Stories about Fred
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FROM: Pat Giordano
A Very Special Man
We will never forget when my husband was released from Mayo Hospital & I was trying to get him in our car, Fred who was a volunteer came running over told us to wait & came out with crutches, & with compassion helped my husband in the car. I am very fortunate to have 2 pastel pictures that Fred made for me of the older couple dancing. They are treasures that will be passed down to my family. Many years ago Mayo friends went out for happy hour what a great dancer Fred was even if you weren't he made you look good! Rest in peace my friend we were fortunate to know you Pat & Skip
FROM: AMARJIT SINGH
MY FATHER’S GIFT TO ME
Some years back a couple I know were expecting their first child – a boy. They’re a caring couple and wanted to be the best parents they could be. As a result, they listened too closely to all the well-meaning, but inadequate advice thrown at them.
One day the expecting mom asked me, “What do you think would make a good family heirloom?” It turns out that her mother had suggested that she buy her husband an heirloom to pass down to their son. Her mother was an orphan. Like many parents they wish the things for their kids that they wanted, but didn’t get. This suggestion, like most, came with good intentions.
Her mother desired some kind of tangible “thing” to take the place, or represent the love from a family she felt that she was neglected. Now she’s projecting her feelings onto her daughter and future grandson; they will feel the same neglect, if there isn’t some tangible representation of “love.”
This is common. How many people try to express their love through a physical object? In fact, one of the most important relationships, or expressions of love is represented by two objects: a piece of paper (marriage certificate) and a “valuable” stone (diamond). People search for clarity in a diamond like it’s going to magnify the clarity in their love. There exists no physical object that can represent love without lessening it! This includes -the most valuable piece of paper and diamond in the world!
So, with these feelings, I thought to myself, how do I respond to this question? What object do I suggest? I began to scan the memories of my childhood.
What did my father pass down to me?
I don’t think I posses anything older than a few pairs of socks. What do I suggest? A ring? A necklace? A watch? Does Timex make one for this purpose? Cufflinks? What if the kid doesn’t wear a suite?
Then it came to me!
I never thought about this as a gift given to me, but I don’t know why not. It’s light, takes up no space, and I never forget it with the other stuff that I put aside not to forget, but still do. I don’t know if you can really call it a family heirloom; I’m not sure if my grandfather gave it to my father, and I have given it to people who aren’t in my family. But it was passed down to me from my father.
I will pass it on to you – so you can pass it on to your children, or whoever you would like. Don’t worry at what age you should trust them with this valuable gem. They won’t take it to a pawn shop to get a cash advance - to feed a drug habit, to buy beer for a college party, or to just feed their empty stomach as they struggle to make their way in the world.
If you’re smart, you will plant the seed in others and allow them the fruits of this unlimited gift. You can’t trade it, or sell it. However, it will bring rewards that are impossible to quantify, calculate, measure, weight and hold.
I think I was about eleven years old and my father and I were sitting at the counter of a pizzeria enjoying a couple of slices. It was here, in between bites of pizza that I received the heirloom, the gift that my father imparted to me.
My father turned to me and casually, but purposefully said, “There’s one thing that is beautiful in every person, you just have to look for it.” Even at eleven years old I knew my father well enough to know that there had to be some motivation behind this comment. So, as most of the cheese came off my slice of pizza in one bite, I looked around, but couldn’t find a beautiful girl in site like I had expected.
I took a moment to reflect as I tried to chew all the cheese without burning the roof of my mouth. It seemed logical. Why wouldn’t everyone be born with one gift, one purpose in life to fulfill? And why couldn’t some people see it? If some people can see ghost - why couldn’t others see living people’s gift, or life-purpose?
After years of research, I learned that it’s true; every person has something beautiful and special about them. Some let it shine, making it easy to notice. While others, still haven’t discovered the gem inside them to give it a good polishing for the world to see. Beautiful and special don’t mean physical looks, but if you train your eye you can see the physical manifestation of this inner beauty, or special gift that my father was talking about.
Nearly forty-years later it is as tangible as a watch, ring, necklace, or cufflinks to me. Searching for a person’s life-purpose, or inner-beauty is second nature for me. It is my gift, my life’s purpose, and what makes my inner beauty shine.
What a gift to see this! What an heirloom! What a beautiful gift that I will never forget.
I give it to everyone because it can’t be possessed. It can only be used. If I knew what a big gift I was receiving at the time, I may have pulled some of the cheese out of my mouth so I could digest both things easier.
This has been the greatest gift I have ever received. It has moved everywhere with me. I never had to pack it in a box marked fragile… never had to insure it... ..or even lock it up... ..and it has always been with me. I’ve never scratched, cracked, chipped, scuffed, marked, dented, or blemished this gift. I’ve had it in the worst parts of town… at all night parties, dance clubs, Mardi Gras, and even have been surfing in the ocean with it. And it has only shined brighter over time.
Another great thing about this heirloom is it is adjustable; It adjust to fit you! It’s like a ring that changes size as your finger grows; A frame that adjust to the picture.
As I was consuming this idea and my pizza, my father irritatingly, said with a mouth full of half chewed pizza “I can’t eat next to this smelly guy grab your slice and we’ll eat outside.” Like I said, this kind of gift you can adjust the frame to center the part of the picture you like. So I grabbed what was left of my slice and the heirloom and we left.
Thank you to my father!
Akaal!