Besides the fact that it’s pretty neat to look at, this sun-catcher isn’t all that spectacular. Take a window pane from your typical 50’s back porch door, about 24" wide, and 8" high. Wrap it with a border of purple stained-glass about an inch wide and put a chain on it from the top left to right corner. Got a good visual picture? Now put your all-time favorite radio station’s window decal smack dab in the middle of it.

So why is this so special to me?

First, I think it’s one of the most unexpected gifts I’ve ever received, and second, the person who gave it to me had to go to a lot of trouble to "prepare" it, and that means the world to me.

Lemmie splain.

It’s 1987. I’m looking at off-campus college apartments with my friend, David. One in particular is just a few houses down from my flat on Orchard Street, (in Fredonia, New York.) As we walk up the few front steps to the door, I come nose to nose with this WLIR 92.7 window decal. It’s in perfect shape, planted with geometric precision in the center of this door’s window. I begin to proclaim to my buddy what an amazing station WLIR is, and how much I miss it going to school on the other side of the state. David, of course, feels my pain and points out to me that we’re there to look at the flat for him. I calm down, and as time passes, I also forget all about the sticker.

Until that fateful day when David presents me with a gift... attached to the words "Be gentle opening this Scot, really."

Since you already know what it is, I’ll tell you about the state of shock that came over me. My first thought was, why would anyone go to the trouble to remove a pane of glass from a door, no small affair, take it to a stained-glass specialist for a modest wrap, and give it to someone as a gift? Sometime later, I’m sure long out of college, I finally found the answer to that question.

Because he could.

Actually, it’s a lot more philosophical than that, but distilled down it’s simply the act of doing something kind for someone else for no reason.

Probably more important that the fact that I treasure and protect this piece of glass as one of my most prized possessions, is the lesson it taught me.

Listen. Act. Laugh. Remeber.

It’s a simple formula, and believe me, every day of my life I try to apply at least one of the above to my routine. Granted, I’m not perfect, far from it, but no one can ever fault me for trying. (Well, almost no one.)

In closing I have but one thing to add. Be careful of what you say and what you do in life. The things you forget instantaneously can burn in the mind of someone else for a lifetime. Make sure they’re memories worthy of a smile. Thanks again David.

Enjoy this issue.