A message from Kaylie Hanson Long

-

Dear Friends,
I am forwarding this letter from Kaylie Hanson Long.  Kaylie's husband Jeff, the son of our dear friends, Nancy and David, died in an accident in July of 2018.  Kaylie has created a special way of remembering Jeff and I want to share it with you.

Hi friends and family,

Hope everyone's having a great day after a long weekend. As you may know or remember, Jeff's birthday is February 25th - one week from today. Some of you know that I've received a lot of reiki following Jeff's accident (a form of Japanese energy healing based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us). I believe energy also flows out of us -- putting good energy into the world can have such a great impact on so many people, places and things.

Last year, a few of us put our good energy into the world in Jeff's honor through random acts of kindness executed on February 25th. Examples of what folks did are below... really sweet, powerful stuff that truly captured the positive impact Jeff had on the world. This year, I'm expanding the list to all of you in hopes you'll mark Tuesday (2/25) as a day to do an act of kindness in your own world. If you have a moment and feel moved, please send me a quick note back with what you did and I may circulate anonymously in the week following, with the goal of building even more positive energy off of those acts... but I also just want to know! :) 

Feel free to forward this note to others who may want to participate, and feel free to give my email address to whomever.

Lots and lots of love! xoxo,

Kaylie (and Layla, of course... she might be giving her bone to a dog in need :) )



  • Many cups of coffee purchased for the guy/gal behind them in the coffee house line
  • A conversation with a colleague about Jeff’s life and legacy over a long lunch.
  • Yesterday, I was on a flight from Denver to SF. There was a man sitting next to me who was very uncomfortable because the seat in front of him was broken (and stuck in the reclined position). I offered to switch with him so that he could have an aisle seat, and not have to deal with the broken seat. I'm only 5'1", so not having a lot of room is not a big deal for my little legs. He actually didn't end up switching seats with me. But he did go from cranky to smiling. And then he fell asleep for most of the flight. :)
  • Donations to Mercy Corps, Children’s National hospital, elementary school classroom in need and the cystic fibrosis foundation.
  • An extra-long phone conversation with a friend who needed the extra love.
  • Being more intentional to make eye contact and offering smiles to people on the street.
  • Food and money to a member of the SF homeless community.
  • Some extra TLC with a family member going through a medical treatment. 
  • Extra long hugs and “I love you’s” to friends and family.
  • dropping off cookies to the sweetgreen Palo Alto crew after the afternoon rush
  • sponsored classes at my local Corepower Yoga studio to hand out to 10 of Jeff’s fellow yogis, in his honor
  • In honor of Jeff I picked up donuts to give to my favorite Capitol police officers (specifically, Officer Burke who mans the back Hart door) as a "thanks for being you."
  • I sent flowers to my friend - it was her first day on a new job. Starting a new job is a big deal, and I wanted her to feel the love because I know she is really excited about it.

-- 
Kaylie Hanson Long
(203) 561-3945

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm Keeping' on the Sunny Side

-
Image
 Good Morning!  I was thinking about posting a reprise of an old post about PINK, to keep the Barbie vibe going; I understand that in London they've painted all the red telephone booths pink and the great Ferris wheel has pink lights in honor of Her Plasticness but I had a better idea--you could say the Sun came up! You know I have a granddaughter named Sunny, right? I wanted to do a drawing for her and what else could I start with? The Sun and sunflowers--not very original but she's two and a half--to her everything's new and it's her name! Filling in the sky I see that it looks like the way I draw water, but that's OK.  I added Batchelor Buttons beneath the Sunflowers and I like the way the blue makes the yellow pop.  I'm not sure how to handle the transition from flowers to sky so I won't think about it.  Remember Mickey Rivers; "I don't worry about what I can control because if I can control it why worry?" And I'm in control! I used som
Read more

Oh, Russell

-
Image
 I have to teach Russell that when I say, "I just devoured that book!" I don't mean it literally. However, I must admit that he has a discerning eye, and has brought some forgotten favorites back to my attention, like this -- Art Nouveau  by Martin Battersley, from The Color Library of Art.     Here is Symbolist poet Robert de Montesquiou, an aristocrat and a dandy, the original of Proust's Baron de Charlus. I placed him with this Barbie because she has a Belle Epoque kind of vibe.  The painter is Giovanni Boldini 1842-1931. "He fascinated his sitters by his method of painting, gazing at them intently as though to draw out their inmost secrets and then attacking the canvas with long brushes held at arm's length. He transformed his sitters into almost impossibly seductive creatures striking languorous poses and suggested that the slightest movement would result in the beautifully painted silks, chiffons, lace and chinchilla falling off to reveal them in writhi
Read more

Summer Reading

-
Image
What are you Reading?  I love it when someone asks me that. The Times Book Review has a column that asks what's on your night table?  Does everybody read in bed?  If I have a good book I can't wait to say good-night. But as reading and writing has made me focus on language an abyss of bad grammar has opened before   me and I cry out in anguish. Will I ever become inured to hearing Ivy League graduates on NPR saying, "Him and Me are gonna..." and "Please reach out to John or I?" Terry Gross never corrects anyone's grammar and I respect  that,  it's not a good interviewing technique,  but where are the mothers and teachers?  How has it come to this? And another thing! The misplaced modifier!   In a biography of Willa Cather I read, "At the age of eight, school began to bore Willa."  Really? School was eight years old?  Miss Cather is rolling over in her grave.  And this, from Elle Decor; "As a young girl, her father affectionately nickna
Read more