For Doc

I finished reading tuesdays with Morrie about a week ago and decided to send Doc an e-mail to see if he's read it - silly, of course he's read it! He's read just about everything. This was his reply:

Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2006 8:03:15 -0700
From: "Jerry Henderson"
To: "Melissa Teoh"
Subject:Re: Hey

I have read Tuesday with Morrie and gave copies to so many people that it became embarrassing...it always seemed like I was saying "I'm about to die so come and visit me"....so I began to restrain..It was given to me by a past student, who thought of me and I appreciated it so very very much...it is amazing how quickly we forget!!!! As a teacher, I' m sorta used to it, but one never totally does. I look back sometimes and think of some of the kids whose lives I changed tremendously, especially through recruiting and giving scholarships to Pepperdine, and it does cause some pangs of remorse to not hear from many of them....but, really, that is the way of things and I don't feel bad about it or them...

I was so thrilled at the guys who spoke at my retirement event and the things they said...it really made me think of "Tuesdays with Morrie".

It's funny how I had started to think of him after the first few pages of Morrie. Perhaps it's because he's made such an impact during my years at Pepperdine, as a mentor and a dear friend. I'm sure those of you who are reading this who knows Doc will agree. Of course if you've been in his Role Development class you might choose to differ, ha ha, but nevertheless, all the directing students will agree with me. In the past 9 years, I have been blessed with the still growing friendship I have with Doc. His encouragement and support in all matters, small and large, is beyond words.

While reading the book, I had all these thoughts swimming in my head that I'd like to post, but lets be honest, how do you write about your perspective on life in 1000 words or less? The one thing I felt very strongly I wanted to do after reading the book was to amend any friendships or relationships that have been rocky in the past. Sometimes it's not entirely the fault of one or the other when things go wrong, but rather a combination of factors that could be out of our control. While most of us hate confrontation, very few realize that it is the saving grace for most relationships.

I have been blessed with many good friends. Some of which I haven't seen in years even, but miraculously sends an e-mail or calls just when I needed a chat. I wouldn't say that I have many relationships to amend, but there are a few that needs work. Learn to forgive - yes, easy to say but hard to do. But isn't it even more depressing holding a grudge against someone? I guess the difficulty in the amendment process is that it takes two hands to clap. Have you ever felt tired and frustrated for being the one who has to call or write or make an effort all the time?
(no, this is not a hint for flooding my inbox with love mail today)

All I'm saying is that it's so easy to forget. Just like Doc said. It's convenient to come up with reasons why we can't keep in touch - there's work, there's a show, kids, babies, traffic, I'm tired, etc. It takes very little to make someone happy. Everyone likes to be thought of. Don't wait for someone to write or call, make that effort. You know, we have e-mail now. It'll take you only a minute. Alright, maybe two if you type slow. And no excuse for not writing to the older folks -there's always snail mail.