After I wrote about the value of association I realized that I needed to follow up on searching for someone that I had been thinking about for some time. I worked for a really great person back in the late 70's and the last time I talked to him was when Fawn was about 2 years old. His name was Mike Bresnan. My father introduced me to him when Mike owned a gas station across the street from the Ballard Locks and the Lockspot Tavern. The space has since been occupied by a Taco Time. Mike then took over ownership of an Arco station in the Shoreline neighborhood of Seattle. He called it Mike's North City Arco. It was on 175th and 15th NE. Long about 1975/76 I lived about 3 blocks from his station and eventually went to work for him. Yes, I was a pump jockey. I also learned how to work on cars, process credit card receipts, do the banking, and close the books each day. I was only 16 years old when I went to work for him but I learned alot in the 2 years that I worked for him. He was a great person and very caring human being. He and his wife Sally were involved with the Lake City Vigilantes for alot of years which is a Seafair staple. They volunteered much of their time to the community and charitable organizations. At any rate, I had not spoken to him or seen him since 1983. While I had thought about him from time to time over the years, I did not make the effort to find him. I emailed the secretary of the Vigilantes on the night of the Seafair parade because seeing them again made me think of Mike. She emailed back to me that Mike had passed away in 1991 from cancer. I could just kick myself for all the times that I could have picked up a phone and said hello but I won't. See note below. I know that if he had not somehow affected my life, I would not now be thinking about him some 30 years later.
*Sidenote: Regrets are those things that you did do (and should not have done) or should have done (that you did not do) that you simply have not made peace with. You cannot change the past but you can control how you approach the future. Make peace with your regrets and you will eventually learn that they are a part of what makes you the person you are today, for better or worse.
So, you all have people that you know that from time to time you say "I should call them", or "I should stop by and see them". The opportunity to do that will not come by and hit you over the head to tell you it's time. Don't wait, pick up the phone and say "hey". Email them, drop by and see them. If these people are important to you, make it a point to tell them what you think of them and what they have meant to you. Ask yourself if these are people that you would truly miss if you found out, after the fact, that they were gone.
No, you are not too busy. No, you do not have too many things going on and there's just not enough hours in the day. No, you will not "get around to it". As a wise Jedi Master once said, "Do or do not, there is no try". He also said "Always in motion is the future".
