I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.
English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer Charlie Chaplin was born on this day in 1889 (died 1977).
By the time you read this I will have stopped by Wawa for my free coffee for the day.
It’s Thursday and I’m off to spend another day in a meeting. In case you missed reading yesterday, this is not one of my passions. Unfortunately, or not, it does happen to be one of those things I’m good at, both planning and attending.
I’ am reminded that today is the 8th year since the shootings at Virginia Tech. It still grips my heart because Tech is a special place to me.
But, more than that, I remember the horror of that day watching an intern in our office and later my son, a high school senior at the time, desperately trying to reach their friends and not being able to get through.
I don’t stop every time. But sometimes when I’m in Blacksburg I’ll stop and walk through the memorial set up in front of Burruss Hall. While I didn’t know any of those killed, I do know people who did. Still there is an ache when I visit the memorial.
There are too many memorials in this world that remind us of pain, that remind us of senseless deaths.
But we can’t stop evil.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
The thing is, none of us know what time is given to us. So, we need to make every moment count.
I’m sorry that I didn’t make every moment of the last 56.5 years count. If I did I suppose you’d be reading this in Spanish whilst I played a concerto on the grand piano overlooking the Caribbean…or my shelf of Academy Awards.
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