Everyone knows that in San Francisco the weather can be a bit…well the forces that oversee this gorgeous land gave the locals a mixture of this amazing landscape, but you pay the price with funky weather.
Today was the exception to the rule in that rain was not in the forecast for the first time in awhile. I took advantage of that and just, well not like Forrest, but I went runnin’. There is no coincidence that I work for Embarcadero Technologies and I ran along the Embarcadero today. In about 2.5 weeks from now I am going to the country of Brasil (yes that is how it is spelled!). I am going with my girlfriend Silvia and I’ve never been more anxious or excited. I thought a lot about my upcoming trip during the run and how life has changed a great deal in seven months.
I came across the movie “A Beautiful Mind” again last week (because no I haven’t seen it so many times I can’t actually recite the movie) but there is one line in there that struck me again. John Nash asks about going to teach and his old friend (and former nemesis) Martin Hansen asks if those “people still bother him.” John says “well Martin, they’re my past, everyone is haunted by their past…”
As I reached the Ferry Building and ending my run today I thought of the next best line and I think I owe Silvia for helping me find that line: Everyone is haunted by their past, it’s whether you chose to be afraid of those ghosts. We all have stories to tell around the campfire or over a beer. I grew up in a home of divorced parents, survived September 11th, have some joint problems that you normally see in an 80 year old.
Though I do try to wake up every morning and do what I can to take of me, do my best to love Silvia and my family and when all is said and done do my part to make this world a better place. I read a lot sometimes when celebrities die (I think about this after the montage of “who died this year” at the Oscars). What were they remembered for, what movie quote, what action – what mark on history. I think in the end, those on the cover of People or Time magazine care about the same exact thing that someone who delivered their mail or did their dry cleaning would think: who loved me and will they miss me? We expect, we hope, we deserve (all of us) to be loved, to be honored and cherished. Now, look, I live in a part of the world where sometimes liberalism takes over and I have to fight that urge, if you stalk and kill a teenage girl in a park (like the guy in San Diego did 2 weeks ago), ….I beg the question, does he deserve love? Or pity? Or…what?
The point I try to make is that for most of my life up until about a year ago my stubborn ways did not allow me to understand that everyone values love and appreciation of others the same. I think as everyday folks we do our best to be good people, I have to believe that.
Which leads me to those things I just have plain ole’ fun putting together. All this heavy talk, let’s have some fun. I have had a blast working with Silvia to help launch Le Concierge SF (the premiere personal concierge in SF and professional organizer in SF). Last week she organized and then cooked for a small intimate birthday party in Noe Valley (a really nice neighborhood in the more middle, yet southwestern area of SF). The food was…well how do I say this: I was honored that the woman I love has the power to take food and create art. I am so proud and so honored to be in her life…..man I can’t wait to get to Brasil.
And I think back to my life in New York City. I was working with a great organization called the One Family Fund. This organization helped victims of terrorism in Israel and I was honored to help create the Young Leadership in NYC. I remember hearing from a young lady who survived the bombing of a pizza shop in Jerusalem….
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give….
That one never gets old….cheers.
