Even if nobody asked:
1. My high school daughter, Brady, is in a small senior class where she serves as school president, a friend to all you might say. On Thursday, one of her senior classmates was seriously injured in a car crash on the way to school. The students spent the day in shock, grief, worry and pain. Brady texts me asking that I get a prayer circle going. I do. A big one. Fortunately, the prognosis for recovery improved throughout the day (praise God!). Brady finishes school with a long practice for her spring musical then has dinner with some of her classmates, processing their day. She gets home late, sheds some tears with us and heads upstairs. I go off to my den to watch the 10 PM start of the Red Sox season in Seattle, something Brady never misses. Naturally, she has a pass on this day. But minutes later she pops in and joins me on the couch, she’s in her PJ’s, back to being my little girl. A Red Sox batter takes a borderline strike call in the 1st inning and Brady grunts, “Oh, so we’re going to have THAT strike zone in Seattle tonight!?” What a gift our children can be. So full of every emotion, and if we play it right, we get to ride along with each one of them.
2. Am I the only one who feels compelled to say “please” when commanding Siri or Alexa? I guess my mom raised a pharisaicaly polite boy!
3. OK fellas, consider this a wardrobe PSA: Shoes match the belt. And if you’re wearing a jacket with a tie, the shoes MUST have laces (no loafers!). Oh, and please, the tie can’t be wider than the lapels. Done. I feel better now.
4. I have a hard time with the death penalty BUT go ahead and fail to use a blinker (turn signal for those not raised in RI) when you’re coming toward me at an intersection, and I will at least distract the governor to make sure your stay of execution call is not taken.
5. #2 book of all time for me: To Kill a Mockingbird. I actually once lived next door to a modern-day Atticus Finch (right Bill Sullivan?). A story with a single dad, a scary guy next door, a rabid dog, a summer visitor, a loving nanny, and the horror of injustice in the deep south (the book, not the neighbor). A novel that touches every emotion. It used to be lower on my list but as the years roll on it climbs and climbs. Next week, the #1 best novel I’ve ever read.
6. Please do not use the word ‘organic’ around me if you are not talking about food. Just don’t. I will call you out. And if you manage to throw in a ‘sustainable’ during the same conversation we will be throwing down.
7. No event, no matter how tragic, adds to deaths toll. Not one bit. Death is a 100% proposition. Undefeated. No one is getting out of here alive. BUT, man, some deaths are just so hard to imagine. When death calls from a collapsing bridge in the dark of 3 AM, travelling in a car at 40-50 MPH with no notice, my heart spasms at the thought. What a terrifying last breath to take. We need to praise God for peaceful endings.
8. Quote that gets me every time: “I’m 6 but I can read. Anybody got anything around here that needs some reading?” – Charles Baker Finch, “Dill”, To Kill a Mockingbird.
9. That I accepted your connection request on LinkedIn doesn’t mean I was shopping for your goods or services. Please don’t tell me what problem of mine you can solve before you even kiss me. I have a wife for that. Thank you.
10. If you accumulated $1,000,000,000,000 in traffic tickets that you couldn’t pay and found yourself before the judge, you could be thrown in prison. But if a wealthy friend walked into the courtroom and told the judge they would pay the fines for you, the judge would let you go. You’d only have to accept the friends’ offer to do that for you. Then it would be “DONE”, “FINISHED”. If you celebrate Easter tomorrow, that is what you are celebrating. That friend is just hoping you accept his free gift. After all, he died for it.
Happy Easter!