I have always tried to help others in my quest for being kind. When I was 12 my dad and I delivered Christmas boxes to the needy as part of the team for The Toronto Star in Toronto Canada. When I was 15 I helped to paint an apartment in Harlem (NYNY) for the poor. I was able to chat and interact with gangs that were there and to show them that other cultures (Italians and Puerto Ricans) could co-survive together in a positive way without fighting. This was a project set up by The Quakers (The Society of Friends). 

 

I am very open to new ideas about almost anything. I feel that the more you open your mind it allows you to approach new things with a fresh look. I think that part of that came from tending to my wife who died four years ago from Dementia. We were crazy about each other and at first I was a little concerned about doing the caregiving for her but soon realized that she would have done the same for me if the shoe was on the other foot. Once I started to think about her welfare and not my own then the caring became a loving gesture that brought us even closer together and made me see that my job for the next few years was going to be caring for her. I am so glad that I was able to tend to her needs in the way that was respectful and kind.