Saturday, October 11, 2014
I will miss but never forget Bud. He had so much wisdom to share, and I sought it regularly when he was well. One piece of advice that always stuck with me was his insistence that I be generous with my time and support for others. It was the equivalent advice that people refer to as "paying it forward". It was 17 years ago that Bud shared this advice with me, but his message continued to resonate even after he became ill. A few winters ago, Bud left his assisted living facility to take a walk on a cold Saturday afternoon. This was a daily routine for Bud. He loved to take walks. Unfortunately, on this day, he didn’t return. My sister-in-law got a call from the facility late on Saturday night and immediately spread the word. Local family members drove the streets all night, hung missing person posters and checked every hospital in the area. The search went on for nearly 20 hours before the local hospital called to say that Bud had just been brought in by a family who found him lying in their driveway. He as hypothermic, bleeding and barely conscious, but he was alive. Later that afternoon, my sister-in-law received a call on her cell phone from a man who was clearly upset. He explained that he had seen the missing persons poster and dropped everything to get in his car to help in the search. It turns out that he had worked with Bud, and despite not seeing Bud for over two decades, he felt very strongly about helping in the search. He remembered Bud as always being generous and helpful to those around him and he was compelled to give back. It was an incredible reminder of Bud's lesson in paying it forward.
