1993. A small group of friends embarked on a trip to sail and explore the US & British Virgin Islands for a week. It was a true, falling off the map experience, and one we learned to immediately appreciate. For Jim, Mike, Dave, Laura and I, we had actually worked hard, several years on end, trying to create our professional lives and beyond. Finally, we all felt we had finally accomplished something. We had all taken trips before, but this was to be different - a trip we all felt we had earned.
We spent seven days with a common approach; appreciate each other and the life we had. And no one exhibited that better than Jim. In fact, it was already his mantra. We always wondered at Jim; how he treats life like most of do only when we are on vacation. Jim never has to try to be positive; he just has to show up. So to be with Jim on vacation was pure pleasure. And this one was in the water! We all know that Jim is part fish, but this week, Jim was all fish. One day while swimming and snorkeling off of the island of St. John, Jim and Mike spotted a giant ray. Jim, being Jim, set out to swim with the ray. The ray, being a ray, swam and swam for (what we later tracked to be) several miles around the shore with Jim at his side. Several hours later, and not out of breath, Jim returned to tell his tale of being a fish for a day – and made us all share his joy in a way so vivid I still feel it today.
Jim's experience, and many others we shared on the trip, reminded all of us how much world there was out there to experience and explore. We realized that we hadn't 'arrived' like we might have originally thought, but that we really were just at the beginning of where we were headed. And we were right.
It has already been said many times, but Jim is one the few genuinely and truly positive people we all know. To spend a week with Jim when the goal was just to be happy will be a memory I always treasure and never forget.
Love, Ken Pritzker
No comments:
Post a Comment