Life can and should be an adventure of discovery, and for me what makes that possible and what it all comes down to is family. And by that I mean both actual family members and those people we embrace as such. My growth and self-awareness over the years continue to be reflections of my interactions with and support from those people I am fortunate to have placed around me. I would be remiss and perhaps undeserving if I weren’t to understand how deeply rooted together Gene and I are. True love and true friendship are built over years of action and reaction. There is no substitute for time, and time does tell all. When I had my first operation to rebuild my ear from rib cartilage, Gene flew up to see me in the hospital—despite an intense fear of flying at the time. When I was separated from my first wife and didn’t know where to go, Gene opened his home to me without hesitation, and I lived there for months. He paid for a big surprise birthday party when I turned sixty-one but didn’t want me to know. The list is endless. The depth of our relationship, too, is endless.
When Evan, my first child, was born, the very first person I admitted into the delivery room almost immediately was Gene. He was that important to me. In 1994, during a very strained time between us when we were barely speaking, Los Angeles was rocked by a large, damaging earthquake. Regardless of our personal situation at the time, once I recovered from the initial shocks, the first person I called to see whether he was alright was Gene.
We continue forty-nine years later to enjoy each other and annoy each other. He is now a happily married man with a family that years ago wasn’t remotely on the horizon for him, nor did it hold any attraction. But isn’t that what makes life so rich and exciting? We never know what the future holds, but we are transformed by being open to possibilities that allow us the opportunity to rise to them.
Do Gene and I bicker? Sure. Do we disagree? Of course. It’s all small and vastly inconsequential given what we have, what we share, and what we have built.
I don’t understand some of what Gene does. I don’t agree with some of what Gene says, but time tells all, and I am blessed that he has been such a pivotal person in my life—and that I was smart enough to realize it.
I know many people. Those I consider my true friends I can count on my ten fingers—which brings me to those I love. I can count them on those same ten fingers and still have some to spare. Thankfully, for me, Gene is right there with my family.
I believe that if we don’t know that we are blessed, then we don’t deserve to be.
Life’s potential becomes so much richer and more meaningful when we embrace the blessings we have been given and come to discover the endless ones that are in fact there for our taking and others for our making.
Onward.