My birthday cards arrived in mailboxes in early September. An email from Audra’s employer, Marsh McLennan, arrived just as she and her husband, Tony, were discussing ways to fulfill my birthday request. Marsh, who 21 years ago today lost 358 employees in the Twin Towers, wanted to honor first responders[…]
A year ago today I kicked off my $60 Birthday Project. What I feel is my 60th year drawing to a close faster than I’d like. The passing of time is more noticeable this year. Maybe it’s because the project made the year more noticeable, more special than most. Perhaps[…]
I don’t know what I’m more excited about – that the energy of my pay-it-forward 60th birthday project continues to radiate or that I can now call myself a published author. Either way, an essay I wrote about the project is in the print and online version of February 2022[…]
I was weeding out front and all of a sudden my dog, Sawyer, took off after a stray Pit Bull wandering down the street. So begins Nancy’s gifting story. After getting Sawyer under control she quietly followed the stray. He was too scared to let her near. But a connection[…]
Ella is a tiny girl that lives in the nook of an old oak tree. Like a moth, she has two antennae and feathery wings. At night she collects light from all that glows and shares the light with those needing help finding their way in the dark. Ella’s biggest[…]
Mystery gift turns into $300 regifts from 51 students for $15,300 worth of holiday surprises, the headline in last Wednesday’s Orange County Register read. The mystery donor who gave a boatload of cash to students at Los Alamitos High had just one mandate: “Make someone else’s day.” I can’t help[…]
August was a tough month: earthquake in Haiti; hurricane Ida in Louisiana; a surge of the Delta COVID variant; in California where I live, the final countdown to the Gubernatorial recall election; massive wildfires in the West; and the most heart wrenching to watch, in my opinion, the chaotic U.S.[…]
My birthday is almost two months gone. It’s time to shift the focus of my giving project to storytelling. It’s time to share with you the wonderful and creative acts of kindness, the worthy and diverse charitable organizations, the ways in which some made their $60 go further, and the many touching moments[…]
Tomorrow I turn 60. I want this birthday to represent me, but not be about me. So I took inspiration from a woman I read about in my local paper and set a gift of kindness in motion, sending the letter below to 60 friends and family members (the 60-60[…]