Living Proof

Generosity While growing up in my mid-teens or so, my sister and I would sit on the floor of her bedroom and play Rummy 500 for hours at a time. She always won, until one day when she told me her secret. We both knew the rules of the game, but there was a strategy to it. She said, “ Always give up your most important card and you will always win for some reason.”  It didn’t make sense to me - why would I want to give up my most important card if I wanted to win? But after losing a million & one times, I tried it. I started giving up my most valuable cards, and in return, I ended up receiving them back and then some. I then started winning. I guess that’s how it is in real life: when you give, you get back in return. And it’s not meant in a selfish way. To genuinely give in real life is rewarding in itself, but to see someone else happy and take joy in seeing that person happy, says a lot about who you are. And yes, it may be a “risk”, just like in Rummy 500 - but it’s a ri...

The past year or so I have noticed a lot. I've noticed the people around me and those who never really kept in touch. I've seen people come out of the woodwork for no other reason than to be kind, generous and helpful. I've seen the good in people and the not so good in others. Between an old friend who offered to renovate part of my home for free (which is never expected), to those who have simply offered a helping hand in anything they had seen me struggling with. "The good in me seeks the good in you." --Joel Gardner (1942-2007) An acquaintance of mine wrote this on his Twitter account. His father, Joel Gardner used to say this to him. You can read his story here . Everyone said his father was a good man. I remember being at my father's funeral. People came up to me and repeatedly stated, "He was a good man, Deb." Flaws and all, my Dad never stopped giving. He helped people without expectations. He would give you his last dime or pull you out of...