Tag Archives: mentorship

The Road to Diamond, Day 358: New Assignment

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 20, 2025- The farewells continued today-this time in Phoenix, with one last dental checkup by the people who have been caring for me and family since 2001. I had lunch with another friend, who I’ve known since 1992. The first gave me a new assignment: Up my dental care game, including making sure I change the head on the electric brush a bit more often. It goes without saying that I will also quickly find a provider once I move to Texas. The team in Phoenix has worked too hard on my behalf for any backsliding.

I have known LF, as a friend and mentor, so his message to always look past surface talk of friendship and support, weighing actions as well as words, will carry me into a new community. He may well be one of those who makes the journey out to visit us, and he will be ever welcome.

Back up to Prescott, after stopping at my late wife’s grave, there were two events left this evening. I stopped in at Post 6 and tended to an old favourite: The patty melt, basically a cheeseburger on toast, with special sauce (NOT Mc D’s). I enjoyed those years ago, at Friendly Ice Cream shops, a New England favourite in the ’60s and ’70s, that still has some franchises open. Of course, there was banter about current affairs, but we all respect one another’s views.

The last gathering of the night was Community Day of Thanks. This is the 13th such event, held since 2012, on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, at a different place of worship each year. The Coalition for Compassion and Justice is the host group for the event, which featured every major Faith Group in our area. Of course, Baha’i participants offered a reading, followed by a song. Here is Carl Brehmer, who led us in this song, offering homage to the angels that so many people find comforting.

It was truly a fine day, from start to finish. Now I have to keep working on the teeth and gums that God gave me.

The Road to Diamond, Day 269: Nomenclature

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, distraction issues, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 24, 2025- Someone has alternately pronounced me “mentor” and a short time later, announced that they were MY “mentor’. The situation is that we have bounced ideas back and forth, period. I do not consider anyone currently alive as a mentor. My father, father-in-law and a long ago athletic coach filled that role for me, in earlier times. My mother taught me a lot, also. I still hold all the lessons those fine people sometimes pulled their hair out, trying to impart to me. The rest of us just support one another the best we can, back and forth.

Other words tend to get overgeneralized, and over used. “Vacation” is one such. There are people here in Home Base I, who insist that any time spent not working and/or away from Prescott is vacation. They want to know why I am going to be out of the country, for an extended period of time, when I could be working here. I can say this: There will not be a whole lot of resting, relaxing and idling. I can do all those things right here. The tasks ahead of me are labours of love, in which I also engage here-but there are friends in the countries to which I will be heading. I have the opportunities to connect with them in real time.

“Girlfriend” (and its male counterpart) is tossed around well beyond adolescence. The woman I care for deeply is my dearest friend, and that is where it stands. She stopped being a girl, many years ago-probably maturing well before I did, though she is a decade younger than I. Maybe the oblique reference to childhood is a wish by those who use such terms, for their own continuous adolescence. As for me, I rather like being an older adult, albeit one who is in good health.

Finally, “omnipotent” is being tossed around these days, by those on various ends of the spectrum who see their personal heroes emerging and gathering power. Be careful: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”-Proverbs 16:18 I am willing to bet that each of the adulated ones is well aware of the above verse, and has many moments when wishing that admirers would calm down.

The Road to Diamond, Day 261: Affirmed

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 16, 2025- The energy of the day showed its hand early. Sportage’s battery gave out, after four years of service. I had a new one purchased and installed, well in time to go to Farmers’ Market and assist in the breakdown. My co-worker also observed that the energy was a bit on the thick side and she wasn’t getting as much done, to her chagrin. I recalled that Penny was a lot about stopping and smelling the roses, where I had long been Mr. Full Speed Ahead. There is more of a mix between the two, these days, and I have my beloved departed wife to thank for that.

An old friend interrupted her braiding of her second daughter’s hair, and gave me a bear hug, letting me know that various acts of kindness over the years have been fully appreciated. I am constantly, she said, on her and her children’s minds. That the kids are furtive and shy does not mean they are any less appreciative. I will be sure to visit them over Labor Day weekend, a week before wheels up to Iceland, Sweden and other points on the European continent.

Another old friend needed my affirmation of her worth. She is a person who has suffered much and yet gets a good measure of happiness out of hard work. Facing the sometime harsh realities of capitalism has also not been very easy on her. She is facing an aggressive and not altogether ethical competitor, who seems to have the blessing of their collective landlord. I let her know that I have her back and will look for ways that she can innovate, and meet her competitor’s challenge in an honourable manner. My father taught that other people are most often well within their rights, even if they cross my path. I take that very much to heart.

In all the ups and downs of living alongside other people, it has long been my view that there is no daylight, when it comes to paying attention to those around us and helping them play to their strengths. We also, however, must take care of ourselves, not depending entirely on those around us. So my day started with car care and ended with an evening of listening to long-time friends playing a mix of 60s-00s rock and country classics. The hummus plate was fabulous, as ever.