Winning Words 2/13/12
“We’ve got to hug our kids and make the most of each day, because you never know.” (Jeff Zaslow) Jeff spoke at our Optimist Club less than a month ago…and now he’s gone, the victim of a tragic car accident. The co-writer of “The Last Lecture” has written his last book. You never know! My mother-in-law had a saying, “Here today; gone tomorrow.” Be especially thankful for family and friends today. ;-) Jack .

FROM SHARIN' SHARON: What a wonderful testimony of Jeff having wisdom. It's powerful knowing he lived that way and wanted to pass these WW along to all of us. Before I even get out of bed each morning, I'm praying in thankfulness and for my husband and daughter, family and friends. Jeff's life story only puts another name on my prayer list today, thankfulness for a person I never met but who is a saint.////FROM JACK: A prayer for someone is a kind of spiritual hug.

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY: oh so true and close to home. i rarely pass up the chance to share love. hugs are plentiful in my world!////FROM JACK: You have the perfect job for hugs. My internist has an associate whose name is Dr. Hug.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: This is a very fitting "Winning Words" today. For Whitney and for Jeff and all those others who will have breathed their last. It's so important to appreciate and love those around you because you don't ever know.////FROM JACK: "You never miss the water til the well runs dry."

FROM JS IN MICHIGAN: Was your mother in law thinking of you when she said that????////FROM JACK: She made that comment when she heard that her nursing home roommate had died during the night.

FROM ILLINOIS LIZ: My dear daughter lost her paternal grandmother last year at this time. She is always very good about thinking of others and remembering important days. For some reason last year, she didn't make it to "Bubbe's" with her Valentine, as she had intended. The next day, her dad found his mom still in bed; she was gone. The coroner said she likely had passed on Valentine's Day. I consoled my daughter with the thought that somehow God had not meant for her to go there on that day... there just are not answers for everything, and we have to trust. ////FROM JACK: Making the connection with the day when love is celebrated was a good consolation.

FROM TRI-HARDER: Tragic. He has young children. I remember he and his pregnant wife at Adat Shalom during holiday services. And, yes, hug them every day. I have one in Ecuador and one in Vilnius--about to go to Karachi. I'm having major separation anxiety.////FROM JACK: The Swedes have a proverb, which translates: "To be away is good, but home is best." Many people believe that the ultimate home is the one that is reached after this life is over.

FROM CS IN MICHIGAN: His passing has made me so sad today….////FROM JACK: There's a verse in the Bible which reads: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for their works follow after them." In Jeff's case, part of his great legacy are the works (books) that he authored and are left for us to read.

FROM JS IN MICHIGAN: Jeff's death is so sad. What a loss to society. Why?////FROM JACK: What a gift he has given to society with his writings.
"The clock of life is wound but once And no one has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop, At late or early hour.
Now is the only time you own; Live, love, work, and with a will;
Place no faith in tomorrow, for The clock may then be still."

FROM BLAZING OAKS: How sad!! I have that book, and the video of the Last Lecture. I think we all feel if we live long enough to raise our own children, that is our greatest blessing. (But then want to see our grandchildren, and now "greats" nurtured, as well!)////FROM JACK: Most of us never know when we are giving "The Last Lecture," or writing the last e-mail. We must always be ready and "Carpe Diem!"

FROM JT IN MICHIGAN: I thought of you the other day when I heard of Jeff''s death. I had read his book with Randy Pausch and also "The Girls from Ames." When you feel a connection with him and his family being neighbors it really hits home.////FROM JACK: Although I had only met him one time, he seemed to be the kind of person that I would like to know better.