Giving

I believe that some of the greatest pleasures I know are to do good deeds in privacy and to have them found out by accident.  How then do I account for and explain the disparity between that conviction and choosing to make gifts public?  The answer is . . . I feel proud.  I am also very fortunate to be able to enjoy the luxury of being generous, and possibly by being public, others may be encouraged to give.

Probably, anyone reading this today or one hundred years from now, is not going to be particularly interested in either my life's story, accomplishments, or lack thereof.  Even so, the one thought I would like to get across is that giving to benefit others and my commuity feels to me like more of a gift to myself than to anyone else.  In fact, I think that the measure of a person might be decided and judged, not by how he accumulates his wealth, but by how he gives it away.

A last comment.  It is passionately important to me that you know that I care, admire, and am most blessed by what I consider the backbone of my existence--my wife Nora Lee, my sons Eric and Marc, Marc's wife, Lori Kaftan Barron, Eric's wife, Wenise Wong, and my grandchildren, Violet, Lee, Brooks, and Quinn.