Posts Tagged ‘friendship’

For many people in the world, this has been another disappointing year. No matter how the economists measure it, in practical terms, the global recession continues. Unemployment, war, poverty, disease, hunger, and homelessness remain universal issues. Divisiveness continues to impede solutions. It gives pause as we head toward America’s annual season of thanks.

If we’re not careful, we can get so caught up in our worries and woes that we forget our blessings. Lately life’s stresses have been weighing me down, but the other day a wise friend reminded me the constant through all my difficulties is that I’ve been loved. And that’s defnitely a reason to be thankful.

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Have you ever taken a trip thinking you’d planned everything perfectly only to discover you’d forgotten something critical, such as reservations or directions? In a way, that’s what happened to Dr. Norman E. Thagard.

It was the summer of 1995, and in the 34 years since the Soviets first blasted off Yuri Gagarin, more than 300 American and Russian astronauts had totaled 38 years in space. Finally, the two Super Powers had arranged for their space travelers to spend some quality time together. Thagard would join two Russians for four months aboard the space station Mir. It would be the longest space trip ever undertaken by an American.

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It’s said that during his lifetime, singer Frank Sinatra raised more than a billion dollars for charity. He was known for giving benefit concerts to help a variety of worthy causes, once remarking that he was “an overprivileged adult who ought to help underprivileged children.”

Some of his most popular performances were the private ones he gave for friends and acquaintances who’d been admitted to the hospital. The more serious the illness, the more diligent he was about dropping by and singing a tune to make the patients—and anyone else who could hear—feel a little better.

Few of us are blessed with Sinatra’s extraordinary vocal stylings, but he set a good example of the best way to help people who need to be comforted: Give of whatever talents you have.

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In May 1995, actor Christopher Reeve was in Virginia, on horseback, approaching the third of 18 jumps in the finals of dressage event. The triple-bar was about 42 inches high, but Reeve’s horse, Eastern Express, couldn’t seem to find the proper footing for the leap. The horse stopped abruptly and Reeve pitched forward over the horse’s neck, landing on his head on the other side of the jump.

The accident left 42-year-old Reeve, best known for his big-screen portrayals of Superman, paralyzed and unable to breathe without the help of a respirator. At a tribute dinner a few months later, he described the moment, five days after the accident, when a supportive friend gave him a spark of hope:

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In 2004, American pro football wide receiver Terrell Owens was welcomed into the Philadelphia Eagles locker room. The new addition to the team was warmly embraced by star quarterback Donovan McNabb, and the dynamic duo led the Eagles to a conference championship and their first Super Bowl in 24 years.

It seemed the beginning of a beautiful workplace friendship, until …

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