were spot on in praising our friend, George. He was getting out of the airline business after 36 years. There was a break in the action following the speeches and the place emptied out. It is hard to believe so many were headed outside to smoke cigarettes. I went out to listen to the stories.
One of the great storytellers was just a few feet from the door. John had been a heavy drinker for over 40 years. He knew the day would come sometime so he decided to quit when he was wife got sick. This seemed like the honorable thing to do. It was much easier than he anticipated.
With extra time on his hands, John mapped out his next mission. He sat down and wrote a letter for the first time since he was a teenager in the United States Marine Corps. Dear John.
The goal was to perform one act of kindness every day. That will be 7300 nice gestures over the next twenty years if they let me stick around that long.
There have been easy ones like paying for a stranger's coffee or letting somebody go ahead in line. A favorite was giving directions to an elderly Irish woman. "She didn't understand me and I didn't understand her. So I lifted her into my truck and put her in the passenger's seat while I put her pocketbook on the console. In five minutes, she was at her destination."
I used to speed up when I went by the church or blow through red lights when I was running late. I had no patience for anybody when I waited in line at the store. I couldn't wait to get out of work and always had excuses to cut out early. I used to think that the library was just a big building with a bunch of bricks.
And now, I can't believe I just got my first library card. It looked as though I were headed to AA. And now I'm a member of AAA.
Hey buddy, need a lift. I'm headed that way.
Paul Murphy
Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy
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