TO BE KIND

By Peter Vuono

     Like most people, I have a twitter account and am now up to about 800 Tweets.
I try to use inspirational quotes ranging from fictional characters to Mark Twain, Lao Tzu, Buddha and the Bible. However, I think my favorite is from Bruce Lee who said,"A person can never forget someone who is kind to them". This is where my sister-in-law's husband Randy comes in who was recently taken by cancer.
     I remember a family wedding where Randy was dancing with my 10 year old daughter Amy. Randy intended to make this moment in time fun and memorable for Amy; so he picked her up off her feet while they danced. Neither Amy nor I ever forgot it and it was well over 20 years ago.
    Fast forward another 20 plus years to a family pool party. My son Mike does everything within his power to bolster self confidence. He's a world record holder in weightlifting, a teacher and a Black Belt. However one moment with Uncle Randy 7 years ago carried as much weight to enhancing  Mike's self esteem as  did all the other accomplishments.Uncle Randy hadn't seen Mike in quite some time. When he saw him, he was in awe and exclaimed,"Mike you look great; just like Arnold Schwarzenegger!" Yesterday,10/14/18, at about fifteen minutes after Randy passed, THAT compliment was the first thing Mike mentioned  about his beloved uncle. In China, any man who is older and beloved to a younger man, is often called "Uncle". That is how Mike viewed Randy.
   Mother Teresa once said,"There are three things in life that are important: the first is to be kind, the second is to be kind and the third is to be kind." Randy enjoyed many games such as cards, sports and especially golf. I never really knew how good he was at those games but there is ONE game that he really excelled at- the game of life.