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It's been said a million times I am sure. You don't know what you've got until it's gone. Actually, I think someone wrote a song about that. Well you know it is true. I just spent the week laying my father to rest, and I know that I don't even have a clue what this means for me yet, or my family for that matter. But one thing that has resulted from this event is a re-uniting of myself with a whole bunch of people I haven't seen, some in over 20 years. And it is this reunion of sorts, in an unfortunate situation which has caused me to sit up and take notice.
It is so easy, and believe me, I am the king of being busy and on the go, to forget the people in our lives. Whether those people are friends, family, or otherwise, I am being shocked into the realization once again that my busyness is not all that it is cracked up to be. My family has been starting to complain of all my travel and all the time I spend at work. And this week, seeing old friends for the first time in decades has slammed home for me the need to stop and make time for relationships. I am all about relationships, or so I say. We are building relationships at origin and across the planet in and around the specialty coffee industry. Josh is in Burundi right now building what I hope to be enduring relationships. But what I find all too often, is that life gets so busy and complicated that we barely have time to maintain these relationships, let alone nurture them. So, I guess I am reflecting out loud about how I have been negligent with my own relationships. If you happen to be one of those who have been neglected, please accept this as my apology. If you are like me and have a tendency to be on the go so much that people are but a blur, take it from me, better to voluntarily slow down and say hi, rather than being forced to like I was this week.
A special thanks to my old friend Bill Kirkwold and his wife for hosting me this evening and letting me ride dirt bikes. Seriously, I haven't done that since I was 18 years old. It was great to see you after all these years. The same goes for all of you I got to see at the funeral yesterday... Allan, Nadine, Shari, Jennifer, Eric, Bob and Joyce Wright, the Wades, the Hagels, the Wrays, and the list could go on and on.
Take it from someone who is too busy, and doesn't stop much to smell the roses, unless they are coffee blossoms at origin, life is too short not to stop and keep up with those people in our lives who are important. OK, good night, it's late, and I haven't even been drinking wine tonight (OK, at least not very much).
