on the un-ending commute home tonight i was thinking about him. And how, even if i never heard him speak 'live', i shared a time with him, an age that he helped shape, wonderfully.

I remember when my father passed away. I felt that he was the finest man I had ever known or even heard of. I remember thinking that the world should mourn the passing of such a man. But the world did not.

The lesson? That there are great people among us, and we normally only ever recognize the ones that everyone else recognizes. But....beyond recognizing them, (and we should), we need also to look around at the 'ordinary' folk as well. And at ourselves. We can be heroes, we can change things for the better. Nelson Mandela didn't take that journey in one step. But the important thing was that he started and didn't stop. He had help. He had vision. He had love and insight and drive. All things that we have, too. Even one small step is better than no step, even one little bit less fear is better than living a cipher's life.


It's so lovely that Nelson shared his time and passion with us. Tonight, I am thankful for him. It is only his physical body that has left us. His miraculous spirit is here and will remain.