(The
following passage is from my friend, Fred Owens, whose insights can be accessed
at http://froghospital911.blogspot.com/)
What
bothered me about alumni affairs, the fundraising, and the reunions, was that
it was all about success -- achievements, milestones, things you brag about.
I thought we could do a little better at St.
Mikes and make the events about failures. You were twenty pounds
overweight, you just lost your job, your wife left you, your daughter is
anorexic, your son is dealing drugs and you're clinically depressed. These
things, at least some of them, have happened to all of us. (Fred is referring
to Saint Michael’s College, one of the federated colleges comprising the
University of Toronto. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_toronto)
So you don't come to the reunion, and they don't
put that sad news in the newsletter. And yet those moments are when you could
really use a little backup from your classmates.
Success takes care of itself, but we ought to be
there for each other during times of failure.
Those are my thoughts today as they put Bob
Madden away -- he was a very good man, and I miss him already.
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