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Posts Tagged ‘death’

Day 362 – Jen B.

Posted in Something for others, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2010| 6 Comments »

Today marks the first day of giving for our newest Kindness Investor from Seattle: Petra.   I spoke to another future Kindness Investor earlier this week.  His name is Michael B. from Connecticut and he will start his week of kindness investing on January 5th.  Slowly I am getting people to join this movement; a seven-day, seventy dollar investment that has the power to change an unemployed person’s perspective on life through kindness.  If you or someone you know are out of work and want an opportunity of a lifetime, drop me a line.

Today’s recipient is one whose story touched me tremendously.  I was in Manassas, VA visiting my good friends Thomas and Tressa.  It was their beautiful baby girl Tegan’s first birthday.  Well, I guess she already had a birthday last year…a real birth day…anyway she turned one!  While I was there I met a friend of theirs named Jen who teaches at the same school where Tressa teaches.  I decided to give her my $10.

Our conversation was quite typical at first.  We talked about her job as a high school biology teacher.  I learned about her experience volunteering in Ghana with an ophthalmologist.  “I did eye exams and distributed glasses to local communities,” she explained.  “It completely inspired me!”  It inspired her to pursue other dreams and that is why next year this 30-year-old Pittston, PA native will leave her lesson plans on photosynthesis and Mendel’s heredity research for a new career in medicine.

It’s not a surprise that Jen is going back to school when you learn that she is the faculty member that overseas homecoming, student council, prom, quiz team, etc.  Yep, she’s definitely an overachiever.  My friends tell me that she is a karaoke wiz too!  “I know the lyrics to just about any song from the late 80s and early 90s,” she says beaming.

Then I asked a question that completely changed our carefree conversation, “Are you married, do you have kids?” I asked.  There was a brief silence and she responded that she was a widow.  I offered my condolences and she explained that her husband, Army 1st Lt. Todd J. Bryant, was killed on October 31st of 2003 in Fallujah, Iraq when an improvised explosive device (IED) hit his Humvee.  The 23-year-old was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas.  A graduate of West Point Military Academy, Todd’s death came just 52 days after being deployed or as Jen put it to a journalist once, “55 letters later.”  “And we were married just ten days before he deployed,” she told me managing to keep her composure.

She shared with me the moment that she learned the news.  “I was teaching at my school,” she began to say, “when I was visited by an Army general and chaplain…”

I was speechless.  I just wanted to give her a big hug.  In a matter of minutes I felt like I knew Jen for years rather than the handful of minutes we had actually spent talking to each other.  And although I never met Todd, I can assure you that he was nothing less than extraordinary.

I have to be honest I couldn’t stop thinking about Todd when I got home later that evening.  I had so many questions and turned to the Internet to find out more.  He quickly becomes more than a casualty of war but a bright young man who liked In-n-Out burgers and making people laugh, who dreamed of raising a family with his soul mate and pursuing a career in government where he could effect real change in our country.  He was a husband, a son, a brother and a friend.  He would have been my friend.

There were also comments from those who never knew Todd but reached out to pay their respects to a family that understood the meaning of  service.  Todd’s parents were former military officers and his brother Tim is currently a Lt. Col in the U.S. Marine Corps serving in the Marine Expeditionary Unit  and sister Tiffany, a 2000 graduate of West Point herself, served as a Captain in the Army before becoming a teacher.

You’ll even find a hard to put down book entitled In the Time of War by Bill Murphy, Jr. that focuses on Todd and his fellow graduating class from West Point.  I got the book and have read several chapters already.   It has several heartfelt excerpts of letters that Jen wrote to her husband and Todd’s farewell letter to Jen.  I can’t remember the last time I cried from reading a book.

It was fitting I thought that she decided to use the ten dollars to buy items for a care package that the student council members at her school were preparing to send to troops stationed overseas for the holidays.

Todd J. Bryant 1/14/80 - 10/31/03

We live far away from places like Fallujah, Iraq and Helmand Province, Afghanistan and sometimes we take for granted the sacrifices our brothers and sisters in uniform make for us.  I dedicate this blog post to the memory of Todd Bryant and encourage you to take a moment of silence right now and pay your respects to Todd and all of those who have lost their lives serving their respective countries.

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Day 189 – Darrold H.

Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 6, 2010| 3 Comments »

SoHo, 22nd & P, in NW DC

I met Darrold at the SoHoTea & Coffee Café at the corner of 22nd and P in DC.

He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on June 29, 1941.  The son of a construction worker and an electronics factory worker, he comes from a modest family with a strong affinity for the arts.  His mother and older brothers sang and his father played guitar.  Darrold was no exception.  He started performing with his family at an early age.  His dedication paid off too, getting him accepted to study music at the prestigious Juilliard School for Music in New York City.

Darrold (Photo: Reed)

In 1970 he founded the Urban Philharmonic, a nonprofit symphony orchestra that performs high quality music in diverse urban settings without all the formality often associated with symphonies.  Maestro Darrold moved the Urban Philharmonic to Baltimore and then to DC in 1978.  He and the Urban Philharmonic have been here ever since.  Darrold says he likes DC.  “I like that I can see the moon rise and set,” something he says he wasn’t able to do in NYC.  “I miss Manhattan though; the quantity and quality of the arts and performing arts.”

“The Washington community is just beginning to harness its own political power,” he states.  This sounded a bit strange to me because I usually think of Washingtonians as being politically savvy so I asked him to expand upon this.  “The institutions here are powerful, however, until recently the people themselves have not had any power.”  He talks about how former Mayor Marion Barry used his power to leverage the power of the people.  I can see that, but he also used his power to benefit himself tremendously.  Not to mention that he was a convicted on various counts of drug use and tax evasion.

The conversation naturally moved to music and Maestro Darrold told me how excited he was to conduct Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, Eroica.  “It’s an interesting piece,” he says as he paints me a mental picture of Beethoven running off to follow Napoleon to try to understand war, pain, death and dying.  “Beethoven succeeds in sharing his inner most feelings with the listener; this is what makes him so great!”

I asked him what great musicians influenced him when he was young to pursue a career in music.  He grinned widely and told me that Billy Holiday and his mother.  “She was soprano and had a beautiful voice,” he told me still smiling

I loved feeling the excitement in Darrold’s voice when he spoke about the Urban Philharmonic.  Due to a lack of donations, the Urban Philharmonic came critically close to fading away for good.  But Maestro Darrold dug deep and found the strength to push on.  He is fighting now to keep the organization alive.  At almost 70-years-old, he is committed to bringing back the Urban Philharmonic with an aggressive schedule of six concerts this next season.  To do that, it will depend on donations from people like you.  If you would like to learn more about the Urban Philharmonic or make a donation, please click here.

Darrold is going to use the $10 to help buy food this week.

Below is a brief video of part of my conversation with Darrold.  Hear first-hand what it feels like to conduct a symphony!

Note: I was so impressed with the potential of this organization that I have agreed to volunteer some of my time to help with strategic planning and overall management of the organization.

UPDATE: Nov. 14, 2013

I’m sad to share that I learned yesterday that Maestro Hunt passed away last Wednesday Nov. 6th at his home. I don’t have much more details at this time, except that there is a memorial service being held on Friday Nov. 15th at the Church of the Holy City (Emanual Swedenborgian Church) located at 1611 16th Street NW (16th & Corcoran). Doors open at 6:30 p.m. followed by service at 7pm.

Darrold exuded love and kindness. His enthusiasm and passion could hardly be contained within his body. It was impossible not to be moved by his ardent smile which he shared unselfishly. DC, and the world of music, has lost one of the greats.

Here is an article from the Examiner.

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Day 94 – Rob W.

Posted in Something for themself, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2010| 3 Comments »

Unfortunately my cousin Ricky passed away on March 12th.  He had a heart attack on Wednesday and later died on Friday.  Although I had not seen Ricky in a long time, I did see his mother (my aunt) much more often.  You never prepare yourself fully to lose a child.  

Welcome to Kroger's!

I traveled to Roanoke, VA on Thursday to be with my family.  While I was there I found myself at the Tanglewood Kroger on the Southwest edge of the city. 

As I walked through the grocery store I found Rob deep in concentration as he studied the Bomb Pops.  I thought I would introduce myself. 

Like me, Rob is unemployed right now.  He was working as a financial specialist for the hospital in Roanoke up until being laid off last August.  Although he would like to find work, he has used his time off to focus on his passion for making music.  He is a one-man recording artist making experimental home-made music.  He goes by the name Sad Wilson and you can hear a sample of his music here.  I listened to a bunch of the songs.  Most of them have heavy tones of melancholy (hence Sad Wilson).  Rob integrates different media into the songs…for example recordings of conversations or telephone operator recordings on top of guitar melodies.  There was something Neil Youngish about Junk Stomp Brain and Pretty Corpse.  All in all not my preferred style, however, I think the experimental approach he has taken is cool and the fact that he does it all himself is amazing. 

Rob with his $10 and favorite Popsicles (Photo: Reed)

I got out my camera to take some pictures…I got a little worried that the Kroger people might come over and ask me to leave or put my camera away.  Jokingly I said to Rob, “They might get upset unless you know somebody that works here.”  He said, well, my grandfather used to be the CEO of Kroger.”  I was like, “really.”  He just looked at me and nodded “yup.”  So…I took some photos! 

Rob plans on using my ten-spot to buy some blank CDs to burn some of his music.  I have a feeling if there is anything left over it will get used for Bomb Pops.  Never met anyone with such an affinity for them! 

Around this time Rob’s friend came by.  I think this was his girlfriend or wife…and I believe her name was Ashley…but I could be wrong.  My note-taking is pretty poor.  Sorry!  They both told me how bad the economy was in Roanoke.  And let me tell you, it looks way more depressed there than in

Rob and Ashley (Photo: Reed)

DC.  Next door to the Kroger is the Tanglewood Mall.  Ashley said, “Yeah,it’s pretty bad…you can find that mall on deadmalls.com!” I checked…she was right.  I also went to the mall…and it aptly listed on the website.  “There’s just a lot of empty buildings around town” she added. 

Although it is sad to see this, it is important to see it.  I think Washington is a little recession proof because of all the government related jobs.  This town needs some life pumped into it.  

I asked the two what they would recommend for someone to see in Roanoke.  They looked at each other, shrugged, and said, “I don’t know….maybe the Star?”  They are referring to the Mill Mountain Star, built in 1949 at the top of Mill Mountain.  It is the world’s largest freestanding illuminated man-made star. (There is a bigger one in El Paso, TX, but it isn’t illuminated)  I had actually seen it before…my cousin Martha got married last Fourth of July at a winery in Roanoke that overlooked the Star.  It was a great view and the Star is pretty at night.   

“Other than that…maybe the Taubman Museum…but it’s weird.  It looks like a space ship” they told me.  The Taubman  apparently has permanent and temporary exhibits and focuses mostly on 19th/20th century American art, modern and contemporary art, new media, photography, and visionary art.  I didn’t have time to visit it this time. 

Give Rob’s music a listen.  It’s good to have artists who are pushing the envelope. 

Today’s blog is dedicated to the memory of my cousin Richard “Ricky” C. Huels, Jr.  (Nov. 27, 1959 – March 12, 2010)

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Day 44 – Sara

Posted in Donation, Refusals, Something for others, tagged , , , , , , on January 29, 2010| 2 Comments »

First of all, today we reached some milestones.  Over 3,000 unique visitors to the site and over 6,000 hits.  The site is growing much faster than I thought it would…that is great…hopefully people are inspired to do something kind to others during their day.

John (right) and I visit a few days after I gave him my $10

I met up with John from day 40 today.  On Day 44 I ran into John from Day 40.  He was not the jovial South Carolina native that I met on Saturday.  He explained that his brother died on Sunday due to complications related to his diabetes.  He had refused to take his medications for an extended period of time and passed away as a result.  His sadness quickly dissolved into anger though as he told me about an upcoming court appearance. 

He explained that he had served 17 years in prison for murder.  I could hardly believe that this gentle giant could have killed another human being.  “It was self defense” he explained.  I didn’t have my notebook with me so I am relying on my recollection.  He said that one day in 1980 he and his father had gone to a store at the intersection of 14th and T in NW, DC.  His father, an off duty police officer, was shot in the head outside of the store.  Upon hearing the gunfire, he explained that he excited the store, removed his father’s revolver and shot and killed the man. 

As much as I want to believe everything that John has told me, I hope that some of this is not true.  I can not begin to imagine what it would be like to struggle with so much tragic personal loss.  He told me on Day 40 that he had lost two children and his wife as well.

I gave John a dollar from my pocket and walked to do some errands.  I told him I would be back by in a while, as I had to walk back the other way to get home.  He asked me to stop by on my way back, that he had a favor to ask of me. 

When I reached John on my way back, he greeted me with the familiar smile.  He asked if I had some more money so that he could get a shirt for his brother’s funeral.  I only had $11 on me…$10 of which I needed to give away to someone else.  I gave him another dollar and went on my way. 

Then I had to find a recipient for Day 44.  Would you believe I had a hard time?  I first went to a couple who were sitting on the sidewalk around 24th and M Street.  Both of them had a crazed look in their eyes.  I sensed I was dealing with some people who were on a significant amount of drugs.  I proceeded cautiously.  I explained what I was doing and asked if they would accept my $10.  They were so confused and paranoid that they declined.  I went on my way and asked a young lady named Liddy who was walking her dog.  She was nice, but said she didn’t feel worthy.  So I was off again.

I walked another 6-7 blocks.  I came across some potential people, but there was never the right moment to go up to someone and ask them. 

I found a woman who was walking next to me and I thought, what the heck, nothing else has worked I am just going to start asking everyone.

Sara initially refused as well.  When I explained that if she refused I would have to find someone else, I think I guilted her into it.  The 28-year-old Chicago native now lives in DC and is a landscape architect for the US Green Building Council.  Her position is an internship and she is actively seeking employment for a full-time position as a landscape architect.  I might have a connection or two for her, but if anyone out there knows of something, please post here.

Sara was on her way to watch the State of the Union Address.  I asked her what grade she would give President Obama after his first year, and she said an A-.  I hope she reads this and will tell us her perspective on his speech.

Sara said that she was a bit undecided on what she was going to do with my $10.  She was either going to use it to buy some food to take to her State of the Union party or try to donate it at Miriam’s Kitchen.  She is scheduled to volunteer there soon.  If you are not familiar with Miriam’s…you should check it out, they are an important organization for the poor and homeless communities in DC.  She said she would let me know for sure what she did with it later.  I hope she is better than Mark from Day 29…he never got back to me!

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Day 40 – John

Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged , , , , on January 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I found myself in the picturesque neighborhood of Georgetown.  As I walked along M Street, I notice a man on the corner of M and Wisconsin sitting in front of the Banana Republic store.  

I cross the street and make my way to where he is sitting.  John has on a pink foam hat that says Vintage Virginia (I have been to this wine festival and was not impressed), a heavy wool blanket wrapped around him and a mini disco ball on a chain that hangs from his neck.  I stopped to talk to the 52-year-old homeless man and walked away with a smile on my face.

A clever phrase, a warm smile, or just a wave seems to work for John as he is successful in getting the attention of those who walk past him.  His kindness and free-flowing smile seem to almost warm the crisp winter air.  

John has been homeless for about 5 years he explained.  His life took a dramatic turn after he lost his wife and child in an auto accident.  He also said that he lost his other son due to heart failure at the age of 17 while playing basketball.  Too much personal tragedy for one person.

Now, he has become somewhat of a regular at this intersection I found out from a neighborhood local.  I asked John about his hat and disco ball.  He said they were gifts and he has worn them for over a year and that people remember him by his crazy pink hat.  That may be partly true, but I will remember him not for his hat, but for how friendly and optimistic he was despite his situation.

On top of being homeless, John suffers from heart disease and is an insulin dependent diabetic.  He recently lived through a difficult situation when he was denied benefits to get his insulin.  He doesn’t appear angry though.  He seemed to just take everything in stride.  We chatted for a while about all kinds of things; from his health stories to a meeting he had with Mayor Adrian Fenty to his fondness for really tall women!  Hey, if there are any 6’ or taller women out there who want to meet a really nice man, let me know and I will hook you up with John!

I asked South Carolina native about the hat.  He says that everyone knows him now by the pink hat.  He has other hats too.  A turkey hat for Thanksgiving, a complete Santa Outfit for Christmas, a red, white, and blue hat for the 4th of July, etc.  He doesn’t have an Easter Bunny hat, so if anyone has one that they would like to give to him, let me know! 

I asked John what he was going to do with the $10 and he replied with a big smile that revealed some missing teeth that he would get himself a big vegetable dinner.  He was very thankful of my donation.  I asked him how much he collects on  a good day and he said about $30-$40.  I think he might have lowballed me on this, as I saw at least $5 make its way to his bucket while I was standing there and a few more as I jotted down some notes from across the street after I spoke to him.  I bet a good day for him is at least double what he stated.  He explained that people do a lot of nice things for him and I asked him what has been the best “gift” so far.  “Conversation,” he said without hesitation.  I was touched by this.  A man who desperately needs financial resources valued the conversation of others much more than the money that they were giving him.

If you are in Georgetown, keep an eye out for the pink hat and stop and say hello to John.  It will be worth your time, trust me.

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