It is impossible to ignore. It is all about the relationships. It is always about the relationships. They are the foundation of everything.
In the book, Season of Life, author Jeffrey Marx describes his own relationship with Baltimore Colts great Joe Ehrmann. Marx got to know Ehrmann when Marx was just a boy and then reconnected with him later in life. The rekindling of that relationship happened during 2001. How ironic it is it that just yesterday I was reading the pages in that book where Marx describes his own reaction to the terrorist attack on the United States, the events of September 11th, 2001.
“I spent the day inside, trapped in an emotional fog. Of everything I saw and heard on television, and I was glued to the nonstop news coverage late into the night, perhaps the most unforgettable image was described by New Yorkers who had watched in horror as people trapped high in the towers chose jumping to their death rather than burning. As one witness described the sight of men and women leaping out of windows: It was raining people. That alone pushed me to tears as I sat in solitude on my couch. Another witness added the detail that many of the jumpers had fallen in pairs: People were holding hands and jumping. Unbelievable, I thought. Only seconds to live, one final act remaining, and it was still all about relationships. Those people needed each other. We all need each other.”
Then Marx has a conversation with Ehrmann and shares his insight about the people who were trapped in the hijacked planes on 9/11:
“I spoke with Joe about something I’d been unable to get off my mind – the people on the hijacked planes who had used cell phones to say their final goodbyes before crashing. In frantic calls to family and friends, all had shared three simple words they wanted to leave behind: I love you. I told Joe that I could not help make a connection to our conversation about false masculinity. There had not been a single news account of anyone on those planes spending his final moments rehashing what a great athlete he’d been as a youngster, how many girls he’d scored as a teen, how much money and power he’d amassed as an adult. Nodding in agreement, Joe said, “Nobody was calling their brokers.”
No, the only calls made that day were to say goodbye to the greatest relationships they had ever known. Relationships which would no longer exist in real time, but live on for all time.
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Mark
Mark Brodinsky, Author, Blogger, Financial Services
The #1 Amazon Best-Seller: It Takes 2. Surviving Breast Cancer: A Spouse’s Story, (http://www.spouses-story.com/)
Connect with Mark on the Contact page or markbrodinsky@gmail.com
Very well said ..and very true!