The day before Brian passed away, he was in my office in his hot pink sweatshirt that I hated. Only Brian could get away with wearing that color pink and oh, how I wish I could see him in that shirt again.
He asked me to mediate in a slight argument he was having with Wendi, his assistant. Brian was asked to do a favor for someone who had asked for many favors before. Brian was going to do the favor, which would cost Brian some money. Wendi wanted Brian to say no. She was “taking care of Brian”. She thought that the person asking for the favor was taking advantage of Brian’s good nature.
Brian was explaining to me and to Wendi, that it was important to look at the big picture. He told us that in the scheme of things this small sum of money would mean little to him. However, it would mean a great deal to the person who needed the favor. Brian told us to look forward to the evening meal in that person’s home. How different the meal and the evening would be if he was able to tell his wife that he could do the thing requested or how miserable the meal and the evening would be if he had to tell his wife that he could not get the amount of money they needed. He easily convinced us that this one small favor could change a family’s outlook, certainly for the evening and hopefully, for longer than that.
Brian was not just generous with his pocketbook and with his time, but his generosity of spirit is completely unique. Hopefully, his spirit will continue to inspire all of us.
Janice Benenson