“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.” ― Pema Chödrön I am upset you are gone. I am grateful for what I learned. And with great honesty, I am stuck in trying to figure it out. Some questions do not have answers. No matter your spiritual path (Tibetan Buddhist for me), we can all learn from those we meet. Some lessons are easier than others. I appreciate the ones I learned from you--even though I didnt always like them. Then again, being James, others were quite obvious. I am sorry I have spent so much time working and not nearly enough time living. I apologize to those that I have not spent more time with. My error was mistaking work related success for happiness. James was successful on so many levels. I am not going to nail him to the cross and make him a saint. He wasnt, he was James. Thank you for the lessons. If I didnt say that, I am so sorry. Thank you for making my life a bigger picture, even if I didnt want to accept it. Thank you for pissing me off sometimes, because it reminded me that those things were important to me and I should fight for them. Thank you for letting me fight for you and the countless others that do so much for such a numbers driven and stressful place as for-profit education. Thank you for reminding me my ego is my biggest enemy. I am sad I didnt say that before. I miss you. First and foremost, you were my most valued friend. I kept a picture of the Christmas Party Photograph on my desk at future jobs to remind me to do the right thing every day, no matter what. It didnt always make me popular, but it did keep me honest. And it usually pissed a lot of business vs. education minded people off. For that, I thank you as well. They needed to be reminded that education makes the business, not the other way around. You embodied that. You proved it time and time again, against the storms of corporate bullshit a.k.a. policy. I loved you for that...and your friendship. I will miss your friendship most of all. Thousands of students have been touched by your teachings. I count myself among them. The skies are now yours. This world wasnt quite big enough to keep you. Safe journeys. Clear skies James...who am I kidding, you can handle the rough stuff just fine. KLR
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 21:36:42 +0000
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