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The Good of the World Depends On Unhistoric Acts
Fame is less important than the good we put out in the world
It’s amazing how inspiration can come from the most unlikely sources.
Yesterday I was reading an obituary in the digital version of The Wall Street Journal. It was written by James Hagerty, who has a gift for honoring the lives of the dearly departed.
Hagerty’s obituary was about an amazing woman named Frances Hesselbein, who passed away at 107.
In the obituary, two Chinese vases on a shelf are mentioned. They belonged to Frances’s grandmother, who was gifted the vases by a Chinese laundry operator.
People used to call the Chinese laundry man racial epithets. But not Frances’s grandmother.
The laundry man gifted the two vases to Frances’s grandmother, telling her, “You are the only one who ever called me Mr. Yee.”
The fact that Frances never forgot her grandmother’s Chinese vases reflects the power of actions to influence others, especially the young.
I emailed the obituary writer, James Hagerty, after reading his piece, and wrote the following:
“As usual, another fine obituary. I love the small details that say so much…
