Golden Oldie: Give Up Your Mitts aka Leo's Mitts

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What It’s About: I was thinking about my dad and Garrett’s grandfather, Leo Rubis today. In spirit of his memory, I’d like to retell a story I first posted on my blog in May, 2010. 

So What?: Despite it being 12 years old, it is still a comforting and warm example of living with character - a main theme from back in those days. 

Now What?: If you remember this golden oldie, thank you for sticking around this long! Let us know. Enjoy a glimpse into the old format of the blog, it’s funny how much the content has evolved. Here’s how it first appeared: 

“My mom gets a call from a friend of my dad who is in her late 80′s. She insists on visiting my dad in the hospital to say goodbye before he dies. So she talks her nurse into driving some 60 miles in the dead of a Western Canadian Winter so she can get to his bedside. Why?

Apparently some 80 plus years ago, my dad and his neighbor friend, Alice, the lovely gal referred to above, had to walk three miles to and from school. One miserable blizzard, with frigid temperatures below -30 degrees, found my dad and Alice struggling to walk home. Alice said her hands were so cold she was weeping in pain. Her mitts got wet sitting on the classroom radiator and froze along with her hands on the trek home. My dad, 7-years-old at the time, gave Alice his mitts to wear instead. She never forgot that generosity.

Character Move:

  1. Don’t forget to ‘give up your mitts’ sometimes. You may get a hug 80 years later. Your generosity matters.

- Lorne”

We’ve come a long way since 2010, however the generosity exercised in this story is still something worth highlighting. In 12 years, or 80 years, actions like this are not forgotten.  

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now, 

- Lorne