Are You Hurried?

As my dad dwelled in the world of dementia, he would repeat several stories from his early life over and over. In reflection, they seemed to give us some kind of wisdom that he wanted to impart. In one of those stories, he recounted going to his professor's office to discuss a paper he was writing. When he came to the office, the professor didn't look up at my dad as he stood by his desk. Instead, he absentmindedly continued to shuffle papers around as Dad tried to explain his thoughts. Finally, Dad told the professor that those papers on his desk seemed much more important than he. And Dad left the room. That must have been one of those life lessons because Dad was one to give people attention, time, focused on what they had to say. From that unfortunate experience, the professor provided Dad a valuable lesson that he hoped would be passed on to us.

Thanks for listening.