SAY HI TO YOUR GRANDMOTHER
OR - SAY HI TO THAT PERSON YOU CARE ABOUT RIGHT NOW
I had a chance to say hi to Estelle Lamswood and Marie Fred Sullivan - and, boy did it bring a smile to my face - and probably theirs too.
And now you're probably wondering if you know who they are - or should know who they are. Don’t worry. I don’t know either of them, nor did I know about either of them until this conversation with Major Kirk Sullivan:
Now you may be wondering if you know who he is - or should know. Well, you definitely should learn who he is, if you don’t already know. He runs @CAFinUS - one of the most inclusive and inspirational accounts on Twitter. Especially surprising, since it’s a government account to represent Canadian Forces stationed in the U.S.
Over the course of more than a year now, from time to time, I’ve invited Kirk to join my national SiriusXM show. (Hey, he says, “Please, call me Kirk.” Well, I can’t remember if he for sure said, “please” - but he’s a very polite Canadian. So probably.)
We’ve had conversations about the good and bad of social media, the people we don’t highlight enough in society, the people we need to learn about from the past to build a better future, ways to create a stronger community … And in the conversation above, Call Me Kirk, joined to talk about a simple tweet he posted ahead of Canada Day: “Define Canada.”
Then about four minutes into our chat, I ask, “How has living in the U.S. the past couple of years affected your definition of Canada?”
He answers poignantly - as I’ve come to expect he would. But his answer also gave me an unexpected lesson.
He starts by talking about his community - his home in Newfoundland. And he explains that one of the things that has always stayed with him is that notion that no matter how ugly things have been or can be, there are always good people there waiting to pull you through.
BUT. Then he adds:
I should say right now that I’d like to just say hello to my grandmothers. I know they’ll likely listen to this later. So my nannies: Estelle Lamswood and Marie Fred Sullivan. I just want them to hear their names when they listen to this.
And from this entire conversation - and from all of the conversations we’ve ever had - it’s his hello to each of his grandmothers that struck me the deepest.
Last week, I told you how 98-year-old WWII vet Alex Polowin called his dearly departed friend David Kilgour. He did this just to hear his voice because he knew David would like to know someone still cares about him. David is gone. And Alex still shows he cares.
Well, imagine if someone is still alive. Imagine how important it is to know someone cares about you, WHILE you are still alive.
And the other thing about this conversation with Call Me Kirk that’s so very important:
I mean, this was a chat about Canada Day and my biggest takeaway is about saying hello to grandmothers?
Well, no.
My biggest takeaway is why you need to listen to that which is NOT obvious when you speak to someone. Because then you’ll realize how easy it is for us to miss - ironically - the MOST obvious things in life.
I lost both of my grandmothers when I was very young. So hello to my bubbies:
Rose Shapiro Gorenstein and Sarah Mintz Kurtz.
Now, please, go say hi to your grandmother - or someone you care about.
